Raising Goats for Beginners: What I Wish I Had Known
When I brought home my first goats, Marsha and Fadra, I knew next to nothing about goats.
Quite frankly, they scared me a little. I thought they might bite me. Later I learned that goats do not have upper front incisors. They have a firm dental pad there, although they certainly have teeth farther back and can still pinch you if they are determined.
That small misunderstanding was a good preview of what came next. Goats are funny, affectionate, useful, maddening, intelligent animals, and there was far more to keeping them than I understood when I started.
I eventually kept several breeds, milked does, delivered kids, trimmed hooves, managed bucks, repaired fences, and learned that a goat can locate a weak spot in an enclosure faster than most humans can locate their car keys.
If you are considering goats, I am not going to talk you out of them. They remain some of my favorite animals. I do want to help you begin with fewer surprises than I did.
Decide why you want goats
Before looking at adorable baby-goat pictures, decide what role you want goats to play on your homestead.
Are you interested in milk, meat, fiber, brush control, breeding stock, or companion animals? Your answer affects the breed, fencing, feed, facilities, and daily work you will need.
I wanted milk, so my first goats were dairy breeds. Marsha was a Saanen and Fadra was a Nubian. Saanens are known for producing a good volume of milk, while Nubians are often valued for richer milk with higher butterfat. Over the years I also had Alpines, Oberhaslis, Boers, and plenty of goats whose family trees were not anyone's idea of tidy.
There is nothing wrong with a mixed-breed goat, but there is something wrong with buying an animal before understanding whether it fits your goal.
Goats need other goats
Goats are herd animals. A single goat is likely to be lonely, noisy, stressed, or excessively attached to its humans and any other animal it can find.
Plan on at least two compatible goats. For beginners who want pets or brush control, a pair of healthy wethers, which are castrated males, can be simpler than starting with breeding does and a buck. If you want milk, remember that a doe must freshen by having kids, and that turns a milk dream into a breeding, kidding, and herd-management plan.
Choose healthy animals from a responsible breeder who keeps useful records. Ask about vaccinations, parasite management, testing, previous illnesses, hoof care, and what the goats currently eat. If possible, arrange for a livestock veterinarian to examine them and discuss which health tests make sense in your area.
Build the fence before bringing home the goats
I cannot emphasize this enough: goats are smart, curious, athletic, and deeply interested in whatever you hoped they would leave alone.
One of my bucks, Buckly, learned to jump a five-foot fence. I loved him when he was little, but as he grew older he became aggressive and increasingly difficult to contain. Eventually he had to go.
Your goats will test gates, corners, posts, latches, and any place where fencing meets a building. If they escape, they will not thoughtfully graze the least valuable plants first. Fruit trees, gardens, shrubs, and the neighbor's landscaping all become possibilities.
Prepare secure fencing and gates before the goats arrive. Walk the entire perimeter at goat-eye level. Look for loose wire, gaps near the ground, objects that can be used as launching platforms, and latches a clever nose might open. Your fencing choice will depend on your property, predators, and whether you are containing full-size goats, miniature goats, kids, or bucks.
Good fencing is not the glamorous part of goat ownership, but it may be the part that determines whether you still like goats six months later.
Give them dry shelter and safe space
Goats need protection from rain, wind, extreme temperatures, and strong sun. They do not need a fancy barn, but they do need a clean, dry, well-ventilated place with enough room for every animal to get inside comfortably.
A simple three-sided shelter can work in many climates when it is positioned properly. Ventilation matters because a tightly closed, damp shelter can allow ammonia and moisture to build up and contribute to respiratory problems.
Remove exposed nails, sharp wire, broken boards, toxic materials, and places where a goat can get its head or horns trapped. Goats also enjoy climbing, so safe platforms or sturdy structures can give them something to do without turning your feed bin into recreational equipment.
Feed the goat, not the fantasy
Goats are browsers. They enjoy leaves, brush, weeds, and woody plants, although that does not mean every plant is safe. They still need an appropriate forage-based diet, clean water, and minerals formulated for goats.
Good-quality hay is often the foundation when pasture or browse is unavailable. Feed should be kept off the ground when possible to reduce waste and contamination. Nutritional needs change with age, body condition, growth, pregnancy, and milk production, so there is no single scoop of grain that is right for every goat.
This is where I learned one of my hardest lessons.
My Boer buck Joe lived with us for only about six months. At the time, I did not understand enough about grain, rumen health, or what diarrhea in a goat can mean. Abrupt feed changes and excessive grain can lead to serious digestive illness, but parasites, infection, coccidiosis, toxins, and other problems can also cause diarrhea.
