Information compiled by Dr. Bob McClung
Goats are intelligent, social, and challenging to herd
Goat Facts: Goats are versatile, domesticated animals kept for meat, milk, and fiber. The domestic goat is a species of goat-antelope mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bovidae, meaning it is closely related to the sheep.
Goat Facts:
- First tamed by humans 9-10,000BC
- Member of the cattle family
- 210 breeds with 450 million worldwide (4-6% in the USA)
- China has the most goats at 170 million
- Goats’ eyes are rectangular in shape instead of oval
- They have good night vision
- Goats are bred for milk production, meat, skin, cashmere, mohair, and as pets.
- Life span is 8-12 years, with exceptions of up to 15+ years
- Worldwide, more people eat or drink milk from goats than from any other species
- Goats don’t like to get wet and will seek shelter when it is raining
- Goats are very susceptible to parasites
- Goats deposit fat internally and less externally than sheep and cattle; therefore, they have more fat around their organs.
- Goat milk is hypoallergenic and higher in Calcium and Vitamin A than cow’s milk.
- Goat milk is naturally homogenized and can be digested in less than 20 minutes, while cow’s milk may take all day.
- Goat meat has less fat and cholesterol than beef, pork, mutton, or poultry.
More Goat Facts:
- Coffee was 1st discovered when herders noted animals acting very energized after nibbling on coffee beans.
- Dairy goats produce 2-3 quarts of milk/day or 5000 gallons of milk/year, with some improved milkers producing more than 1 gallon per day.
- Goats can consume 3-5% of their body weight of dry matter on good pasture and less on poor pasture.
- Market infrastructure is disorganized in the movement from farm to consumer
- Some goats have milked up to 5 years after only one gestation
- Goats don’t have tear ducts
- Goats’ primary illnesses are coccidiosis, parasitic worms, and pneumonia
- Goats don’t like to eat feed that has been soiled, contaminated, or has been on the ground
- Some naturally polled goats are also infertile (male or female)
- Goats like to eat woody plants and are utilized as pre-grazers in the West to improve pastures for cattle, e.g., leafy spurge
- Azaleas are poisonous to goats
- Vomiting is almost always a sign of poisonous plant consumption
- Lactating in close contact with “musty” bucks may produce “goaty” tasting milk and may be offensive.
Parasite Strategy
- Feeding Coccidiostat for 2 weeks in feed to late gestating decreases the environmental load and the passage of Coccidia from adults to young.
- Always use Coccidiostat in the starter or creep feed
- Have a clean and dry environment
- Coccidia is worse in cold and wet times of the year
Worm Strategy
- Inhibition-heavy loads of worms change the pH of the gut and cause ½ of the worms to cover their mouth parts with membrane and leave the body for the new host: parasite survival techniques
- We have learned that the food source in the worms’ bodies only lasts 42 days
- Don’t pasture for 45 days after 1st green grass
- ½ of the worms starve on the pasture. This is a great time to worm goats in the 45-day inhibition phase
- Parasites lose resistance to wormer in 18 months
- Use wormers strategically and rotate
- Spring-August 30, 30 days before kidding
- Deworm does this within 30 days before kidding to prevent transfers from the nanny to the kid.
Breeding Facts
- Age of puberty: female 7-10 months; male 4-8 months
- Breeding age male 8-10 months
- A healthy buck can breed 20-40 does
- Gestation length 146-153 days
- Females 80# body weight, time to breed or 75% of adult weight
- Estrus length 12-36 hours
- Signs are tail wagging, mucous discharge, swollen vulva, bleating, mounting, or being mounted.
- Female adult weight 22-300# breed dependent
- Male adult weight 27-350# breed dependent
- Goats can deliver up to 3 litters of kids in 2 years
- Goats can deliver 1-5 kids/gestation
Odd Reproduction Problems of Small Ruminants
- Ringwomb
- No consistent predispositions, etiology unknown
Theories:
- Genetic link-autosomal recessive
- Lack of release of hormones that soften cervical collagen
- Infectious in nature (unlikely)
- Estrogens in feed, moldy feedstuffs
- It may or may not recur in the same female
- Manual dilation doesn’t work- still left with a thin band of cervical tissue
- No studies clearly document the efficacy of any drug or treatment to complete dilation
Treatment:
- Not advised to pull. Will get hemorrhage and death of neonate +/- dam
- Cesarean
Goat Facts: Abnormal udder development
- Rare in sheep, common in goats
- Precocious udder development
- Young, unbred goat
- Glands produce normal, mild
Treatment
- Prostaglandin, then FSH if it fails
- Do not milk out
- Cease grain
If a goat is not for show, do nothing
Pseudopregnancy (Cloudburst pregnancy)
- Goats have never been reported in sheep
- Unknown etiology
- Accumulation of fluid in the uterus
- It may or may not have udder development
- Treatment is Prostaglandin because a CL is persistent. To prevent this, some breeders breed on the first cycle.
- The goat is anestrus during this time but remains fertile.
Spontaneous Lactation
- It seems to be relatively common and of no consequence
- Unknown etiology
- Estrogens in feed, estrogens from an abnormal ovary
- Mastitis
Treatment
- None required
- Can try hormonal therapy
- Mastectomy, ovariectomy, ovariohysterectomy
Goat Facts: Tips on Natural Synchronization
- Remove bucks from sight, sound, and smell 2-3 months
- Start to flush 2-3 weeks before breeding
- Deworm 2 weeks before breeding
- Pen “teaser bucks” or bucks in nannies to breed
- 15 days before the breed turn out on the desired breed date (male odor, behavior stimulates synchronization of estrus)
- We also use 9mg/# of LA200 2 weeks before breeding to decrease Chlamydia, Campylobacter & Lepto
Livestock Products for Goats & Sheep
- Newborn Immune Primer Original for Goats and Sheep
- Newborn Stress Premix for Goats and Sheep
- Adult Immune Primer Support for Livestock
- Adult Stress Premix for Goats and Sheep