In my opinion, buying goats locally is the best way to go. You don't have to worry about them getting severely stressed from a long ride in a vehicle or a plane, you can check them, their surroundings and their herd mates out before buying them, and if, for some reason, they have to be returned you will have an easy time doing so.
However, sometimes you may need (or just really want) to buy a goat from out-of-state. Maybe finding a buck who is not related is impossible in your area, or you want to improve your herd with a special animal or two. Learning the requirements for importing into or exporting out of any state is only a click away with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Import and Export web page.This helpful site has links to regulations in all states and Guam, as well as international requirements.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
How to tell if your goat is going to kid
This excerpt from Goat Health Care that tells you when your goat is going to kid:
How do you know what to look for? The first thing is a softening of the tail ligaments. This is 100% effective, in my experience. If you check the doe long before she reaches this stage, you will know what you are feeling. I have been mistaken though, even recently, in a doe with very widely spaced ligaments.
Visualize a V on top of the goat’s rump stretching to the tail, with the point at the tail. These are the tail ligaments, and when they go completely mushy the doe will kid within 24 and, often, within 12 hours. This is the best sign that she is entering the first stage of labor. You can sometimes tell that this has occurred if the goat seems to have lost her ability to hold the tail up. (You can find a diagram of the ligaments at the Fiasco Farm site, as well as lots of other helpful kidding information.)
Also look at the udder. The udder will begin to develop and fill. In some does this will begin to occur months in advance, in others it happens in the last 3-4 weeks, and in other cases not until right before kidding. Checking regularly toward the end of pregnancy is helpful, if the doe is agreeable. Otherwise, just look at it closely for changes; it often become taut and shiny.
You may also begin to see some discharge and the shape of the doe’s body may change as the babies begin to move into position for birth. Watch for behavior changes, such as pawing at the ground, loss of appetite, more talking, personality changes (e.g., the goat doesn’t want you to leave), changing position frequently and looking uncomfortable, licking herself, breathing more heavily or grinding teeth.
Although some goats will isolate themselves, I have often observed fighting with other does, and actually had to separate the mother for safety. Each doe is different and may show different signs that she is going to kid soon.
According to David MacKenzie, in Goat Husbandry, as long as your can see the kid(s) as a bulge on the right side and see movement, the goat is unlikely to kid within the next 12 hours. I have not tried this method.
How do you know what to look for? The first thing is a softening of the tail ligaments. This is 100% effective, in my experience. If you check the doe long before she reaches this stage, you will know what you are feeling. I have been mistaken though, even recently, in a doe with very widely spaced ligaments.
Visualize a V on top of the goat’s rump stretching to the tail, with the point at the tail. These are the tail ligaments, and when they go completely mushy the doe will kid within 24 and, often, within 12 hours. This is the best sign that she is entering the first stage of labor. You can sometimes tell that this has occurred if the goat seems to have lost her ability to hold the tail up. (You can find a diagram of the ligaments at the Fiasco Farm site, as well as lots of other helpful kidding information.)
Also look at the udder. The udder will begin to develop and fill. In some does this will begin to occur months in advance, in others it happens in the last 3-4 weeks, and in other cases not until right before kidding. Checking regularly toward the end of pregnancy is helpful, if the doe is agreeable. Otherwise, just look at it closely for changes; it often become taut and shiny.
You may also begin to see some discharge and the shape of the doe’s body may change as the babies begin to move into position for birth. Watch for behavior changes, such as pawing at the ground, loss of appetite, more talking, personality changes (e.g., the goat doesn’t want you to leave), changing position frequently and looking uncomfortable, licking herself, breathing more heavily or grinding teeth.
Although some goats will isolate themselves, I have often observed fighting with other does, and actually had to separate the mother for safety. Each doe is different and may show different signs that she is going to kid soon.
