​Q. When your pasture is dormant, how do you feed your goats? A. Bale grazing! 

Bale grazing has been an incredible practice for us on our farm.

Feeding our goats outside had allowed us to keep our barn cleaner. It reduces the need for equipment use since the bale residue and manure stays outside. 

Aside from nutrition, it also encourages the goats to get exercise, which is good for muscle (meat) development. More time in the fresh air also helps reduce respiratory issues.

Once we have snow the bale residue is also a great ”sunning” spot for our goats. We’ll often find them hanging out in these areas since it's nice and dry.

Finally, probably the best benefit (yes I'm a nerd), is the leftover bale residue and the 🐐 manure and urine. What?! Yep. The bale residue adds more organic matter to our pastures and adds to the seedbed. The goats are doing the fertilization for us.  In the spring the bale grazing sites will start to work their magic helping us strengthen the health and quality of pastures without the need for any further seed or nutrients.

This bale is strategically placed in an area with minimal topsoil. We don't have a bale feeder on it because I want more residue in this area.

All winter bales will be strategically placed in our pastures where there is a greater need for the soil. A bale is always placed in a new site to maximize its full potential.

P.S. If you're wondering if we only have one goat in this pasture, we don't. Our young stock/market goats are always a bit wilder than our breeding stock since they haven't been handled as much 😆. I assure you this goat has many friends. 

One of the best parts of living in Wisconsin is our wide range of seasons. Well, at least I think so. When it comes to winter, I often get questions on how my goats handle the cold weather and snow. They do just fine. 

In November our weather will usually start to make the transition to winter with temps in the teens to single digits, snowfalls are common. January through February is usually our coldest weather of the season with temperatures usually in the single digits or below zero. Often there’s a stretch of weather -25, which usually lasts only a few days. In March the weather starts to gradually warm-up.

It Starts with the Herd
Livestock are a lot heartier than we may think. While my goats are farm animals, goats themselves in the wild original as mountain animals. They originally were designed to live in a rugged environment with a range of temperatures, including cold weather. 

On our farm, we’ve bred in the Kiko breed to help build a heartier herd (which is a Boer-Kiko cross), that thrive on pasture and is self-sufficient, including handling nature’s elements. 

Transitioning to Winter
We help our goats adjust to winter by keeping them outside on pasture as long as possible as the weather transitions from fall to winter. This helps their bodies adjust to the temperatures and grow a thick coat to help keep them warm throughout winter. At first, they aren’t fans of the temperature change and they’ll bleat at me about it. Then, after a few weeks later, they’ll be adjusted and don’t make much of a fuss. 

During this time, they’ll still have access to pasture shelters, which keeps them dry and blocks them from the wind. We’ll bed those shelters with straw to keep it clean and dry. 

Additionally, we feed hay in the winter. The hay ferments in their rumen, creating heat for the animals, helping them stay warm from within. Between their body heat and snuggling together, they keep fairly warm in the shelters.

Once our weather is consistently in the single digits, we’ll transition the herd to the barn for their winter shelter. We have a flap on the door to keep block the wind and keep snow out. They would do fine in their pasture shelters as long as they’re kept bedded and dry. We have the barn, so we choose to use it.

The herd will continue to feed on round bales out in the pasture, to make sure they are getting adequate exercise and help keep the barn cleaner. As a side benefit of feeding outside the leftover hay and goat fertilizer helps our pasture thrive the next season by adding to the seedbed and providing more nutrients.

With exposure to fresh air, they also tend to have fewer respiratory issues. Moving back and forth from the feeders to the barn also helps them generate more body heat. 

In the Barn
While the goats have full access to the barn, we will bed their pens regularly to make sure it stays clean and dry. We keep adding to the bedding throughout the winter season. This “deep pack bedding” acts as an insulator and generates heat as it gradually breaks down at the base. 

We’ll also keep an eye on the airflow in the barn and condensation and run our ventilation system when needed as well. We will make sure the barn is free of drafts as well. It’s also important to not have the barn close too “tight” as well. Some flow of fresh air is good.

The water source in our barn is a frost-free hydrant. We don’t use automatic waterers. I like to just use the low 60-gallon tanks or the “muck” tubs for smaller pens. We use drop-in heaters to keep the water from freezing and a heated hose for filling the tanks in the main barn. 

