For the Love of Goats

Until recently, most goat breeders had never heard of Cache Valley Virus. I heard about it two years ago when an animal scientist told me that they were having a horrible time with it in their research flock. Today's guest had never heard about Cache Valley Virus until a few months ago when she started seeing a lot of very weird things happening in her goat herd — a doe freshening with no milk, kids born with birth defects, kids dying within the first couple of weeks after birth, a tiny...

Have you thought about adding chickens to your goat farm? Have you heard about keeping chickens and goats together? Maybe you already have chickens and the challenges with the goats are driving you crazy? In today's episode, I'm talking about things to consider when chickens and goats share the same space, as well as what you can do to keep them apart. I explain leader-follower rotational grazing with chickens and small ruminants (sheep or goats), including what type of equipment you need...

How do you avoid scams when buying goats? Should you buy registered goats? How do you know you're buying healthy goats? If you are getting started with goats or still building your herd, you probably have a few questions. In this episode, I'm answering all of the above questions and more. I also talk about why you should not buy goats from the sale barn, and what questions to ask a breeder when goat shopping. Since I teach college, I can spot plagiarism a mile away. I share some of my...

If you are new to selling goats, you might feel like you can't say "no" to any potential buyers. I am here to tell you otherwise. You will hear two main points today as I tell you a few stories of people that I refused to sell goats to. First, you should always ask questions to be sure that the buyer has done their homework and knows what a goat needs — and that they can provide that! After all of the love, care, and money you have put into raising healthy goats, you want to be sure that...

Since parasite research in goats is always evolving, I was excited to see that the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control has revised their dewormer usage chart. Although most of the dosages have stayed the same from previous chart, there are a lot of new recommendations that you'll find in the footnotes. We are joined in this episode by one of the authors of the revision, Michael Pesato, DVM, DABVP, Assistant Clinical Professor of Food Animal Medicine and Surgery at...

It's probably safe to say that everyone has heard of fainting goats, which are more correctly called myotonic goats, and they don't actually faint. Today we are separating fact from fiction in our conversation with Phil Sponenberg, DVM, Ph.D. of Virginia Tech who has been breeding myotonics for 30 years. He is also the technical advisor for The Livestock Conservancy, which has the myotonic goat on the "recovering" section of the Conservation Priority List, where the breed was originally...

Hypocalcemia in goats, sometimes called milk fever, is one of the most misunderstood maladies in the goat world. This confusion stems from research done on cows, which does not apply to goats, but is still often referenced by many sources as if it does apply. Today's guest, Dr. Robert Van Saun of Pennsylvania State University, once again reminds us that goats are not little cows. We are talking about the causes of hypocalcemia in goats and how that compares to cows, as well as how to...

During kidding season, lots of goat owners start to worry about ketosis and pregnancy toxemia in their does. In today's episode, Dr. Robert VanSaun, professor of veterinary science and extension veterinarian at Pennsylvania State University, talks about what causes does to go into ketosis and how that can lead to pregnancy toxemia. If left untreated, it can ultimately lead to a doe's death. So, we are also talking about how to prevent this potentially devastating condition in the first...

Practices with birthing goats vary tremendously from one breeder to another. Some people are very hands-on while others want to stay away as much as possible. How do you figure out what you feel comfortable with? In today's episode, I'm talking about the different reasons why a kid may be born weak or why a doe may have difficulty giving birth. Although it sounds like you are breeding the best of the best when you are more hands-off, I give you an example of when that was not true — and the...

It's not uncommon for someone to contact me about a goat problem that they have, and to resist doing anything "unnatural," such as providing a commercial mineral for their goats. What most people don't realize is that they aren't raising their goats naturally to begin with. In this episode, I'm talking about why my book is called Raising Goats Naturally, what that means, and what it does not mean. I also talk about the five reasons it is impossible for most of us to raise goats naturally in...

