× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Every winter, I see the same well-meaning question pop up in goat groups everywhere: “It’s freezing outside – should I put a coat on my goat?” I get it. It’s cold, they look cold, and we love them. We want to help. But here’s what’s actually happening when you put a coat on a healthy goat – and why it might be doing the opposite of what you intend. How Goats Stay Warm Goats thermoregulate by trapping warm air in pockets within their fur. Think of it like a down jacket – it’s not the feathers themselves that keep you warm, it’s the dead air space between them. Your goat’s fluffy Read More
Tag: goat
Nigerian Dwarf Bottle Feeding Schedule
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Even if you dam raise your kids, it’s inevitable that you’ll wind up with a bottle baby at some point. Our does have large litters, as many as five at a time, and it isn’t uncommon that we end up with one or two (or three) per year that are put on the bottle. This is the feeding schedule we use for our Nigerian Dwarf bottle babies; you can approximately double the amounts and use this for standard sized goats as well. Minis would be somewhere in between. So much of feeding bottle babies is intuition and individual decisions. I’ve tried to pinpoint specific weights to give you an idea of Read More
Goat Marketing: The Ins and Outs
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! For some, goat marketing is a necessary evil but if you raise goats, marketing is a necessity. Your ability to get your goats in front of the right people is a major part of determining how successful your goat operation will be. The following tips and pointers are designed to help you streamline the process of goat marketing and identify how and when to focus your efforts so you can not only find buyers for your goats but also establish the foundation of a solid, thriving brand – your goat farm. Goat Marketing 101: Be Willing to Spend the Time I often read comments online from goat breeders saying things like, Read More
Costs of Raising Goats 2020
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Every year, I like to write up a current breakdown of how much it costs us to raise goats. In 2018, the cost of raising goats came out to $480 per doe per year. The 2019 cost changed little, coming in at $483 per doe per year. This coming year, 2020, our numbers have increased, so let’s walk through the costs of raising goats again and see how we compared to the last two years. First off, we plan to winter 21 does and 2 bucks, or 23 total, up from 19 for 2019. (Wait til you see the 2021 numbers we’re planning, that’ll change things!). Let’s look at the costs Read More
Making Tree Hay for Winter Feed
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! What did livestock owners do for hay in ancient times? This is a question I’ve pondered and yearned to know, because we strive to live life as non mechanized as possible. When I heard about tree hay, I instantly knew it was what I’d been looking for. Tree hay is one of the oldest hay production methods in recorded history. Ancient pollards, or trees cut specifically for branchy growth as is used in tree hay making, have been found across Europe and it is even mentioned in ancient Roman times. What is Tree Hay?
150 Animals, Winter Chores in Under 30 Minutes
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! When talking about the animals we raise, I often hear, “How do you do it all?” I’m startled at that question, because the reality is there isn’t much to do, so I thought maybe it would help to take you on a walk through my daily chores. As much as possible, I try to automate systems. Like most of us, I have a lot going on with homeschooling, house-wifing and small farming, so anything I can be hands off with is a help. These photos were taken today. The average time to feed and care for all the animals on the property is under 30 minutes, with bursts of activity once per Read More