In our machine shed, we have an overflow pen, but we don’t have water in that barn. We will use three 100-foot expandable hoses with shut off valves (like the “as seen on TV” hoses) to fill the tank in the other barn from the hydrant. When we are done, we’ll coil up the hose and put it in our heat milk house room in the barn so it doesn’t freeze. This has worked better than hauling buckets or filling a large tank.

Severe Weather: Extreme Cold or Major Snowfall
If we hit a really cold stretch or anticipate a big snowstorm, we may close the barn door and feed the goats inside. 

If it's an especially snowy winter, we will also plow paths in the pasture to help the goats get to their hay feeders. We’ll also strategically plow snow to create windbreaks. 

We also try to keep an eye on the snow load on the barn roof as well, to make sure we don’t have a collapsed roof issue and then have to figure out how to house our animals while it gets fixed.

Health Concerns
We see fewer health issues with our goats in the wintertime than in the summer. High heat, wet summers and temperature swings in the spring are harder on the animals (pneumonia, parasites, other pathogens, etc,). 

It may be natural to think that we should keep our goats in an insulated, heated barn, however it can lead to more health problems. An enclosed barn without ventilation can run the risk of respiratory issues such as pneumonia.

We also do not kid in the coldest months in our Wisconsin winters to avoid the risk of pneumonia or hypothermia. There are goat farms who do kid in winter, we just choose not to do so. It’s easier on the goats and ourselves as farmers. 

If it is a late “spring” from Mother Nature and kidding as started, we may use jackets for our goats for the first week. Then we will transition them off to help the goats get adjusted to the temperature. In general, jackets are usually not necessary. We’ll also use heat lamps with kidding stalls and infrared heaters in the creep area to keep kids warm and safe from the bigger goats.


Livestock are hearty animals. Ruminants do a great job of keeping themselves warm from within through fermentation in their rumen. As farmers, we make sure they have access to dry, draft-free shelters and they do quite well throughout the winter months.

Drop in tank heaters / deicers: We use a variety of tank heaters depending on the size of the livestock  water tank and the placement (is it outdoors, is it near an open door, inside, etc.). I try to size the heater to the tank and also minimize the wattage (check the box for the size) to keep our electric bill down and not overload our electric circuits in the barn. 

I prefer to use drop in heaters vs buckets with heaters built in because sooner or later the heater will die. I'd rather replace the heater than everything.

The Perfect Bucket Heater by K&H Pet is my favorite for the muck bucket tanks (see picture). It's small and only uses 80 watts. Why use a big heater if you don't have too?

​I also like having a couple extra heaters on hand. I always seem to have one that decides to stop working in early spring when most farm stores stop restocking their shelves with winter supplies.

Heated hose from K&H Pet, 40 ft. We use this at our hydrant to fill our main livestock tank in the winter. We will plug it in before we need to use it and then it's ready to go. Each time we use it we make sure to keep the end that screws on the hydrant "up" so excess water doesn't freeze in the opening, making it hard to unthaw. We've been using this hose year-round for hour seasons.

Expandable hose by XHOSE, 3 100 ft hoses to run from the water hydrant in our main goat barn to our machine shed to all for filling up the water tank in our overflow pen.

When we use heat lamps I really like the Prima Heat Lamp from Premier 1 Supplies since it is durable and has a number of features that make it safer than the traditional heat lamp. Caution should always be used with heat lamps in barns to avoid fires.

I really like the Sweeter Heaters, they're an infrared heater. No lamp, just heat. They're much safer than using a heat lamp, to help avoid the fire risk. A bonus is that they are owned and manufactured by a family in northern Wisconsin!

This blog post was originally published 2/14/20 and was updated 11/30/20.

Not all pastures are created equal and that goes for pastures for goats as well. When I looked to find the best combination of pasture diversity for our farm and species of livestock, it was hard to find examples specifically for meat goats. I found some university extension resources on what works for goats, but it was pretty limited. 
 
My overarching decisions have been based on goats’ dietary preference for about 20% forages (grasses/legumes), 20% weeds, and 60% browse (brush/trees/woody plants), according to the Pastures for Profit: A Guide to Rotational Grazing (Undersander, D. et al., 2002).
 
