Maintenance
- Check your goat from nose to tail daily for anything out of the ordinary.
- Goats must have a covered shelter, protection from heat and cold.
- Check all pens and pastures for any toxic/poisonous plants and trees. A single leaf of azalea, laurel, or rhododendron can kill a goat. You can find detailed lists online.
- Access to clean water at all times. Change it twice a day, it can accumulate dust and harmful bacteria.
- Access to free choice loose minerals and baking soda. We have plastic mineral trays from the feed store, they are very durable and useful. Refresh these once every three days.
- CDT vaccination once per year (or as directed by veterinarian) Your kid(s) have received their initial two doses of CDT.
- Deworm annually and when necessary. It is always best to run a fecal and only deworm if necessary
- Trim hooves once per month. Check between the toes for hoof rot.
- De-lice when and if necessary with diatomaceous earth.
- Monitor for signs of diarrhea. When you see it, consult vet and treat immediately with Slippery Elm drench.
- We give a dose of Selenium E Gel every two months starting at six months.
- If a goat is not feeling its best, we have found ProBios and Nutri Drench to be beneficial.
- Nutri-Drench and Pro-Bios are two things we have at all times.
- Prevent coccidiosis on your farm by keeping bedding, water pails, and feeders clean. We bleach bowls and buckets monthly. Consult vet immediately if your goat is losing appetite, energy, weight, and having diarrhea.
- Nu-Stock from Jeffer’s Pet is something we use to heal up hair loss scabs. Smear Nu-Stock on scab.
- For skin irritation and minor hair loss on whole body, we have found bathing a goat in goat milk (yes, goat milk) and warm water to be very beneficial.
Grain and Hay Feeding
Does, bucks, wethers: Free choice grass hay. Milking does, alfalfa.
Weaned kids get approx. ⅓ cup grain morning and night for one year. Watch weight to determine quantity. We use Conway 16% Dairy Grain and X – Cel feeds, and we have provided enough grain for you to transition feed and mineral brands if desired. Free choice minerals – Sweetlix MeatMaker minerals are great.
Bottle Feeding Schedule
| Age | times per day | Amount per feeding |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 days | 5 | 1-2 ounces |
| 3-14 days | 4 | 2-4 ounces |
| 2 weeks-3 months | 3-4 | 6 ounces (4x, day) 8 ounces(3x, day) |
| 3-4 months | 2 | 10 ounces |
| 4 months | 1 | 12 ounces |
Above is our bottle feeding schedule we use. We like to slowly transition the kids onto the bottle around 3-4 weeks, that way they have a healthy start (being dam-raised) and they get the extra milk when they need it (when we transition them to bottles).
Brands & Items we use:
- GEM Large Flake – for bedding – always top with straw
- SweetLix MeatMaker Minerals
- Conway Grain
- Orchard Grass 2nd Cutting
- ProBios – for unhappy tummies and stressful events, new homes
- Nutri Drench – energy booster
- MannaPro Electrolytes – for diarrhea
- Bio Sponge – scours
Goat Care calendar
- Daily:
- Fresh water morning/evening
- Fresh hay (or refill when needed)
- Grain (as needed, see above)
- Weekly:
- Refresh minerals
- Top dress stall, if needed
- Every 2-3 weeks:
- Stall clean
- Milkroom clean
Signs of Illness
- Inactive
- Grinding teeth (unrelated to chewing cud)
- Complaining noises
- Coughing
- Quick, shallow breaths
- Any change in normal behavior
- Eats less or none
- Urinates more than usual
- Temperature higher than 103F or lower than 101F
- Hair loss, scabs on skin
- white or grey gums
Lice Treatment
We have found that when diatomaceous earth doesn’t do the trick for getting rid of the lice, we sprinkle the farm and garden sulfur powder on them. The lice quickly went away. However, one of our does had gone through so much dusting of diatomaceous earth and sulfur powder to treat the lice that her skin had gotten dry. We gave her a bath in warm goat milk and water, and her skin became more hydrated.
Smiling Goat Farm 