Goat Management
Here's a rundown on how we manage our goats. Note - this works for us. What works for us may not work for everyone so please do not take this as what you should be doing if what you are doing is working for you!
Feed
Bucks and wethers are fed Producer's Pride All Grain at the rate of 1lb per 100lbs of body weight per day. They are supplied 16:8 Meatmaker Mineral free-choice specifically formulated for the buck and/or wether's needs. They also have a white salt block to lick if they want. Due to our location, bucks and wethers are on natural forage almost all year. When we do feed hay, we make sure to feed first or second cutting grass hay with lots of weeds. The point here is that we are very careful to never feed more than 9% protein to our bucks and wethers.
Does are not fed any grain anymore, but rather are provided molasses lick tubs free-choice. There are many lick tubs out there, we use Crystalix NE 12 tubs for cattle. They are available at Cenex Town and Country Supply in Laurel, MT in 250lb tubs. The nutrition in the lick tubs is unparalleled and the fighting issues that occurred during grain-feeding times are gone. With the nutritional value, no free-choice loose mineral is needed anymore, either. Switching to the lick tubs was not only better for the does but more labor and cost effective for us as well.
Kids are on natural forage and/or hay, depending upon what time of year they are born and as soon as they want to be. We usually provide a little grain to the weanlings during weaning time, this being Purina Goat Chow. All kids are sold knowing how to eat a wide variety of food, including: browse, graze, hay, pellet feed, and lick tubs.
Feeders
We make hay feeders ourselves (see below). They do not leak and ensure there is no urinating/defecating or standing in the hay. They are handy and portable. Info on where to purchase the crates and how to put them together can be provided upon request.
Empty shipping crate feeder below.
Load 4 small square bales ON EDGE see below.
Load another layer of 4 square bales ON EDGE see below.
Wooden top is held on by 4 screws, 1 in each corner see below.
Side view of feeder full of hay see below.
Feeder below is 2 joined together, with center removed.
Barrel feeder below.
When we used to feed grain, we did so out of our homemade "goat feedlot" (see pics below. We kept the pics up on the website for reference in case anyone else needed an idea.) Again, no standing in! You may also notice the river rock in front of the feedlot trough. We placed rock around all of the water tanks as well. We only have to trim feet about twice per year since we added the rocks, and our goats' feet have never looked better! Also, the rock ensures that when goats are eating or drinking at the troughs when it has rained, they are standing on rock rather than sinking in mud or slop. We take every precaution to make sure our goats NEVER eat off of the ground, thus greatly reducing the parasite load!
Water
We run fresh water through a constant drip system year-round, even in winter. No stale water here.
Homemade Shelters / Barn
We have gotten very creative in building shelters! The simple shelter below is constructed of wood pallets and old scrap barn boards.
The shelter below here is a 4x7x7 shipping box with one side cut out. Plastic or tarps are placed directly on the tops then an additional wood roof is placed over the plastic. They are leak-proof and will last a long time. They have no floors and when bedding gets soiled the whole structure is moved to a new, clean location.
The range shelter below is permanently built. You can see we have also built a permanent feed trough along side.
For bedding we use Cottonwood chips or grass hay or straw.
Pic of barn coming soon.
Fence
We use Red Brand Goat Fence with 4x4 squares or Welded Wire Utility Panels also with 4x4 squares. Goats can't jump over or get their heads caught!
Handling Equipment
Introducing our new "Spin Doctor" from Sydell with digital scale! (Pic coming soon)
Medicine / Vaccines
Our goats are de-wormed with Normectin (formerly Ivermectin) injectable for cattle and swine. It is given orally at the cattle dose (1ml per 110lbs) every 3 months. Kids get their first deworming at 3 months.
All goats are given 2ml of GoatVac CD-T annually. Kids are given 2ml at 4 weeks then 2ml again at 8 weeks.
Disease Management
We test all newly aquired goats and keepers born here over 6 months of age for CL (Caseous Lymphadenitis) and CAE (Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis Virus). All foundation goats are clean and we guarantee all goats sold from here to be clean also when tested at 6 months of age or a 100% refund of the purchase price will be given, should you decide to keep the goat or not. We will need to see the veterinary results of the positive tests for the refund.
General Management
We do not breed any doe under 1 year of age. We also do not allow any outside does to be bred to our bucks if they are under 1 year of age. WE KNOW THERE ARE BREEDERS OUT THERE WHO WILL DISAGREE, but we view breeding does to kid on or before their first birthday the same way we would view an 11 or 12 year old human female having a baby. Just because nature has given them cycles at an early age doesn't mean they should be put to use. We raise big, South-African goats who have BIG babies that weigh between 10 and 12lbs. Does under 1 year of age are not structurally big enough to have the kids on their own, which is what they should be expected to do. Breeding an extremely young doe, at least to our bucks, will cost you both your doe and your kids. We will not have that on our conscience. Some exceptions may be made if your doe is 10 months old but in that case the doe must weigh at least 100lbs! Whether your does are fit to be bred here is up to OUR discretion and WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE OUTSIDE BREEDING SERVICES TO ANYONE!!!!!
Bucklings are sold from 3 months and doelings from 4 months. We like to give each weanling kid about 2 weeks of weaning time before they leave the ranch.
All kids are handled at least twice per day every day, making them well socialized to human contact. Once in a while you will get one that is just plain born wild and stays wild, but here it is rare. Most of our foundation does and bucks are lead-broke also.
We are hands-on kidders. We check does about every 3 hours and are ready to phone a vet should we anticipate a problem. We dip umbilical cords in Iodine and stay with the does and their newborns to witness nursing. They are again checked every 3 hours after birthing to ensure kids are getting up to feed. Does and newborns are kept by themselves for about 5 days before letting them out with the others, and if they need more time alone we give them that. We usually continue locking them up at night for about 3 weeks. To date all of our does have displayed excellent mothering ability.
We do not and will never disbud any goats born here. Sorry 4-H'ers, but we believe this practice to be CRUEL AND UNNECESSARY!
We use Llamas for guard animals.
We keep detailed records using Ranch Management software from Lion Edge Technologies. When you purchase a goat from us you will get detailed printouts on that goat's health and vaccines, tattoos, tags, pedigree, birth weight, weaning weight, gestation history, etc just to name a few.
If you have never purchased goats from us before, please don't be put off by the fact that we tend to ask questions. This is to ensure we are giving you a goat that is a right fit for you. For example, a beginning goat owner may want tamer, gentler goats starting out. Experienced goat owners are prepared for the wilder ones. What are your long-term goals? Do you want show goats right off the bat or are you looking for good genetics in seed stock to start your own herd? Are virgin does OK or do you want proven mothers only? Do pedigrees matter to you? Fullblood or Percentage? Price range? Pets? We feel all these questions are necessary to prevent the "uh-oh, what have I gotten myself into" situation after you get home with your new goats. Please feel free to ask questions of us as well.
We are members of the American Boer Goat Association, the International Boer Goat Association, the Mountain States Meat Goat Association, and the Snake River Meat Goat Association.
Stacy is an Artifical Insemination technician and HAS RECEIVED her Master Meat Goat Producer certificate from Langston University, a goat research facility. She is also planning on attending a Judge Certification program provided by the ABGA in San Angelo, TX soon.