A Guide To Buying Healthy Goats

If you have not had a lot of experience with buying goats you may wonder what you should look for when purchasing a new goat. You want to make sure that the goats you purchase are healthy and aren't going to rack up a lot of veterinary bills.

  

*Some pictures of typical, healthy goats. Its important to get use to how a goat is suppose to look so that you don’t mistake its pitted, angular shape for thinness and end up overfeeding them. 

Goat's Anatomy & Physiology



Life Span: Usually 10-14 years

Temperature: 38.5-40.5'C

Pulse: 70 to 90 beats per minute

Respiration: 12 to 20 breaths per minute

Ruminal Movements: 1 to 3 minute

Rumen pH: 5.5 to 7.0

Teeth: Four pairs of lower incisors that line up with a dental pad on the upper jaw (goats have no upper front teeth), three premolars on each side of the upper and lower jaws, three molars on each side of the upper and lower jaws.

Stomach: A four-compartmented organ consisting of a rumen, a reticulum, an omasum and abomasum

Intestines: The small intestine is about 24m long and has an average diameter of 2.5cm. It lies on the right side at the rear of the abdominal cavity.

Caecum: The caecum marks the junction of the small and large intestines. It's about 20cm long and 5cm diameter.

Large intestine: The large intestine is about 5m long.

Goat has an extremely adaptable, clever, entertaining, fascinating (and occasionally exasperating!) mind. Adaptability is defined as being able to change to take advantage of the environment.

Goats 101

So, let's start at very beginning by looking at some basic terms and facts.

1. Doe - A female goats. If they're less than a year old, sometimes called doeling.
2. Bucks - A male goat. A young buck is called buckling.
3. Brood doe- A doe that is kept and used for breeding purpose to pass on certain desirable genetic traits.
4. Kid - A baby goat or a goat less than a year old.
5. Yearling - A goat that is between one and two years old.
6. Wether - A castrated male goat
7. Herd - A group of goats.
8. Ruminant - An animal that has a stomach with four compartments and chews cud as part of the digestive process.
9. Udder - The organ in a goat that produces milk.
10. Teat - The protuberance form the udder that you use to milk a goat. Goats have two teats.
11. Dam - A goat's mother
12. Sire - A goat's father.
13. Purebred - Best described as the offspring of two purebred parents of the same distinctive breed. The degree or percentage of breed is determined by the breed association.
14. Registered - Pedigree for individual animal is recorded and accepted by the specific breed association.
15. Crossbred - Each parent is of a different, distinct breed.
16. Upgrading - Use of purebred buck and keeping accurate breeding records with the goal of improving specific traits of herd.
17. Grade - The result of the breeding of purebred (buck) and "ordinary" (doe)
18. Mongrel - The result of a breeding using parents of unknown, unimproved or "grade" ancestry.
19. Backcross - A daughter is bred back to her father or a son back to this mother.
20. Inbreeding -A doe is bred to a buck that is more closely related to her than the average buck. Also refers to the same buck being kept to breed successive generations of female descendants or doe to succeeding male descendants. This, of course, is where so many questions arise for the amateur goat raiser. It is generally stated that inbreeding results in:

• Poor reproductive fitness
• General lack of vigor
• Reduced performance.

Getting Your Goats

Before you purchase a goat, it is important to know why you want it and what you are going to do with it. Consider the following questions:

1. What do I want from my goats- meat, milk, fiber or companionship?

2. How many animals do I want to take care of?

3. What space- both housing and pasture do I have?

4. What goat breeds area available in my area?

If you are expecting to have milk, you definitely don’t want a wether (a castrated male). If you don’t want to milk twice a day for 365 days a year, that wether may be just what you need. Some breeds, such as the Sannen are good meat and milk animals. Like dairy cow, most dairy goats can be used for meats as well milking purposes. Boer goats, traditionally a heavily muscled meat breed. Rare breeds allow you to help preserve unique bloodlines.

The first rule of goat buying is to buy from individual directly. Visit the farm and try to see them all; if there are problems, you should know before you buy. Ask why the goats for sale. Is he changing bloodlines? Downsizing? Switching breeds?

Be aware that unethical or unknowing breeders sometimes sell goats that aren’t' quite what they seem. Purebred Boers, for example are not the same as full-blood Boers, given two goats of equal quality, the full-blood is worth a lot more money. In all seriousness it will be helpful for you to have some idea of the differences between a "good" goat and a "poor" one before you purchase an animal. .Before handling over your cheque, ask for applicable guarantees and sales condition in writing. Do this every time when dealing with seller.

Above all, trust your intuition. If the seller seems evasive or otherwise makes you feel uneasy, thank him for his time and look elsewhere. That are too many honest sellers in the goat world to deal with someone you don't quite trust.

Raising Goats for Food, Profit and Fun

Welcome to the wonderful world of goats! You're probably attracted to the idea of raising goat for a variety reasons. Perhaps you're intrigued by their personalities, their intelligence and spontaneity make them fun animals to raise. They almost seem to have a sense of humor and as long their basic needs are met, they enjoy life fully.

Maybe you're interested in raising goats because they're profitable. Here we don't produce as much goat meat as consumer wish to purchase. Due to the scarcity of supply, the value of the meat continues to rise, making its production easier to carry out profitably. Many different cuisines use goat meat either as a staple for everyday meals or as delicacy for holidays or special occasions. In fact,

approximately 80 percent of the world's population consumes goat meat regularly. Not only is the number of people who already prefer goat meat growing, but every day new consumers are discovering the delicious flavor and health benefits of chevon or cabrito (other names for goat meats).

You might be attracted to goat's manageability. Since they're relatively small animal, they can be raised on a reasonable scale (several goats on one or few acres of land). Goats can’t accidentally hurt you easily as large animals can, and the can be well manage by a person alone. Hardly and largely undemanding animals, goats are not only perfect homestead livestock but can also be successfully manage in large numbers.

It could be that you're simply seeking a change of pace, goats can be a rewarding first career as well a wonderful new career after retirement if you long to be outside and with animal. Opportunities abound in the goat industry, not only in animal production but all facets of marketing, transportation, genetics and management. Whatever your reason for wanting to raise goats, you'll find that they provide joy and comfort to all who own them. As you begin your journey with goats you'll soon find that there is a lot you want (and need) to learn about them.