Hiking With Miniature Goat Breeds And The Gear They Need If you’re a goat owner and an avid hiker, you might have thought about taking your goats on the trail with you. Dwarf goats, in particular, are known for their playful, adventurous personalities, which make them great companions for outdoor activities. However, taking goats on a hike requires a bit of preparation and planning. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the gear you’ll need to prepare for a successful hike with your favorite goat. Miniature Nubian owned by Eldon & Debbi Otta and the photo was taken by Debbi Otta.  Hik ..read more

Another Sad Doe Birthing Story I want to take a second and just let you know that I heard another sad doe birthing story.  Somebody called me in a jam. Their doe was literally laying on their side, had made like an Angel wings on the ground because it had been laying there seizing all night long or whatever it was doing.  And what happened is they didn’t know is that the bucklings could produce babies as young as they did. They got in, they got her pregnant, unbeknownst to him.  And then his doe is like on the edge of birth. And he’s not knowing what to do.  Please watch ..read more

Protecting Baby Goats From Predators Protecting baby goats from predators is important this time of year as we are in full kidding season.  It’s March 6th right now.  And we’re getting ready to start having tons of kids on the ground. And we don’t have a really good barn to hold kids, especially the number of kids and kind of how our operation works. We have, you know, 15 does that are going to be kidding. We bring in kids from our breeders as well and we raise them all in this tractor barn. Protecting Baby Goats From Predators – Tractor Barn Now one side of the tractor barn I ..read more

After A Doe Gives Birth After a doe gives birth there’s something that is really important that I want you to remember.  When you have a doe that’s had a baby, there’s a couple of things you really need to remember. So, she’s in milk now, so she needs a lot of water. And so, if you’re keeping your doe with their babies, there’s two things you need to be aware of. After a Doe Gives Birth – Lots of Water Number one, you got to really keep a full bucket of water.  These 2 girls are drinking a full bucket of water twice a day. So, they are drinking an enormous amount of water and ..read more

Leading A Goat Without A Collar Leading a goat without a collar is easier than you think.  I will show you with Thorn. This is one of my old men Thorns who is 10. Now you can see he’s pretty thin during the winter.  We’re feeding him an intentional diet, acknowledging the fact that his teeth are all worn down.  By the way you do need to take care of your goats teeth.  They can be floated and their lives can be extended by floating their teeth like they do a horse. It’s not common practice, but we should be doing it. One of the things I was going to show you real quick ..read more

Feeding Baby Goats with a DIY Lambar I want to show you how feeding baby goats with a DIY lambar is easy.  You can have a bunch of babies and keep your system of feeding babies really easy.  This bucket system is called a lambar and it works really great.  This has the capability to feed 10 babies at once.  We actually have tape on the bucket to help us know the levels of the milk.    We have babies about 12 to 14 days old and then there’s some that are over 3 weeks old. Ones that are over 3 weeks eat a lot faster so I’ll watch those and make sure they don’t ..read more

Helping Goats Thrive In Winter Goats are a very hardy critter where most of the breeds originated from the Swiss Alps or other high elevation, heavy winter, locations.  They are geared and already equipped to handle extreme temperatures and weather.  I often see new goat owners get over concerned about their goats’ well-being in the winter.  With just a few simple strategies you can easily keep your goats warm and safe in double digit below zero conditions.  My intent will be to show you this easy strategy for goats up to 20 degrees below zero and to also help you develop ..read more

Goat Cheese Frittata Recipe What is a Frittata? A frittata is an egg based Italian dish similar to an omelette or scrambled eggs.  This goat cheese frittata recipe includes green peas and potatoes in it.  This goat cheese frittata recipe serves 4 people.  Prep time is 5 minutes.  Cook time is 20 minutes. Goat Cheese Frittata Ingredients 4 baby potatoes, thinly sliced 1 cup (120g) frozen peas 8 eggs 3 oz. (85g) goat’s cheese, crumbled 4 oz. (120g) rocket 1 tbsp. olive oil salt & pepper Goat Cheese Frittata Cooking Instructions 1. Heat a 7.8-inch (20cm) ovenproof n ..read more

Signs Of Labor With Your Pregnant Doe Learn the signs of labor with your pregnant doe so you can assist in delivery.  Keep in mind that each doe is unique and may vary to some degree. It is important to keep good, detailed notes of each of your does to help you prepare for the next years kidding. Stages Of Labor Stage 1 – Pre-labor This stage may begin 24 hours prior to delivery. Keep in mind that each doe is unique and may vary to some degree. Some identifiers that your doe is in the first stage of labor may be the following: Nesting. Your doe may begin to paw at the ground to clear ..read more

Caring For Your Doe During Pregnancy Caring for your doe during pregnancy is extremely important to prepare for birth and delivery of baby goats.  Your doe will need special care especially 30-45 days out from delivery. Prenatal Care Prenatal care is an important part of the process. Good preventative measures can save you from having to do a costly cure. Ensuring the doe is in peak health will help prevent problems due to mineral deficiency and malnutrition. Essential Needs 30-45 Days From Delivery Your pregnant doe will need lots of fresh water.  Here are some more important ..read more