As a result, my approach for our goat pasture has been to use what works with our climate, as well as:

• Plant species native to the prairies long ago in our area
• Plant preferences for goats: forbs (weeds), legumes vs. grasses
• Potential antiparasitic properties
• Pasture diversity

 
Pasture establishment, renovation and enhancement
Overtime our goats have helped us renovate our pastures, which were in CRP and then never farmed after that point.  With grazing, we’ve reduced the scrub brush and helped bring back new plants from the existing seed bed. We’ve done some interseeding to add more diversity in grasses, legumes and forbs.
 
After that first season of grazing, it was impressive to see the goat’s work and the existing seed bed start to come back. The following year in areas that needed a little more work or were too bumpy from gopher mounds, we lightly tilled select areas of the pasture and planted seed with our grain drill. With light tillage, we were able to also maintain the existing species since the plants weren’t fully terminated with the light tillage.
 
Another year we were unable to rent a no-till drill, so I took a “no-till” approach to our grain drill. With the drill placed as low as possible, we planted into select areas of the pasture that was grazed low or areas we cut low for hay. Two seasons ago we rented a no-till drill from a friend to interseed into our pastures and hayfields. Surprisingly the modified “no-till” approach worked better in our pastures. Some time we’ll get our own no-till drill, but knowing that we have a good approach with the equipment we have makes it less of a priority.
 
We also work to enhance our pasture each winter with out-wintering our herd of goats. We strategically place round bales of hay on the pasture. Goats will eat all winter outside, rather than in the barn. The hay residue offers additional seed and the goats help fertilize the pasture. It’s pretty amazing to see how our north pasture has continued to improve simply based on out-winter feeding. A bonus is that we need to clean the barn less in the winter.
 
Pasture mix
While I like to have a diverse mix of species, I’ve paid more attention to the legumes and forbs since the goats have a greater interest in those plants. 
 
I’ve observed that goats tend to eat more legumes over grasses, based on both in the pasture and hay consumption. They’ll still eat grass, but we’ve focused on adding more alfalfa and clover to both our hay fields and pastures. Since our goats are always growing babies, lactating or growing for meat, they’re never in “maintenance mode.” More of a grass mix may work for goats with less demands on the performance of their bodies. 
 
We’ve planted or I’ve observed these species in our pastures: white clover, red clover, sweet clover, alfalfa, chicory, plantain, birdsfoot trefoil, tall fescue, meadow fescue, Italian ryegrass, perennial ryegrass, Alaskan brome, meadow brome, Timothy, festulolium, orchard grass and more.
 
About special plant species 
Chicory
Since goats prefer forbs, as in weeds, chicory was an obvious choice to incorporate into our pastures. As a high-quality forage, it has good feed value for our goats on pasture. It’s also drought tolerant, we see it thrive mid-July to August, as the rest of our pasture species start to slow down in growth. 
 
Chicory also contains tannins, which have the potential to have an antiparastic effect on parasites. An Ohio State University study with lambs suggests there might be evidence to support this idea (McCutcheon, J. et al., 2012).
 
As a bonus, its pretty purple flowers add to the overall aesthetics of our pasture.
 
Birdsfoot Trefoil
It’s taken a while, but this little plant is starting to take hold in our pastures after seeding 3-4 years ago and naturally occurring in other areas.
 
While hard to establish, birdsfoot trefoil is a great legume to add to your pastures since it doesn’t cause bloat and has good feed value, according to a North Central Regional Extension publication.
 
Research is also being done to study the anti-parasitic effects of birdsfoot trefoil with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) Project, “Forage-Based Parasite Control in Sheep and Goats in the Northeast U.S.” 
 
Preliminary studies show improved resilience to barber pole worm for sheet and goats, but no effect on decreasing fecal egg counts. Those leading the study indicate more research needs to be done. 
 
Plantain
I chose to add plantain into our mix based on its ability to provide a number of mineral, including calcium, sodium, copper and selenium. Our soils are low in selenium and goats tend to need more copper than their small ruminant counterparts, sheep. This plant is one way to address these nutrient needs. 
 
Why pasture diversity?
We aim to have a diverse pasture to balance out the forage availability throughout the entire growing season, from spring to late fall. Additionally, the diversity also helps maintain feed for our goats even when we are especially wet or a dry stretch. And, what if there are weeds in the pasture? I don’t care! The goats will eat them. That’s the same with trees and brush I don’t want to keep long term (some of the trees will stay for cover). 
 
