After mastering the basics of raising goats, here are some tips to help you get up to speed quickly with your new herd.
- Goats are social animals. They belong in a herd and they depend on the herd for their own safety. Never keep just one goat.
- Goats think like goats. Learn how to think like a goat to figure out how to keep them happy in their fencing with easy access to water, food, and shelter. If you think they’re being “stubborn,” look at things from a goat’s perspective. They don’t know how to walk down and around an object to get to something on the other side of a fence, for example. They will just stand there looking at it, unsure of how to solve the problem.
- Bucks are males with a mission. Respect them. When bucks are in rut, they have one thing on their minds. They can be dangerous when in rut so use care in handling them and respect that potential. Billy goats smell very strong when they’re in rut. However, you don’t have to keep billy goats on your farm. You can just keep does and avoid the smell by borrowing bucks when you need them – if you can find them.
- The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence–which is where your goats want to be. Make your fences strong and secure to combat this natural goat tendency. Goats can get out of any fence weakness. Your fencing must be kept secure and free of holes and weaknesses. Inspect it often and repair it promptly.
- A big rumen means healthy digestion, not necessarily a fat goat. Goats are supposed to be pot-bellied because they are ruminants.
- Goats are much more like deer than they are like cattle. It helps to understand goats if you think of them more as browsers, animals that eat shrubs and small trees; they roam and forage much more like deer than cows.
- Goats can’t eat everything. They’re not like their cartoon version, eating tin cans happily. Keeping their digestion functioning smoothly with good nutrition is harder than you think. Make sure you have a goat nutritionist review your herd’s needs and formulate a feeding program just for you.
- Goats are farm animals. These are herd animals that have a social pecking order and know how to maintain it.
- Don’t try to do it all. Raising show goats, breeding stock and slaughtering meat goats are three different goals for raising goats. Pick your main focus because you’ll need to manage your herd differently depending on it.
- Start small. Just like with any new species you add to your farm, it’s best to start slowly and expand as you go – but make sure to begin with several goats to satisfy their herding nature.