Find Answers You’ve Been Looking For
Your Questions, Answered
What kind of care does a goat require?
The four most important things are of course:
Food - Goats like a wide variety of forage (grass, broad-leaf plants, trees, bushes, etc), grains, feeds (such as pelleted feed), weeds (YAY!), table scraps (some are not ok for goats), and more.
Water - Keep it fresh and clean when possible. It never hurts to have your water tested for bacteria as well as a general water test as well so you can adjust feed and minerals accordingly or fix a possible positive bacteria test (good for you to know for your own drinking purposes too!). You may need to have a shorter water tub handy for kids to drink out of until they have grown enough to drink out of the adults water tub.
Shelter - Keep them protected from the heat, cold, moisture and of course wind (we know all too well about wind here!). Don't forget to scoop the poop as needed basis. It is also good to have warm bedding (straw, pine shavings, etc) for the winter months to.
Fencing - You want to make sure your goats stay where they are suppose to and not climbing on your vehicles, eating your garden or trees/shrubs, pestering your neighbors, blocking traffic, and who knows what other kind of trouble! I highly recommend 4' high woven wire (often referred to as field fence) that is nice and snug with steel fence posts no further than 10' apart and of course wooden posts/h-braces in corners and the ends of any portion of fence. Or if you are making pens you can also find 4' combination panels (think hog wire panels but taller). The combination panels are a better option if you are going to have goat kids (trust me...goat kids can and will get through the gaps on the livestock panels!). Electric fences have been known to be good options for goats as well as staking. If staking, use caution that there isn't anything for them to get tangled up on and check on them often to make sure they haven't tangled themselves up on...well...themselves! If staking also make sure they can reach their water at all times.
​
Here are a few things that are often forgotten or not realized when it comes to caring for goats:
Hoof Care - Goats hooves should be trimmed every 4-8 weeks, sometimes more often, sometimes less depending on how fast the hooves are growing and how well they keep them worn down).
Deworming - Goats should always have a fecal done before treating for worms. This is to ensure that you are treating for the proper type of worm and also so that you are not unnecessarily treating for worms (check out MidAmerica Ag Research for more information as well as testing!). Having a good deworming program is essential to helping keep your goats healthy.
Minerals - ALWAYS...I repeat ALWAYS have a good LOOSE goat mineral out for your goats to eat free choice. It is also beneficial to have free choice loose salt as well. If you also have sheep you will need to use caution as the amount of copper in most goat minerals is too high for sheep. Having good quality free choice loose minerals will help reduce the likelihood of having goats become deficient in certain minerals. However, in some parts of the USA you may just be "doomed" to have deficiencies, your local extension office should be able to help with that.
Proper Space - Do your best to study and observe as your goats graze so you can determine the grazing capacity. You can also hire someone to come and do this for you. Having hay on hand as well as cross-fencing will help you be able to properly rotate your goats throughout your property as well. Pasture rotation can also help manage stomach worms too (MidAmerica Ag Research I believe covers this a little on their website).
Vet Kit - I'll come up with more on this in time I'm sure. Having a vet kit with some things like electrolytes, vitamins, vet wrap, needles, syringes, drench gun and/or drencher, ointments, probiotics, scissors, wound healing medications, antibiotics, dewormer and so on is always wise!
What are some good resources for learning more about goats?
After doing much of my own goat research I've came up with a list of great resources that I'd love to share! You'll also learn that goats can be expensive when it comes to veterinary care (most vets in my area anyway are not too knowledgeable or affordable when it comes to goats), so if you're like me you may be a bit frugal and require your own from home diagnosis, so some of these links can also help out with things like that! I also use the heck out of Pinterest...I'll share a link to my Goat Pinterest Board too :) And if you are a visual person YouTube can be a very handy resource too!
​
Resources:
The Goat Spot - thegoatspot.net - This is a great place with several articles and forums to help answer questions you may have regarding...well...anything about goats!!
MidAmerica Ag Research - midamericaagresearch.net - This is where I sent in fecals for the goats I had tested this year. I was very pleased with the ease of working with them and the speediness at which I received the results!
Saanendoah - http://saanendoah.com/copper1.html - While this page is pretty outdated it does give you a pretty good idea of the dangers of mineral deficiencies, copper in particular.
American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) - adga.org - Great resource especially if you're looking into registered goats, ADGA sanctioned events, and of course their knowledgebase if helpful for anyone.
Goat Board on Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/rodeorulz/goats/ - Here I have a whole assortment of pins about goats. Information varies from health and care topics to fun stuff to general goat information.