Sourcing seed
We have had good success with Prairie Creek Seed’s Diversemaster mix and blending in their Forage Feast (Chicory) and Tonic (Plantain). We’ve also used Forage First’s Alfalfa Hay and Pasture mix and Orion XL ladino clover (from La Crosse Seed), sourced through our local co-op, Countryside Cooperative.

Whether you’ve been farming for a while, just getting started or looking to branch off a new part of the farm business, you might be wondering about what you “need to do” to get your farm business formalized. 
 
1. Taxpayer ID number or known as an EIN (Employer Identification Number):  If you’re a sole proprietor, you can use your social security number. But you can still opt to request an EIN to use instead. This number is often used with tax forms (W9, 1099, etc.) if you’re receiving a payment from a customer or renter, opening a bank account, and even applying for business licenses. 
 
Here’s where you can apply for your EIN from the IRS.
 
2. Business Structure 
Determine what your business structure should be. 
 
Sole Proprietor is by default what one would be with no formal formation of a business. It's just you doing business. You can still use a business name, which formally would be Your Name dba (doing business as) Your Farm Name. 
 
LLC (Limited Liability Company) or as an S corporation helps limit your risk in your business by protecting your personal assets from business liabilities, debts, or judgments (lawsuits) brought on by the business (Farm Commons., 2018).
 
Other legal resources at Farm Commons, free once you create an online account
Farms Guide to Choosing a Business Entity, Farmer’s Guide to LLCs, Farmer’s Guide to S Corps and Farmer’s Guide to C Corps
 
3. Financials Records
Use a program like QuickBooks to record your farm’s income and expenses. Set up the accounting system’s chart of accounts (or categories) to correspond with the IRS Schedule F tax form, then break it down into other categories to use for business making decisions.
 
By corresponding your chart of accounts with the Schedule F tax form, it’ll be much easier to complete your tax returns for you or for your accountant (saving you money on the time they spend going through your financial records for the year).

As a current QuickBooks user I'm able to offer an online code for 50% the first 6 months of your subscription.
 
4. Separate business checking account: Even if you’re operating as a sole proprietor, it’s also important to keep your finances separate. This way you can have a true account of your profit and loss for your farm and know where you can make adjustments in how you’re running your operation.
 
This is also important if you’re just starting out and want to “invest” personal funds into your business as a way to get started. You can transfer your investment, owner’s equity (money), into your account (also recording it in QuickBooks) and then use the funds for the purpose of your business.
 
5. Business Email: Once you have your farm website domain purchased (see below), then you can set up your official business email (name@yourfarm.com) with G Suite. You do not need to have your website designed. You just need ownership of your domain, such as www.yourfarm.com. 
 
Not only does this add further legitimacy to your business, but it is also important for once you set up your email list/newsletter provider for your farm. Using an email with a verified domain (such as name@yourfarm.com vs. name@gmail.com or name@yahoo.com) will help increase the delivery of your email marketing messages into your customers' email boxes. 
 
Create your business email here.
 
6. Wisconsin Farm Premise ID: This system allows for faster tracing if there is an outbreak of an animal disease or an animal-born human disease. This ID number is specific to a farm location and isn’t a unique animal identification. 
 
This is mandatory if you’re in Wisconsin and includes the following livestock: cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, goats horses, farm-raised deer and other cervids, gamebirds, bison, llamas and other camelids, ratites such as emus and ostriches and fish. The premise or location includes farms, hobby farms, veterinary clinics, stables, animal markets, and any other location where livestock are kept or congregated. 
 
More information and how to register here. 
 
If you live in another state, contact your Extension office or Department of Agriculture to determine if there are similar requirements.
 
This premise/farm ID is the same farm number that’s listed on your scrapie tags, if you raise sheep or goats.
 
7. Scrapies tags. If you raise goats or sheep, you can find more information on the scrapie eradication program and requirements by state: http://www.eradicatescrapie.org. These tags are required by law in most situations when selling goats and sheep.
 
Marketing Basics
Think of your marketing approach as a wheel, with your website as the hub and your strategies as the spokes (email marketing, social media, markets, events, etc.). 
 
8. Website: all your content, what you offer your customers, your products, where/how to purchase lives here. Think of this as the “hub” of your marketing. All of this information lives on this site. Your social media posts are redirected to this site or mention this site. In conversation, you refer folks to this site. Your email marketing will tie back to this site. I think you get the point! Unlike social media, you own your site. It cannot be taken down or hidden from viewers.
 
