× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! A large belly doesn’t indicate body condition, but does usually indicate good rumen function. You’ll often see their bellies grow larger toward the end of the day as they store up food to ruminate on overnight. The most accurate way to assess whether your goat is fat or skinny is to learn how to do body condition scoring, which is basically just feeling for fat deposits on certain areas of the body. Body condition scoring is a great tool that can be used monthly to see how your goats are faring on your feeding program. Body condition along with goat behavior can tell you if your goats are satisfied or hungry Read More
Category: Goats
Ever Refining the Path
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! As some of you who have followed me for awhile know, I’ve really struggled with the concept of selling animals vs. not selling animals over the last couple of years. For those who don’t know, here are the two posts where I initially announced I would no longer sell animals and then backtracked that spring to say I was wrong and had regained my senses😅:
Oregano Essential Oil for Pregnant Goats
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! As goat owners become more aware of the power of using essential oils in therapeutic practice for their goats, one of the common questions I hear is, “Is oregano essential oil safe for my pregnant goat?” I won’t give you a direct answer, but instead will provide you with the sources and research available to help you make your own decision. So much of what we’re taught in articles and other resources is based on opinion and conjecture. If we look at the actual facts, the studies themselves, and the finer details, we can be better informed to draw the conclusions that make sense in our own lives. It’s a good Read More
Mineral Buffet Consumption Totals Month by Month
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! This page will track consumption each month and total it in pounds so we can get an idea of our herd’s consumption of the mineral buffet on a longer term basis. Unlike the monthly totals that display in ounces, this one shows totals in pounds. I have Nigerian Dwarf goats and standard sized sheep so to keep this consistent and easy to read, the total number of animals will count each sheep as 2 Nigerian Dwarf goats. For example, as I write this in July 2022, we have 11 adult ND does, 6 ND kids, 4 adult ND bucks, 6 adult sheep and 3 lambs. For simplicity, I will count this as Read More
Mobile, Small Animal Mineral Buffet Feeder Ideas
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! The big mineral buffet feeder we use for the does is great for an all weather, year round stationary feeder but for something mobile, I had to brainstorm with a different idea. This post will detail two small animal mobile feeder designs we came up with and some low cost feeder cup options. The first option uses a standard wire dog crate and is the easiest to put together. Filling it will be a bit more challenging because you need to reach in from the front. This feeder is ideal for poultry, rabbits and other small animals. It would work well for kids and lambs too. The second option uses a Read More
Mineral Buffet Consumption Totals for June 2022
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! This table tracks the amount of each mineral, in ounces, that I have either put into the mineral buffet feeders or into the small jars I keep at the farthest feeder from the barn. In June, we had 16 yearling or older Nigerian goats, 8 ND kids, 6 hair sheep cross ewes and 3 lambs consuming from two mineral buffet feeders. About halfway through the month, one adult and one kid went to new homes, so we ended with 15 adults and 7 ND kids. These numbers indicate the totals for both feeders. All animals are on pasture with no supplemental hay, but because of the high silicon consumption, we added Read More