Goats Produce Too! The Udder Real Thing Volume II Cheesemaking & more... by Mary Jane Toth - I am loving this book so far! It has helped me learn quite a bit about handling raw milk, making milk bi-products, using raw milk to cook and bake with, and it is full of recipes too!
​
Where can I learn more about raw milk benefits and risks?
Check out these websites and again another Pinterest board of mine (it includes a lot of recipes too!):
​
http://www.realmilk.com/health/raw-milk-vs-pasteurized-milk/
http://adga.org/milking-dairy-goats/
What kind of care do chickens require?
The first four most obvious chicken care items are the same as goats and then after that not so much:
Food - Chickens need to be fed appropriately in order to stay healthy, lay nutritious eggs, stay fertile, and they need certain changes in their diet during certain periods of their lives. Chickens most often are fed a commercial chicken feed from they day they hatch until the day they die. They also eat bugs, plants, table scraps (make sure what you are giving them is safe and healthy for them), rodents, and more.
Water - Keep the water fresh and as clean as possible. During the summer months you need to make sure they always have water so that they can endure the heat better. During the winter months you need to make sure they always have water to drink...no ice please!
Shelter - Chickens need some sort of shelter, both to get out of the elements and for protection from predators (especially at night). You may need to turn your coop and run area into the Fort Knox of chicken shelters if you have a bad predator problem in your area. Make sure the shelter is appropriately sized for the number of chickens you have as well...overcrowding is not a good thing! If you're looking for shelter/coop designs the internet is a great place to start the search as there are so many designs and ideas out there and you can even purchase pre-built coops (most of these I do not recommend however).
Fencing - You'll want to set up a system so that your flock has two layers of protection in terms of fencing. For example, we have a woven wire property boundary fence and then we also have a chicken run fence to keep our chickens safe. Height and hole size is important to consider as well. Our boundary fence is 4' high and doesn't sit very high off the ground (maybe 2") so it is good at keeping most dogs and similar predators out. Our run fence is actually an old dog kennel that is 6' high. Along the bottom 2' of the run is chicken wire, we had considered adding buried hardware cloth but decided against it for now (hopefully we don't regret that decision). We do have buried hardware cloth (vinyl coated) around the coop itself though. Having a fence that is also loose on the top will help make it more difficult for predators like raccoons to climb in. Predators such as magpies (although technically they are more of a danger to eggs than the birds themselves) are probably best kept out by putting a net over the top of your run area. Keeping out snakes, rodents and weasels may be more difficult. On the plus side, I know chickens like to kill mice :) If you're looking for a run designs, there are several ideas on the internet.
Roosts - You should figure on having a minimum 8" of horizontal roost space per bird. Round pieces of wood are generally not the best choice. A minimum 2" of board depth is good. Poop boards below the roost may be helpful. There are many ideas out there for roosts.
Nesting Boxes - You should figure on having 1 box for every 2 hens you have. It is good to have your nesting box sit below the lowest roost to help deter the chickens from roosting on the nesting boxes (sloped tops on the nesting boxes will also help). There are many examples out there for nesting boxes.
Proper Space - You should figure on 3-4 sq ft of coop space per chicken (average size) and 5 sq ft of outdoor space per chicken. Unless your chickens free range or are in a mobile coop/run system most of the time, you should not include the free range space in your planned outdoor run.
Deep Liter Method - I'm learning about this now, but it looks like a great option for my birds to stay warm during our cold Wyoming winters!
Vaccinations - I'll be honest here, we did not vaccinate our chicks we purchased from the hatchery nor did we vaccinate the chicks we hatched ourselves. Normally I would go ahead and vaccinate, but for whatever reason we did not. It is completely up to you on whether you choose to vaccinate or not. The most common vaccinations for chickens are for Marek's Disease and Coccidiosis.
Vet Kit - I'll come up with more on this in time I'm sure. Having a vet kit with some things like electrolytes, vitamins, vet wrap, needles, syringes, ointments, probiotics, scissors, wound healing medications, and so on is always wise!
What are some good resources for learning more about chickens?
Check out these websites and again another Pinterest board of mine:
​
Murray McMurray Hatchery - https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html -One of my favorite places to go to read up on breeds as well as hatching, brooding, and raising chickens.
Henderson's Handy Dandy Chicken Chart - http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html - I LOVE this chart and actually used it to help choose my top breeds I'd like to add to our flock :) There is plenty of other helpful information on their website too!
Backyard Chickens - https://www.backyardchickens.com/ - Similar to The Goat Spot but this one is all about CHICKENS! Talk about a great place to ask questions and read articles about chickens!
Chicken Board on Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/rodeorulz/chickens/