Index of Articles on Boer Goat Care

Medicines:
Many people have asked, 'What medicines and treatments do you use to treat your goats' illnesses and diseases?' We are not Vets and don't claim to be.  We have a good goat Vet...

What We Feed:
Currently we feed the following: TN Co-Op 18% Goat Starter medicated with monensin. Our bucklings are feed TN Co-Op 16% Goat Grower.

LGD Feeder:
In order for DaleDell to get fed when he wanted to be fed and stay in with the other boys, we came up with a 'Jump feeder'. Our Great Pyrenees are diggers, meaning...

Mountain Laurel:
The state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. They can keep it!! In Tennessee some also refer to mountain laurel as ivy. Did I mention that mountain laurel is poisonous to goats?

Mastitis:
By the time we drove the 15 miles, Bertha's temperature had risen to over 105. Bertha had signs of both acute mastitis and chronic mastitis. The swelling, pain, and heat in the affected.

Logging:
But before the first log was harvested, Bruce took Ken out to meet Jonas Miller, an Amish sawmill operator in northwest Lawrence County. Mr. Miller must be formally introduced to a new customer. If he likes the gentleman...

Bottle Feeding:
Our first attempt at bottle feeding wasn't too bad and could probably be termed a success. Granted we didn't get too...

Clear Creek Farm History:
A history of Clear Creek farms includes a mini-history of Giles and Lawrence Counties in southern middle Tennessee. In the late 1700s/early 1800s...

I 'am' a Livestock Guardian Dog:
This is somewhat of a believe it or not. We have had Great Pyrenees for the last four years and have not lost a goat to a predator yet (knock on wood)...

Food Safety for Meat Goat Producers:
Clear Creek Farms is proud to have been selected to participate in the USDA/Alabama A&M Food Safety Program.  Alabama A&M, in association with Tuskegee University and Tennessee...

Recommended Reading for Goat Farmers:
Some of the books we recommend are: Small Ruminant Production Medicine and Management...

Play Things for the Kids:
We looked at several web site showing kids at play - climbing on wire spools, stumps, trees, shelters or playing on boards and on teeter totters...

Ram Pump:
Finally, we spotted a group of walnut trees - then found our way up the hillside to the top. Perfect! The perfect location. Flat land and a great view. But we had a big problem. Water!! . . . After trekking down to the spring, he declared, "What you need is a ram pump."...

Goat Shelters :
We decided before we picked up our first goats we needed to add a shelter for the animals. To the just completed barn we added a 13 x 30 addition. Within the addition we constructed an 8 by 13 area for feed/storage...

Semen Collection :
When Robert Spencer of Alabama A&M University’s Small Farms Research Center told us he was arranging a buck collection and AI seminar for the fall, we jumped at the opportunity to participate and have our two herd sires, Enhancer II and Hercules, collected. Early Veteran’s Day morning we loaded the bucks into the trailer and ...

Collection Field Day :(companion article to the article above, written by Robert Spencer)
The field day for buck collection and artificial insemination taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 12 and 13, 2003 was a collaborative effort involving Superior Semen Works, Goat Producers from Alabama and Tennessee, and Robert Spencer from Alabama A & M University’s Small Farms Research Center.

Working Dogs :
Have you ever had the opportunity to watch your livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) at work? We are always fascinated with ours ... We highly recommend goat farms have a minimum of two LGDs. They seem to work best as a team. One of the dogs will ...

Black Friday:
The weekend of 12 – 14 December 2003 was one of the worst weekends we have had since we started raising goats. In the five years we have had boer goats, we have lost a few. An uncle told us when we started...

Embryo Transfer (Step I):
In the spring of 2004 we plan to participate in our first Embryo Transfer (ET) program. Our plan is to use Kattie as our donor doe; she has an outstanding bloodline and has produced some truly tremendous kids, to include Enhancer I, Panna, Samantha, and Thunderbolt. We are still considering...

A Buck, A Bath:
A buck goat is gifted with a special aroma which is generated by scent glands located behind his horns. If that wasn't enough, like male deer they accentuate that scent by spraying themselves with their own urine. There's no smell to compare . . .

A Weak Kid:
These babies were born in the hay field. We found them when they were minutes old and moved them to the barn. We allowed the mother 2 hours to get them up and nursing. She did an excellent job cleaning them up, but she couldn’t get them to stand. We milked her and...

Web Log (Blog):
When we first investigated blogging (the present participle for the verb form of posting in a blog), it seemed interesting enough. But can it work for a Tennessee boer goat farmer? What can you blog about if you raise and sell boer goats and livestock guardian dogs, like our great pyrenees and border collie dogs? At first, the idea seemed...