If a herd has more than one breed of goat, odds are good that they also have some experimental goats, which are crosses of other purebred standard-sized goats. Bucks are determined creatures, and unplanned breedings happen in most herds. However, there is a huge difference between accidental crosses and crosses that are planned to create the best goats to meet your goals. For Erika McKenzie, head cheesemaker and dairy herd manager at Pennyroyal Farm, that means creating crosses of her three...

If you are interested in a medium-sized goat for milking, you should consider the Toggenburg, which is always a shade of brown, somewhere between tan and dark chocolate. The Toggenburg goat's butterfat average is the lowest of the dairy breeds, but it still makes great cheese. Today we are talking to Leslie Cardoza owner of Bar XX Dairy Goats, who has been breeding Toggenburgs for milk and show in California since 2003. She has had goats on the ADGA Top Ten list for milk production every...

If you are looking for a larger dairy goat that produces a lot of milk and has fairly low butterfat, then the Sable goat might be the one for you, especially if you like the idea of having a breed that is not very common. In this episode, I'm talking to Klisse Foster who has been raising Sable goats since the 1980s. Her goats are often on the American Dairy Goat Association's Top Ten list for milk production. She shows her goats too and can usually be found at the ADGA national show, even...

Today's episode started as a discussion of Nubian goats with Joanne Danielson who has been raising them for 40 years. However, because of Jo's experience as a professional cheesemaker, it quickly turned into a deep dive into the science of cheesemaking and how starting with the right goats can make all the difference. At 5%, Nubian goats have the highest butterfat of any of the standard breeds. But because Jo is serious about making the best cheese, she has incorporated genetic testing into...

It can be so challenging to choose a breed of goat to raise. But you should not choose your goats like you choose pets, which is often based on appearance, color, or size. If you want your goats to serve a purpose, such as dairy or meat, you really should choose the breed that is going to help you meet your goals. Since we don't drink milk, our goat milk is almost all used exclusively for making cheese, which is why we have Nigerian dwarf. Since they have the highest butterfat of any breed,...

As I've received more messages from people with kids born hairless or with goiters, I've become more interested in the topic of iodine and goats because those symptoms occur in kids that are iodine deficient. You don't usually hear anyone talking about iodine and goats unless the topic of kelp comes up, and then the conversation can swing wildly between people worried about deficiency or toxicity. In today's episode, I am joined again by Dr. Robert VanSaun, Professor of Veterinary Science...

Coxiella burnetii is the bacteria that causes coxiellosis in goats and Q-fever in humans, and although it is not super common, all goat owners need to be aware of it so that they can prevent their goats and themselves from being infected. Coxiellosis in goats is highly infectious and can cause abortion storms in herds. Humans can be infected via aerosols (like COVID), birth secretions, feces, and raw milk. This disease can be especially bad in pregnant women. In this episode, I am talking...

Have you ever wanted to produce 100% of your food? Well, that's exactly what Alexia Allen and her husband Daniel Kirchhof did in 2017. In this episode, she talks about how goats played a central role in their year of hand-harvested food. They ate nothing — not even salt — that was not harvested by them or their friends. How did they get the idea to go a whole year without purchased food? What did they do to prepare? How did goats fit into the picture? Alexia talks about her experience...

Although everyone pretty much agrees that goats do a good job of consuming just the right amount of loose minerals when they are available free choice, there are still a lot of people who don't think goats (or other animals) can selectively choose to consume plants that they need when they need them. The concept of "nutritional wisdom" is something that Dr. Fred Provenza wound up studying throughout his career at Utah State University. I've heard about Dr. Provenza's research for about as...

After writing about our experience when one of our does had squamous cell carcinoma, I've been contacted by quite a few other goat owners who have had a goat that also had that form of skin cancer. But Mary Brennan really got my attention when she emailed and told me she has had six goats with confirmed squamous cell carcinoma! She noticed that some of the goats were related, which caused her to dive deep into the history of the Nigerian dwarf breed, as well as skin cancer in other species....