Check for goat safety hazards on your farm

In the past few months I have heard of several incidents of goats breaking their front legs. In all cases, the break was caused by a play structure that had been put in the pasture for kids to play on.

Knowing that your carelessness caused your goat to get injured is hard to deal with. So take the time now to investigate your barn and pasture for safety hazards. Some common ones that can lead to broken legs are:

• Wood pallets. If you are using wood pallets for your goats to jump and rest on, make sure to add a piece of plywood to the top to cover the slats.
• Wooden spools. Goat owners get these from telephone companies and other businesses. Goats love to jump on them, but they have holes on the top that a kid's leg can go through, causing injury. These also need to have plywood covering the holes in the top.
• Play structures. Play structures and playhouses can also be a favorite of goat kids. In a recent case, a farmer had one goat break a front leg and another break both front legs before discovering that the problem was a child's wooden cabin that had recently been added to the pasture. Before putting out one of these structures, check it out to make sure there aren't any cracks, holes or other areas where a goat's leg might get caught and fix the problems. Or consider using Little Tyke plastic play structures, which are a lot safer and can often be found at garage sales.
  

Raising Goats for Dummies covers making your goat area safe before you get goats, as well as most other subjects that new or veteran goat owners need to know. You can read reviews of the book at amazon.com.

Manuscript-eating Goat

No, goats don't eat tin cans! But they do it the paper labels on them. I have had goats eat their certificates and ribbons from a goat show, and part of a page from a paperback book.

Follow this link for funny story that demonstrates why you need to keep your important papers in a place goats can't reach.

New Zealand Proposal to ban tethering of goats

I was happy to read about a proposal by a group in New Zealand to ban the inhumane practice of tethering goats. This is an issue that needs to come to the attention of the public and to be banned throughout the world. Goats deserve to be treated humanely and not put in harm's way.

Idiot tethers goat with fatal result

The killing of a tethered goat in Forest Grove, Oregon, was reported in that local paper. A judgment regarding the inhumanity of tethering goats was not mentioned. Instead, it was reported that the bear will be killed if it comes back, because of its crime of killing livestock.

Please, people, DO NOT tether your goats! Tethered goats are bait for predators--including bears, cougars, and even domestic dogs. They can become tangled, hang themselves or suffer other mishaps. This goat should not have been tethered and the bear doesn't deserve to die.

A responsible goat owner will make sure that goats have fencing and an appropriate and safe shelter, and if they live in an isolated area, a guardian animal for protection. Tethering is cruel and inhumane and so is leaving a goat without a herd to interact with. The owner should be fined for doing this in the first place.

Goat Health Care Freeby for the Day

In order to provide good goat health care, it's important to track problems and routine treatments. I have created a Goat Health Record form for this purpose and just added it to my website so goat owners can download a pdf for their own use. You can use it for tracking kidding, injections, hoof trimming, or any other health-related activity and keep one for each goat in a notebook in the barn.

You can also use it to compare for patterns (e.g., what time of day or night did a doe previously kid?) or to remind yourself that a certain goat seems prone to overeating and getting bloat. I know I sometimes forget from year to year that a goat was sick, once she recovers.

Happy Goating!

Raising Goats for Dummies

It's finally on store shelves and even at goathealthcare.com! Raising Goats for Dummies is a fantastic resource for goat owners. It covers all the basics for any kind of goat and also has information on milking, clicker training, cart training, clipping fiber goats and tanning goat hides.

If you are looking for just a few basic books for raising goats, we currently have a sale of both books for $40, with a $5.00 after purchase rebate for Raising Goats for Dummies if you buy it by the end of the month.

If you are thinking about getting goats, read this book first. It will teach you about all the different goats and help you decide what breed you want, as well as help you get your farm or urban setting prepared for your goats. Goat Health Care takes it a step further, with drug dosages for goats, herbal remedies, troubleshooting health problems and even dealing with the death of a goat.

Raising Goats for Dummies

I have finished writing Raising Goats for Dummies and am working on the edits now! The book will be out in February. It's a great book for anyone who is new to goats. It tells you how to choose your goats, what you need to take care of them, basic ailments, goat behavior and even how to tan a hide, process fleece into yarn, milk a goat and turn it into cheese and become more self-sustaining with goats.

Between the "Dummies" book and Goat Health Care you have most all the reference materials you need for taking care of your goats. Both cover all types of goats.