You’ll need to purchase the domain (www.yourfarm.com) and decide on a service where it will be hosted and you can design/manage it. You can purchase these in the same place, or separately. 
 
When you go to purchase your domain, be ready to buy it as soon as you do the search. There are bots watching repeat searches and they’ll buy up those domains and then try to resell them for a much higher fee. 

• Website domain options: name.com, google.com, and many website editing service providers will also offer the option to purchase a domain. 
• Website Hosting/Design/Management Services: This is the tool that allows you to create your website. With today’s technology, most of these services are “drag and drop” so it is something that most people can do on their own. I currently use Weebly but have heard great things about Squarespace. 
• Ecommerce options: If you choose to sell online, there are several options to look at including SquareSpace, Shopify, Barn2Door, GrazeCart, and others. We use GrazeCart. Depending on where you are at with your business this may be a feature to add on at a later time.

 
9. Email List: Use email as your main tool for doing formal business (sales) with your customers. Using an email newsletter service provider like MailChimp is a good way to make sure you are following legal rules for email marketing, such as allowing your subscribers to opt-out at any time. BCC emails for marketing are illegal, are more likely to end up in a junk folder, and will eventually get shut down. 
 
MailChimp is a good service to start since it has a free option. 
 
Once you have it set up, add the sign-up form to your website, and look for ways to encourage others to sign up for your list. Then, set up a regular schedule for your email communication with customers. Monthly is a good place to start.
 
Just like your website, you own your email list. This is yours. It is not “rented ground” like social media. Your email ends up in an inbox for your customers to see and read at their choosing, vs maybe never seeing with social media.
 
10. Social Media presence: This is at the bottom of the marketing list because, yes it is important, but it shouldn’t be the center of the marketing work. 
 
Which platform should you use? To start, pick one and do it well. It’s an unoffical expectation to be on Facebook, but Instagram is one of the fastest-growing platforms. 
 
Use social media appropriately, applying the 80/20 rule. 80% relationship building and inspiration with 20% sales. It can seem natural to want to post market updates, promotions, and other sales posts, but it can actually be a turnoff and many social platforms will hide your posts if your content is sales focused. They want you to pay-to-play. But, with your followers, most people come to social media for inspiration and a break from life, not to be sold too. Use it as a relationship marking tool and you’ll find that prospective customers will come to you when they are ready OR will be more receptive to your occasional sales pitches. 
 
For more of my favorite marketing and business, resources click here.

​If you’re interested in learning more about what we do on our farm raising goats for meat, join our online community here.  ​

References: 
FAQ: Building the Right Business Structure for Your Farm. Farm Commons. (February 2018). Retrieved from: 
https://farmcommons.org/sites/default/files/FC_FAQ_Business_Structures_Final.pdf

This is the second blog post in a four-part Grazing Goats Article Series. The first article, Pasture Fencing for Goats, can be read here.

Electric fence is a great fencing option for goats. However, it is only as good as the training the goats receive. If there's no training, there's a greater chance, or even better chance, that your goats will get out. With the proper training, the goats should respect the fence and not escape. 

Each spring our goats are given a "refresher" training, and new goats to the farm, kids or purchased goats, are also trained on how to use the electric fence. Between having good perimeter fencing (see part I) and fence training with portable electric fence, we have little to no issues with our goats staying in the pasture. On occasion kids may get outside a paddock with portable fencing or out of the perimeter fencing since they are smaller, but they always come back to their moms. Once they get older it's not a habit that continues. 

Here's how we fence train our goats:

The prep work:

• Set up the temporary electric fence in a small loop or square, so there's enough room for the goats being trained to comfortably move around and eat grass
• This should be inside of a permanent fence, or put up a second temporary fence as a "back up" fence, giving some extra space in between fences
• Make sure you can quickly and easily turn off the fence. For us, that's unclipping the alligator clips from the temporary fence to the permanent fence, which is how we access the electricity from our energizer.
• The first time training the goats on the fence, there are usually two of us. That makes it easier to turn off the fence if a goat gets out (or to chase that goat!).
• Before turning the goats out, we will make sure they have eaten some hay for the day. So we usually, will start training in the afternoon. The goats love the lush grass, so this helps prevent them from overeating and causing bloat. It also helps their rumen adjust from dry matter to fresh forage. 
• If it's a larger group, I may split the group up into smaller groups.