The old version of this article treated Pepto-Bismol as a standard answer for scours. I would not give that advice now. Scours is a symptom, not a diagnosis. A goat with persistent diarrhea, weakness, poor appetite, pain, fever, or dehydration needs prompt guidance from a veterinarian, not a guessed dose from the internet.
Introduce any feed change gradually. Work with a veterinarian, Extension educator, or experienced goat nutrition professional to match forage, minerals, and supplements to your animals. Keep baking soda, home remedies, and colorful bags of grain from becoming substitutes for an actual feeding plan.
Create a health plan before an emergency
Find a veterinarian who treats goats before you desperately need one. Not every small-animal clinic sees livestock, and an emergency is a terrible time to begin calling around.
Ask your veterinarian about vaccinations, parasite monitoring, hoof care, kidding emergencies, and which supplies belong in your farm first-aid kit. Learn how to take a goat's temperature, assess hydration, recognize abnormal behavior, and safely restrain an animal for examination.
Parasite control has changed since many older homesteading articles were written. Pumpkins and other folk remedies should not replace fecal testing, FAMACHA training where appropriate, pasture management, and targeted treatment recommended by a veterinarian. Treating every goat on a calendar without evidence can contribute to drug-resistant parasites. That said, goats generally love pumpkins, and there is nothing wrong with letting them enjoy some in the fall. Just make sure the pumpkins are fresh and sound, not moldy, fermented, or rotting.
Hooves also need regular attention. How often you trim depends on growth, terrain, moisture, and the individual goat. A milk stand or secure handling area makes hoof work much safer. When you are learning, it is fine to do one hoof, let everyone settle down, and continue later.
I like to use pruning clippers for bushes rather than fancy hoof clipping nippers. They are easier for smaller hands to maneuver.
Think carefully before keeping a buck
You may not need to own a buck simply because you want your does bred. Bucks require particularly secure fencing, separate housing when appropriate, and confident handling. During breeding season, they can become strong, smelly, pushy, and difficult.
Using a reputable breeder's buck or arranging another breeding option may be easier for a small herd. If you do keep a buck, do not treat him like a cuddly baby who is allowed to push, rear, or play roughly with people. Cute behavior in a small kid can become dangerous behavior in a full-grown animal.
Breeding also deserves more planning than putting a buck and doe together. You need to consider the doe's age, size, health, genetics, body condition, kidding date, shelter, and access to help. Goat gestation averages about five months, so breeding dates determine whether you are assisting with births during a pleasant spring week or the coldest night of the year.
One year we had 8 babies on January 1st - it was below zero - babies are wet when they are born - it was all hands on deck to dry and cuddle these babies yet keep them close to their moms.
Before kidding season, learn normal presentations and warning signs from a veterinarian or hands-on class. Have an emergency number and transportation plan ready. A blog post cannot teach the judgment needed for a difficult delivery. Once I got the hang off it though, I was a trained human doula, I became know in our valley as the goat doula.
Milking ties you to a schedule
Milking a goat is not technically difficult once you and the doe learn the routine. The larger commitment is doing it consistently and keeping everything clean.
A good milk stand is worth having. Some does will patiently eat while you milk. Others will attempt to place one perfectly timed foot in the bucket. Clean equipment, clean hands, udder preparation, rapid cooling, and safe milk handling all matter.
Before buying dairy goats, think honestly about travel, illness, winter chores, and who can milk when you cannot. Fresh milk is wonderful, but it arrives attached to a living animal with a schedule.
Decide how large your herd is allowed to become
Goat math happens quickly. One or two does can produce several kids in a season. If you keep every doe kid, add a buck, and repeat the process, a charming little herd can become an expensive management problem.
Decide your limit before kidding begins. Know whether you have a responsible market for kids and what you will do with males. Factor in feed, fencing, shelter, veterinary care, hoof trimming, minerals, bedding, and the time required for every additional animal.
Keeping fewer goats well is better than keeping too many because you could not bear to make a plan.
What I wish I had known most
I wish I had known that goats would be both easier and harder than I imagined.
They are easier because they are personable, trainable, and wonderfully responsive to routine. They can provide milk, meat, brush control, manure, entertainment, and stories you will repeat for years.
They are harder because good care requires preparation. Fencing matters. Nutrition matters. Parasites matter. Breeding decisions matter. Having a veterinarian matters. Loving the animal does not replace learning what the animal needs.
I also wish I had known how attached I would become. Goats have distinct personalities, opinions, friendships, grudges, and an almost supernatural ability to appear innocent while standing beside something they have just destroyed.
Go into goat ownership with your eyes open and your fence finished. They may still outsmart you, but at least you will be starting from solid ground.
This article shares personal experience and general educational information. Work with a livestock veterinarian and your local Extension service for feeding, disease prevention, medication, breeding, and emergency care appropriate to your herd and location.
Comments
Post a Comment