Thoughts for Prospective Goat Owners
Many people who visit Dry Hollow Farm, stay in one of our cabins, or speak with us at events are considering goats, whether as pets or as livestock. After interacting with our crew, they have a number of questions about their care, their habits, and their milk.
So we decided to take a moment and share our top ten thoughts about raising dairy goats!
#1 Goats are herd animals. This means they feel safest when they live with a group of other goats. Goats are very low on the food chain, and their primary advantage over predators is being part of a group. Without this cohort, they will exhibit extreme nervousness and find it difficult to relax. This negatively affects digestion and their mental health in a way that borders on cruelty. Never have just one.
#2 Goats are escape artists. If your fencing has any weak spots, they will find it. We use goat and sheep interwoven wire fencing for each of our pastures. This fencing should go all the way to the ground, and every little gully or low spot must be blocked somehow. Gates are always challenging as many fencers place gates at a height suitable for cattle when the bottom rung really needs to scrape the ground. Also, every possible object that can be used as a platform for jumping over the fence must be removed. We’ve had bucks launch themselves from atop wellheads, horizontal fencing supports, and tree stumps to cross from one pasture to another. A goat will find a way to escape in any way possible.
#3 Every goat is born looking for a way to die. No matter how vigilant the owner is, accidents occur, parasites invade, or a mystery illness strikes your best-looking animal. Prevention is extraordinarily important, but sometimes completely ineffective. Do not be hard on yourself when a goat death occurs. And the more expensive the animal, the more likely an early demise is. Learn from each sad and costly experience.
#4 Parasites will come. We practice every good health approach to livestock raising - pasture rotation, deworming, yearly vaccinations, clean barn, constant access to fresh water, plenty of browse in the summer months and hay in the winter. Still they come. Many new goat owners will experience a “honeymoon” period free of parasites for one to two years when introducing goats to their farm or homestead. This reprieve will not last.
#5 Your herd will have a pecking order. Your alpha animals, usually at least one male and one female, will head-butt, flip, or knock down every other animal when competing for food or attention. They are neither “mean” or “selfish.” They are animals. This is natural and part of the reality of owning a herd.
#6 Any animal you have carries the potential to hurt you, including your sweet, playful, favorite goat. Every goat possesses a hard sheet of bone across the front of their skull that serves as protection against predators or a means of challenging each other for dominance. I quickly learned to turn my face away whenever I pick up a goat, whether a little kid or sick adult, as a hit in the face will cause serious pain to my mouth, upper lip, or nose. I also regularly sport bruises on my arms and legs, especially after hoof trimming day or vaccinations.
#7 Most goats have a sixth sense about your desire to catch them from the moment they see you walk into the barn or pasture. Have a game plan. Although we do not feed much grain or cracked corn to our herd, we occasionally carry in a bucket and pour some into feeding troughs in order to “keep them friendly.” You will never catch a goat by running after it. Instead, you must convince him or her to come to you, or at least into a small enclosure with less running room. Think like a goat. If they are panicked and the herd is running, give it a rest for awhile and try again later.
#8 Keep a close watch on your goats’ backsides and sclera or white part of the eyeball. These two body parts will tell you immediately if your animal has a parasite overload or other health issue. Although if feels a little odd, I spend copious amounts of time in the pasture looking at my herd’s nether regions. If an animal is looking a little thin through the haunches or I see any signs of diarrhea, I immediately pull him or her to check eyes and begin medication plus electrolytes. Normal sclera coloration is salmon-pink. If this area of the eye displays white, the animal has a heavy load of parasites siphoning off blood. Anemia will quickly kill him or her.
#9 Once your goats are in place, you will soon be able to differentiate members of your herd by the sound of their voices and determine if they are in distress or merely hollering for your attention (and possible treats). Goat kids recognize their mothers’ voices, and during the months following kidding season, the farm becomes filled with the sounds of dams and kids locating each other. Some of our goats begin calling for us the moment they hear the squeaking of the back porch door. The sound of a doe giving birth is also easily noted as is a two-month old with their head stuck in a fence.
#10 If your goal is a breeding herd, be prepared for the distinct odor of a breeding buck. After a decade of raising goats, we hardly even notice this scent any longer except as validation that our breeding buck is doing his job. However, we do limit our bucks to only one, two at the most if we are raising for future breeding. We tend to switch bucks every two years, or separate the flock into separate herds. Do not make the mistake of buying multiple cute, adorable bucklings unless you are planning to wether them for companion animals or pets. They grow up quickly and have difficulty adjusting to a herd of multiple, intact males.
I promised myself I would stop at ten, though I am certain fellow goat breeders could (and would) add a variety of other pieces of information. We wish you all the best with your goat adventures!
Dr. Kathryn Bush owns and operates Dry Hollow Farm, a working goat and sheep farm in Huntingdon, Tennessee. Together with her husband, Russell, she creates skincare products from their fresh goat milk, grows organic herbs, welcomes visitors to their two cabins on the farm (available for stays through Airbnb), keeps the farm’s on-site soap shop stocked with their handcrafted products, and enjoys working the farm in company with their Great Pyrenees dogs (who work hard guarding the animals). Check out their natural products featuring farm-grown ingredients here, and sign up for the Dry Hollow Farm newsletter to stay in touch and be the first to hear about farm news, events, and new products.