The actual fence training:

• Turn out the goats into the training space and watch. I will usually pull up a lawn chair and take notes on the goats that touch the fence. I like to make sure all the goats touch the electric fence at least once, if not twice. It doesn't take long for them to remember how it works. 
• I also pay more attention to the younger goats who haven't been on pasture before. The older does usually remember quickly how the fence works. 
• The first day, I leave them out for maybe an hour, making sure all the animals experience the fence. Then I close off access to the pasture. 
• The second day, I'll wait until the afternoon again, making sure they've eaten some hay. I'll then let them out for a longer period. I'll watch again, but this time I might do some other work around the barn.
• Repeat for another day, possibly more depending on how the goats are taking to the fence. 
• The goal is to have the goats respect the fence. They may be busy eating grass and touch their nose. They may yelp in surprise and jump back. That's ok. We don't want the animals charging through the fence or getting tangled. 

After training: 

• The goats should be ready for rotation grazing with temporary fencing. 
• I always keep an extra eye on them for the first week or so as they continue to get adjusted to the fence, especially with younger kids. 

Tips for success all season

• Make sure the fence is always ON, HOT and not grounding out. A fence tester is a handy tool to help monitor how the fence is working.
• Always make sure they have enough to eat. If they don't, they will want to go where the food is outside of the fence. It's important to watch pasture levels and rotate the herd into new paddocks. 
• GET RID OF THE JUMPERS. I will usually give them one chance. But you can tell quickly with goats, who the naughty, instigators are. They will teach other goat's bad habits. 

If you raise goats, what has worked for you for training goats to respect electric fence?

In the video below you'll see an example of how we fence train our goats to portable electric fence.

Watch for the next blog post on the basics of rotational goats in this grazing goat series. Sign up for our online community here so you don’t miss the next post and to learn more about what we do on our farm raising goats for meat. 

If you missed the first article in this Grazing Goats Series, you can find it here: Pasture Fencing for Goats.

This blog was original published 9/6/2019, and was updated on 6/5/20.

Legal disclaimer: All information provided is based on personal experience and is provided for educational and information use only. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless our website, company and owner for any direct or indirect loss or conduct incurred as a result of your use of our website and any related communications. This applies to, but is not limited to, business operational information and consulting, as well as farm and goat management practices.
Any animal health information provided on this website is based on personal experience or information provided by others whose treatments and practices have been discussed with a veterinarian. In all situations, it is the responsibility of the livestock owner to consult with a veterinarian before using any animal health practices shared on this website or by this company and its owner. See the full legal disclaimer here.

Kidding is just getting underway on our farm. A lot has to get done to before the baby goats arrive. It includes herd health work, preparing the barn and organizing my supplies 
 
Preparing the does
About a month before the does are scheduled to kid, we will do a herd health day so they are ready for kidding. This includes:

• Hoof trimming, if needed
• Deworming, if needed. We make the decision by assessing each doe individually, based on body condition, FAMACHA and behavior. If a doe needs to be dewormed, we will typically deworm with two or three dewormers, with each from a different class of dewormer. This practice is based on a research article published on the American Consortium for Small Ruminants website: Combination Dewormers: The Time is Now by Dr. Ray Kaplan, Professor of Parasitology, University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine  
• Assessing body condition to determine if any supplemental feeding is needed
• Vaccinating with CDT for clostridial enterotoximia protection (over-eating disease) and tetanus, and Pasturella for pneumonia since our spring weather can have big swings in temperatures, which can lead to respiratory issues. By vaccinating a month in advance of kidding, we are able to pass on immunity protection from the does to the kids, which is especially important during the kids’ first month of life. 

 
As we work through each doe, we will enter notes on what we did into our herd health system, Easy Keeper, making extra notes on areas of concern to help us better monitor the health of each goat and manage our herd overall. 
 