Marketing:
A friend, Nancy Wilcoxson, Royal Oak Farm, Bonnieville, KY, recently attended a meeting of goat producers in her area. After the meeting she lamented, "It is a shame that we all pass each other and do not know who is who." This got me to thinking of opportunities lost in our business marketing. Many, many times when we go to "goat" events we know (sorta) a lot of other people in attendance from the various e-mail lists. But....

Goat E-Groups:
When I wrote the article on Marketing Ideas and Tips, I mentioned goat-related e-mail lists. Below are a few of the lists I subscribed to.....

Holiday Sales Planning:
I recommend you find out what the popular goat-eating holidays are in your area. I did a little bit of research, and this was the information I was able to find about holiday dates at which meat goats may be sold. In doing my homework we learned Easter is a great time for us to sell. We have to consult a calendar....

Shelter Construction :
As some of you may know, we use ATVs (4 wheelers) on our farm. A couple of weeks ago, our first 4 wheeler died and required replacement. While I was in the dealership, I noticed that the new 4 wheeler came shipped in a metal frame. I look at the 4 wheeler and the frame and saw in my mind a shelter. I talked with the dealer and...

Embryo Transfer (Step 2):
With the actual flush date set and on the horizon, we spent several days making our final preparations…getting the does ready. In January we made the decision to definitely use Kattie as our donor doe instead of Venus. Venus may be used in..

Embryo Transfer (Step 3): The Shots:
Since we had never given shots in this area, and since we wanted this drug to be correctly administrated, Ken took Kattie to the vet's. (And since all does needed health certificates prior to travel to Alabama, this was accomplished at the same time.) The First shot was...

Embryo Transfer (UNINTENDED Step 5)
The Adventure of the Runaway Goats:
The sideboards on our truck blow off with the goats loaded on I 20 about 200 yards after we got on I 20. Two hours later with help from the police and fire department and a couple of friendly folks from Livingston, we capture the Doner and two of the receips, but two receip were last seen heading south.....

Embryo Transfer (Step 6)
Successful Transport Home and Long Wait:
Then the rains came. What a rain! We were able to get Kattie loaded in the trailer before the rain, but Xenia and Matilda had to be caught in the storm. Finally after a few minutes, the receips came to the ...

Basic Daily, Weekly and Monthly Schedule for our Boer Goat Farm:
We were recently asked, "What do you do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis?" While it was an interesting question and one of which we gave much thought, we came to the conclusion there is no one answer. Our goat management depends on a lot of variables such as...

Artificial Insemination (AI) :
Almost a year ago, we attended our first Artificial Insemination (AI) class. At that time it was only a thought for the future. We asked around to find if anyone was doing AI in our area: we asked our Vet, the Coop, the County Extension Center - no one knew

Artificial Insemination (AI) Step-by-Step :
Before the first doe can be inseminated, you must have a plan. We plan our breeding program up to a year in advance – determining when we want our percentage does to kid to best meet our best market and when we want our full bloods to kid to best meet

Semen Tank :
In May we ordered a MVE ET23 Semen Tank (1200 straw capacity and approximate 5 month holding time), along with an AI kit and 12 straws of semen, from Superior Semen Works..

Bottle Jaw :
When we bought Julie, a well-marked, overly friendly percentage doe, in Aug 2001, we immediately wormed her before getting her off the truck and into our quarantine pen. About 2 weeks later we determined she still had parasites...

Wormers and Worming :
We have now had goats for over five years. Our first worry when we got into goats was keeping predators from killing them. After a few months with goats, our worry was keeping parasites from killing them.

Barn Raising the Clear Creek Farms Way :
When most people decide to build and raise barns they have detailed plans, store-bought wood, electrical tools, plenty of ladders, and plenty of help. When we decided to build our barn, we had plans, relatively detailed. We had wood, not store-bought but harvested. We had electrical tools, but we’ll get to that later. We didn’t have plenty of help; we had two workers ...

Tattooing:
No one told us about mastitis or bottle feeding. Nor were we told anything at all about wormers and worming. But the absolute worse thing we weren’t told about – well, hoof trimming is up pretty high on the scale – is tattooing...

Pinkeye:
About the time Topper was leaving us, we determined that Dora, our then-11-month old just-bred doeling, was blind. We came to the conclusion she was blind when she started walking into the walls of the barn. Bertie and Paul Hillhouse arrived to announce, "pinkeye."

Foot Problems:
When we bought our first goats, hoof trimming was mentioned briefly. Basically we were told if the goats have rocks to walk on, their hooves wouldn't need to be trimmed very often. Well, we've got rocks!! Lots and lots and lots of rocks. Rocks grow faster than our weeds and are everywhere...

