Feeding

Goats don't take a lot of care. But, you have to feed them either 2 or 3 times daily. it is better for goats to be fed a little at a time more often but, you can just feed them twice a day. Some goats eat until they explode and some just eat a little at a time. It is still very important to feed them the requirement. Most goats get fed about 1 cup of grain twice a day but, you may want to check the grain bag because some are more fattening then others and some fill them up more. If you feed them too much or they eat too much in the field they may get bloat. A way to prevent bloat is to put baking soda in there grain. The recommended amount would be about 2 tablespoons full. In the winter when it is cold they look forward to some nice and hot water they also like a little flavor so I give them tea and they love it and it is good for them. Goats also love getting treats. They like any fruits, veggies, or bread like I feed my goats Peta pockets some times and they suck them down like no tomorrow looking for more. Here is a website that I use a lot to look at treat recipes and all of the things that I made I just throw into their grain buckets and they love them. They also put llama treat recipes in here but, the goats love them just as much. CLICK HERE http://animalsnackables.com and then on the side it has pet recipes and they have all kinds of animal treat recipes if you click on the animal you are looking for and there is one picture of a goat that says goat and llama treats and they have a lot of good recipes there.

The Goat Kid's Journey

After the birth the mother will step in and start licking the kid to get all of the mucus off and to stimulate its breathing. You have to make sure though that the kid is freed from the sack and its mouth and its nose is clear from any mucus so that it can breath. There is really no need to cut off the umbilical cord. This is only necessary if there is any major bleeding from it then you may have to tie it off with something like dental floss. After about an hour you should dip the cord into 7 % iodine to prevent any infection. Within a half an hour the kid will atemp to stand and nerse. It is very important that you make sure that the kid nurses because it needs colostrum from the milk from its mother. The colostrum provides immunoglobulins that the kid cant live without. Before the kid turns ten days old it is your chance to get them dehorned. They dont have to be dehorned. But, you will want to get them dehorned if you are thinking of showing them. Before getting them dehorned you will have to give them their tetanus shot to provide a temporary prevention from tetanus. Also at the time that you are dehorning the kids any male kids should be castrated at this time. The tetanus shot is repeted every month for newborns. Also BoSe is given and repeated every six months.

Check Up

Make sure that you do a thorough check up on your goats weekly. You want to check if they need their hooves trimmed, to be wormed, or if their behavior is off you may want to check their temp. Their temp should be about 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, after winter they will shed thier winter coat and you should comb it out.

Goat Toys

Goats love to climb. Put anything that has height in their pen to climb on. If you can find them, they like wooden cable reels like in the picture of Stormy and Peanut in the background. They can chew on the wood and climb on top of them. They also like to climb on tall boulders and logs. This is also good for wearing down their hooves and keeping their hooves short and healthy.

See When Your Goat Is Due

http://www.goats4h.com/Goats.html

A Goat's Labor

A goats gestation time is about 150 days. A few weeks before the due date the goats utters will get bigger. You will notice that just a few days before the goat has its baby there teats will be waxy and check the goat daily to see if there is any milk that comes out of the teat. Make sure that you check the mother daily for any unusual behavior or if she is laying down a lot. This usually indicates that she is getting ready to go into labor. Also make sure that you check for if she is wet by her tail and this will mean that her water broke. You have to spend a lot of time checking in because if you do and something goes wrong and your not there you may end up loosing not just the baby, but the mother too.

How To Tell If Your Goats Have Worms

You can tell if your goats hove worms if they are loosing weight or if your goat's coat is rough looking. You can also tell by looking at their gums or eyelids. If the gums and eye lids are nice and pink they don't have worms. If their eye lids and gums are pale your goats might have worms and may need to be medically evaluated. If you see white your goat needs to be looked at immediately by a vet. Vet experts say that many goat sudden deaths are caused by worms. Again I recommend that you talk to your vet about how to worm your goat and what medications to use because it varies in different parts of the country.

Avoiding Infestations

It is very important that you keep your barn clean. This is the key in avoiding infestations. Parasites are passed from animal to animal through their stool. You should clean and put down new bedding weekly in your goats shelter in order to keep then healthy and worm free.

worming

Worming is necessary to keep healthy goats. How many times a year you have to worm your goats depends on how big your herd is. If you have one or two goats I recommend that you should worm them twice a year. If you have a big herd you should worm them more often. Ask your vet how many times you should worm your goats. Infestations may occur when you have a big hers so I still recommend on asking your vet to be safe.

grooming

Goats love being groomed. It also gives you a chance to check your goats for problems like lice in large herds especially in the winter when they spend most of their time in the barn, or even trimming their hooves. When you are grooming your goat and you detect lice be sure to call your vet. Ask your vet or breeder about effective lice treatment.