Much like our other herd health days, we will set up our workspace in the barn to work efficiently as possible. Each of our helpers has specific tasks to keep everything moving along, while I visually assess each goat and enter notes into my record keeping program on my iPad. Along the top of the pen wall, we set up several 5 quart rectangular fence line feeders to hold supplies, including vaccinations, dewormers, hoof trimmers and drenchers. Here are some of the supplies I use:

• Fence line feeder 
• Drencher (feeding syringes) 20 ml and 50 ml
• Automatic bottle top syringe 
• Serrated hoof trimmer
• Stand for hoof trimming and herd health work

 
Preparing the barn
In the weeks leading up to kidding, we start to transition the barn from winter housing to kidding:

• Bucks will be moved to a separate pen, if not already. We often leave them with the whole herd most of the winter for ease of feeding.
• Yearlings, last year’s doe kids kept for breeding stock, move to a new pen. In the area where they were originally, the barn bedding is cleaned out to allow for set up of 8x8 pens for kidding. 
• Warming boxes for the postpartum pen are pulled out, each box has two radient Sweeter Heaters inside for warmth and a safe space for new kids
• Infrared heaters are checked to make sure they’re working and we have enough propane, if we have a cold snap during kidding 
• Pull out tote of heat lamps for back up. We don’t use these often, but they are good to have on hand.
• Set up barn cameras about a week in advance
• Make sure extra bedding is on hand

 
Supplies mentioned:

• Sweeter heater 
• Prima Heat lamps  

 
Preparing supplies
About 1-2 months in advance I like to assess my veterinary supplies for kidding to allow for enough time to order or purchase supplies locally. This includes ordering enough vaccines for the does, as well as for their kids (they require boosters with most vaccinations). 
 
Here are the supplies I like to have on hand for kidding. Some of them are used, and some are for emergency situations:

• Plastic gloves – I wear them anytime I might encounter bodily fluid or administer any type of supplements or medication. There are a number of zoonotic diseases that can be passed between goats and humans. It’s a good preventative measure to follow.
• Artificial insemination gloves – these are great if you have to do a rectal exam or assist with pulling a kid
• Selenium and Vitamin E Supplement – this is only used if a kid is weak and showing signs of a vitamin deficiency. Consult your veterinarian for supplements and dosages, if needed.
• Lubricant to aid with rectal exams or assisting with pulling kids 
• Betadine surgical scrub – If I have to internally assist to pull kids, it is a quick disinfectant
• Flashlight 
• Iodine for dipping umbilical cords
• Small plastic cups (condiment size or smaller) for iodine for dipping umbilical cords – I get these at the dollar store
• Dedicated, clean and sharp scissors for trimming umbilical cords
• Small scale to weigh kids – I use this one with a bucket 
• Ear tags for farm identification and USDA scrappies requirement
• Probiotic gel – give to kids and does for an extra boost 
• Vitamin B gel – give to does if they need an extra immunity boost after kidding, or have had a rough delivery 
• BlueLite – goat electrolyte mix – use in the doe’s water after kidding 
• Digital thermometer 
• Lots of old towels for drying off kids
• Marking pen or ink 
• Kid tube feeder 
• LA 200 – To prevent any infections if the doe has complications during birth or you have to assist with the birth. Consult your veterinarian on best practices and dosages. 
• Bag of a quality goat milk replacer, or a Jersey milk replacer (it has similar fat and protein content as needed for goats)
• Colostrum supplement – powdered or tube
• Dog jackets – only for weak kids or really cold dips for brand new kids. Only use these in extreme situations
• Hair dryer – to help dry off new kids, especially when it is cold or if they weren’t cleaned off right away by their mom
• Pet heating pad – used with kids that need to revived or extra warmth for new kids when there’s a cold dip
• Handful of bottler for bottle feeding. I prefer Pritchard nipples on Fiji water bottles (they are more durable for rewashing). 

 
Kidding process and protocols 
When a doe kids, I will let her do most, if not all of the work herself. The only thing I will do is help clean off kids with an old towel to so they dry fast as possible and help clean airways. The does will typically still continue to clean their kids afterwards. By helping dry the kids, this helps reduce any chances of pneumonia or hypothermia, especially if it’s cold out. 
 
After the doe is done kidding, I’ll bring her and the kids into a separate pen for 24-28 hours to allow for bonding and recovery. I’ll observe the kids to make sure they nurse. If a kid had a rough or slow start, I’ll help them with their first feeding. 
 
When it comes to processing the kids, we will take weights, ear tag, and trim umbilical cords and dip them in iodine. Then the kds are placed back into the pen with their mother. This information and anything else relevant about the birth or kids behavior is entered into our animal health record system, Easy Keeper. 
 
After 24-48 hours, the doe and kids will move to a “postpartum” group pen with other doe/kid pairs. The kids will have access to a creep/safe space, typically with some source of heat to keep them safe from other mothers and prevent them from accidently being sat on by their own mothers. 
 
