This page is meant to be a quick reference for those who have bought goats from me and have a question about feeding, worming, general management, and health care. I have noticed that almost all goat problems stem from three categories: (1) feeding practices, (2) parasite problems, and (3) medical emergencies such as injuries and kidding malpresentations. In Nubians, I would also add the genetic mutation G6S. When feeding practices are balanced for nutrition and adequate fiber, and the parasite load is kept under control, goats are mostly pretty healthy unless exposed to a contagious disease from another animal, be it caprine or another species. This is one of the most compelling reasons for my decision to keep my herd closed. The advice given here is what works for me and may be subject to change when I learn of a better way of doing things myself.
All goats need to have constant access to good quality Bermuda grass hay, fresh water, and an appropriate mineral supplement. I currently use Bluebonnet Livestock Minerals. I have also been providing additional alfalfa pellets in the barn.
Milking Does
Feed Mix:
6 scoops whole Feed Oats 2 scoops Black Oil Sunflower Seeds 2 scoops Calf Manna 1 scoop shredded beet pulp
When feeding I mix 1 scoop of the feed mix with 3 scoops of Alfalfa Pellets, then feed this mixture 2 to 6 cups per doe as appetite and body condition dictates, on the milking stand, two times per day.
*****Ingredient explanation: Alfalfa pellets are the best source of protein and calcium for dairy goats. To produce calcium rich milk, a doe has to have adequate calcium in her diet. In order to utilize dietary calcium, the right balance of phosphorus also has to be included, hence the oats and sunflower seeds. The sunflower seeds also provide oil that is good for the skin, and some good fiber in the seed hulls, which is supposed to increase butterfat in the milk and prevent enterotoxemia. Calf manna increases the overall protein in the ration and provides extra minerals. Beet pulp adds fiber to the feed which helps in two ways. First, the fiber spreads the feed out in the rumen so the rumen microbes can more efficiently break down and digest all of the feed. Second, the fiber causes the goat to chew the cud more thoroughly, causing more naturally produced sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to be incorporated in the saliva and thus buffering the rumen against acidosis.
Pregnant Does
Same feed mix, mixed with Alfalfa Pellets, same amount if producing milk, one fourth cup (twice daily) if dry in early pregnancy, increasing slowly to milking rations during last two months before kidding. The exception to this is a first freshening still growing doe, which would get up to 1 cup of the feed twice daily until increasing in the last two months.
Kids
Same feed mix, mixed with Alfalfa Pellets, fed in small amounts twice daily until they reach 2 cups twice daily.
Bucks
Same feed mix, mixed with Alfalfa Pellets, fed according to condition and appetite, twice daily, just before, during, and just after, breeding season. For the rest of the year they get a 3 to 1 mix of Alfalfa Pellets to whole Feed Oats, no more than 1 cup twice a day, and full choice Bermuda Hay.
***** Bucks do not need as much dietary calcium as growing kids or milking does, however an imbalance either way of calcium and phosphorus will increase the incidence of urinary calculi or bladder stones, which due to the physiology of the buck's urinary system, is usually a fatal condition.
List of the ones I use:
(Wormers) Ivermectin injectable, Ivermectin Plus injectable, Cydectin pour on, Eprinex Pour On, Valbazen
(Coccidiastats) Di-Methox injectable 40%, Deccox-M
Method of Worming: When it is necessary to worm, I use the label recommended amount per pound of body weight, wait 10 days and repeat, and repeat dose again in another 10 days. All wormers are dosed orally, NOT injected, or poured over their backs! The reasoning behind worming three times in a row at 10 day intervals is to reduce all stages of the worm population to manageable levels, otherwise a single worming will only get the adult stage worms leaving the other less mature worms to replace the adult population and continue the cycle unbroken. I also worm all the goats on the same day, so as to not have an ongoing worm population being continuously ingested on pasture. Again, this is to break the worm life cycle.
When to Worm:
The best advice as to when to worm is to worm only when needed. This can be decided by checking the color of the inner eyelids for anemia, and having a fecal test run (or doing it yourself). In cooler climates, where there is a good freeze every winter, some goat breeders can get away with worming only two times a year. Here in Central Arkansas, because of our sub-tropical climate, I have to worm much more often than that to keep the worms from literally killing my goats. The following schedule is a compilation of what worked for me in the last few years. I will continue to monitor the parasite situation and worm accordingly, not necessarily follow the schedule. This schedule is only to give an example of how often the goats may or may not need to be wormed.
September: Pre-Breeding Worming, all goats 3X/10 days apart, with Cydectin.
February: Winter Worming, after all pregnant does are past 100 days bred, Ivermectin Plus to pregnant does and bucks, Eprinex to does in milk, 3X/10 days apart.
March: Day of kidding to the just freshened doe, then 10 days later, Ivermectin dose 1, Cydectin dose 2.
April: Kids wormed with Valbazen, if needed. Kids are raised in special kid pens away from the adult goats, so de-worming is not needed in most cases.
May: Spring worming for all adults with Cydectin, 3X/10 days apart, Valbazen for kids if needed.
July: Summer Worming, all goats with Cydectin.
Use of Coccidiastats :
I begin use of the Deccox-M in the kid bottles as soon as the kids are put in the outside pen as a precautionary measure to prevent coccidiosis. Some years the prevention is enough, but occasionally in a very wet year treatment is necessary also. 1/4 teaspoon twice daily newborn to 15 lbs body weight. Over 15 lbs 1/2 teaspoon twice daily.
I use the Di-Methox 40% in the kid bottles as a treatment around 3 weeks of age if I have high numbers of coccidia on fecals or diarrhea, one of the symptoms of coccidiosis. 1/2 cc twice daily for one week.