Soremouth:
Soremouth, also called orf or contagious ecthyma, is a highly contagious virus of the Pox family. Symptoms, transmission, and treatment in goats is similar to symptoms, transmission, and treatment of chickenpox in human children. Young animals are the most susceptible to developing lesions around the lips, eyelids, nose, etc...

Fitting Your Goat:
Fitting goats is not just a job for folks who show. Any animal can be “improved” if properly groomed, and a well-groomed animal will bring more when sold than a dirty, stinky goat. The time you spend fitting your goat will be well worthwhile...

Buying Boer Goats on the Internet:
What can you gain by using the Internet to shop for Boer goats...

Milking:
So you are new to goats? And you decided to have meat goat and not to have dairy goats cause you don't want to have to milk goats? You have never milked a goat? Never wanted to milk anything? Never considered milking a goat...

Urinary Calculi (UC):
The other morning, while checking the herd, I noticed one of my yearling bucks crying over next to the fence. At first I figured he had gotten stung by a wasp or bee. But he kept it up. What a mournful cry!...

Homemade Cures (Recipes):
Over the years we have learned, from ol' goat folk and from the internet, of many homemade recipes to cure many common (and some not so common) ailments afflicting our goats. These have worked for us, but we urge you to consult with your vet before trying...

Goat Temperature:
The first thing you need to do is take its temperature because that is the first thing your vet is going to ask...

What is GDS.. Are you at Risk?
Do you have GDS (Goat Delusional Syndrome)? There is no known cure. We don't know how this disease is contracted, the level of contageousness, and very few, if any, approach a full recovery...

Teaching a Goat to Lead:
Every animal needs to learn to walk on a lead whether to show or not. It’s much easier to move individual animals from one lot / paddock / pen to another if it walks quietly – not fighting you every step of the way...

Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day:
We got over six inches of rain and the bottoms flooded. About 5 feet deep water covered the hay field and was working it way up the hill toward the goat barn. When I went down to check on the animals, our herd sire, Hercules, was in his shelter, knee deep in water. His feet were wet but his back was dry. I moved him to a new sheltered pen....

AI Class and Semen Collection - Nov 21-22, 2004:
After a lot of negotiation, we finally got a date from Geoff and Nancy Masterman of Superior Semen Works, Milton, New Hampshire for our Artificial Insemination (AI) Class and Semen Collection. We put the information out by e-mail, e-groups, on our web site, and published posters inviting..

My "Goat Day" Story:
Mona Enderli, Enderli Farms, Baytown, TX wrote this and I though I would add it to our site. Hope you enjoy. 13 goats all standing up on sawhorse type feeders gobbling feed like they hadn't eaten in a week, when suddenly one of the young does sneezed...

Covered Square Bale Feeder:
The feeder would not last very long out in the weather, so we had to put it under cover of some sort. I added..

Training Livestock Guardian Dogs:
People do not “train” puppies to be livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). The puppies are born with an instinct of what their job is and how they are supposed to..

Blue Green Algae:
Our goats spend hours searching for new and unusual ways to kill themselves. The most recent – and unique – method they found at our farm was to ingest toxic blue-green algae.

Mysterious Deaths:
We found two more dead goats, three goats down, and several other goats staggering around. One, stretched out on her side, thrashing about and moaning loudly..

Fecal Analysis:
Several times we have attended classed on how to do fecal samples and have purchased the equipment. The most expensive piece of equipment is...

Raising Great Pyrenees Puppies:
As you may know, our Pyrenees, Dixie, is heavy breed - expecting pups any day. Yesterday, an extremely cold day, Dixie was missing...

Care and Bottle Feeding of Newborns:
Normally if the baby won’t suck on a bottle, I put a little Karo syrup on my little finger and try to get it to suck on that...

Cattle Panel Shelter:
I use three 16 foot cattle panels, 48 (approximate) inches high. I purchased a 12 foot by 16 foot tarp from my local Coop or TSC. This is one tarp we pay a little more for...

Shots (Vaccines):
We give vaccinations SQ – in the loose skin behind the front leg. IM vaccinations should never be given to meat goat in the hip. The rump roast is the prime piece of meat, but rather IM shots should be given in the neck...

Goat Meat and Goat Milk:
One of the 5 risk factors for coronary/arteriosclerotic heart disease and peripheral vascular disease is an elevation in the lipid profile, particularly cholesterol and the low density lipoprotein fraction, especially if the ratio of LDH-C/HDL...

Weak Kid 2:
Monday morning, around 9, we got a call from a friend. He had a doe give birth Sunday night – a single 100% SA Boer– and he didn't think the doe was going to survive. The baby had been given "a little colostrum"...

Pre-Breeding to Birth:
Kidding is the fun part of our operation. But before kidding can begin good management dictates ...