According to David MacKenzie, in Goat Husbandry, as long as your can see the kid(s) as a bulge on the right side and see movement, the goat is unlikely to kid within the next 12 hours. I have not tried this method.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
CAEV can be detected in seminal fluid
A recent online article reported that for his PhD thesis veterinary surgeon Hugo Ramírez Álvarez showed that goat seminal fluid can be used to detect antibodies to caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV). His study had four purposes:
- to characterize the genetic type of the lentivirus present in a mixed flock of sheep and goats born in Mexico
- to study the virus in different organs/tissues of sheep from Castille & León (Spain) affected by a visna (OPPV) outbreak, to determine what extent the type of virus is responsible for the clinical symptoms described in this outbreak
- to evaluate the effectiveness of the commercial ELISA tests (techniques for detecting the presence of antibodies, especially blood samples) and those designed in this research with short chains of proteins (peptides), and
- to diagnose the infection through lentivirus based on seminal fluid antibodies.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Goat Garden in the Philippines
A recent article in the Manila Bulletin covered a goat operation in the Philippines, Alaminos Goat Farm, that developed a salad garden as a more economical and sustainable way to feed their animals. They found that the plant indigofera helped to improve the milk yields of their goats. The plant contains almost 25% protein, is about 85% digestible and contains 2% calcium, making it a very nutritious plant.
According to the article, "research work done by Ngo van Man, Nguyen van Hao & Vuon minh Tri of the Animal Nutrition Department, University of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Min City Vietnam. . . [found that] indigofera’s plant growth rate as well as its biomass yields are much higher compared to most of the plants included in the research. In selecting the tree legumes to be studied, they chose drought resistant species that will perform on poor soils. The soil was fertilized with goat manure and organic fertilizer during the study."
According to the farmers, indigofera must be given to goats when they are young, to get them used to eating it. To be most digestible and palatable, it must be cut every 30 days and fed to them, as well.
They don't say which of the 70 or so varieties of indigofera they use, however. Some varieties of the plant are also used as a dye (indigo) and a pain-reliever.
(Goats above are in Bali, eating a plant that resembles indigofera.)
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Review of Raising Goats for Dummies
If are looking for a good Christmas (or anytime) present for a goat-obsessed friend, search no more. Raising Goats for Dummies is an excellent book packed with information on goats. And lest you think I am just tooting my own horn, here is a review of the book.
I wrote this book to help current and potential goat owners understand what it really takes to be a good goatkeeper, based on 12 years of trial and error learning on my own goat herd.
(Left: ARMCH Mystic Acres Hermione Granger)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Kidding Kit
We are in the heart of breeding season (some of you may already be done), so it's not too early to start thinking about putting together a kidding kit. Once you have it done, you can rest easy, and you won't have to run around trying to find things when the blessed event occurs.
You'll need a container to keep everything in, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy - in fact, you can just use a box. Here are some items that you should have available at kidding:
You'll need a container to keep everything in, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy - in fact, you can just use a box. Here are some items that you should have available at kidding:
- 7% iodine for dipping cords
- A plastic film can or prescription bottle to put iodine in for easy dipping
- A flashlight (one of those lights you wear on your head will free your hands)
- Dental floss, to tie a cord if you have to cut it
- Sterilized surgical scissors for cutting cords
- Bulb suction
- Old towels for cleaning kids
- Betadine surgical scrub for washing hands
- Disposable exam gloves
- K-Y jelly
- Feeding syringe and tube for weak kids
- Empty feed bags to put under kidding goats (easy clean-up)
- Empty pop bottles and Pritchard teat, if kids have to be bottle-fed
- Raising Goats for Dummies, p 215-216
Friday, August 20, 2010
Breeding Season is almost upon us
The temperature dropped to 48 degrees F. here in the coast range of Oregon last night. It's this kind of unusual low temperature that tells the goats that fall is coming and it's time to get bred again. How do I know this? I just have to walk by the buck pen and that familiar smell wafts into my nostrils. The girls haven't quite figured it out, but they will soon enough.
In response to this annual event, here are some tips for dealing with your bucks, from Goat Health Care:
- Deworm your buck(s) and give a supplemental Bo-Se shot
- Trim hooves and do a general check of the buck's condition
- Consider providing some supplemental grain and warm water to bucks during breeding season; sometimes they are so worked up they forget to eat, so they need extra energy
- Some bucks will get urine scald on the muzzle, or less frequently, other parts of the body. A coating of petroleum jelly, herbal ointment or zinc oxide will help healing and provide a barrier to further urine
- Some bucks will get overly aggressive with other bucks, or even the owner, during breeding season, even injuring them. Keep a close eye on them during breeding season and separate them, if necessary.
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