Kids are vaccinated a month after they born and then followed up with a booster based on the vaccinations given.
​

If you’re interested in learning more about what we do on our farm raising goats for meat, join our online community here.  ​

Thank you Katelyn at the Wild Rose Farmer for having me as a guest on her Rural Woman Podcast. I’ve been a listener since the start and an avid podcast junkie for along time. It is an honor to be coming into your earbuds as a podcast guest, instead of my usual role as just the listener!

For those who often ask about how I got started raising goats and the meat goat industry and market, here it is!

You can find the podcast episode here, listen to it anywhere you listen to podcasts, or stream it on ‪WildRoseFarmer.com‬

P.S. If you’re new to this podcast or Katelyn, she also raises goats for meat!

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I manage my herd as it grows to its “full size.” As some may know, my herd is still in its growth stage since I've been building it from within. In this planning process I’m being mindful of working with the seasonality of our region, managed grazing practices, and use of our facilities.

My plan going forward after this kidding season will be to split our herd into two groups and move into a breeding cycle where our herd is kidding three times a year, about four months apart. This doesn’t mean we’re doing back-to-back breeding, but it means that each group will kid every other kidding season. Each doe will have the opportunity to breed every nine months, allowing for time for gestation, nursing, and recovery. 

Why am I moving to this system:

• Less intense kidding season. Not all does will be kidding at the same time. Easier on the shepherd to monitor her herd
• If a doe doesn’t take, she has an opportunity to be rebred sooner, than waiting an entire year or culling. Lack of conception can happen for many reasons, which may not all be on the doe.
• This allows us to have a more consistent supply of meat for our customers

From an economic perspective, this farm is also a business. It requires income to continue and serve our customers. Over the span of time, we should be able to produce the same number of kids as if our herd size was 25-30% larger. This means fewer breeding does to feed and manage, with more offspring to either add to our herd as replacement stock or to sell. As a family farm, it also helps keep my workload more manageable.

What I will be working on figuring out: 

• The right timing of breeding and kidding based on our seasons. My goal is to still minimize kidding in cold weather to allow our does a chance to care for their new kids without a lot of extra concern with hypothermia or pneumonia.
• Goats can be seasonal breeders (not always). I’ll need to determine the best strategies with our summer breeding plans.

What I know I’ll need to do:

• Continue to take good records on our animals
• Band all of our buck kids, unless we have requests for breeding bucks. It will just be easier to manage our market kids in one group or it could get out of hand fast!
• Set up a good animal sorting/handling system 
• Get used to kidding three times a year!

Lastly, a big shout out to Sandy Brock, of Sheepishly Me, a sheep farmer in Canada. Her approach to managing breeding and lambing for her flock provided me inspiration to think about how I could adapt practices to my goat herd and our grazing system. 

This past weekend we started preparing for breeding season for our goats.  We will do this herd health work about 1-2 months before we actually put the bucks in with the does. 

So here’s what it looks like for us: 

Does:

• Sort and officially wean all doe kids. We let them self-wean up until this point.
• Look over the goat, including body condition, udders, FAMACHA, coats
• Deworm: We do “three-way” deworming, using one dewormer from each class of dewormers. Current research from the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control (wormx.info) shows a greater impact of all wormers when working together. Because we experienced some parasite issues several years ago after introducing new goats to our herd, we are on a 2x a year deworming schedule and then only deworm goats who show signs of needing it outside of that timetable. Our goal is to reduce our frequency but for now, this approach works best based on our situation. 
• Copper bolus, as a nutrient supplement and as a natural dewormer
• Hoof trim
• Take notes on any other issues, visual observations, behavior, genetic attributes 

Bucks: The bucks get the same attention.

Why do we start the process in advance? It gives any goats that need a little extra attention some extra time before the big dating day comes. We can make sure all the goats are at their best, in terms of health. If any kids are still nursing, it also allows the does bodies to readjust before making the transition to growing babies. 

The day of health work: We bring the goats from the pasture back to the barn. It’s just easier to have a contained space to work with them and sort them. We will have 1-2 friends or family members helping sort goats and doing the hoof trimming and health work. 

I’ll also make observations and record all the health work and other notes into our online record system EasyKeeper on my tablet (if you try it out, you can get a $30 credit here).. This year I also was keeping tabs on our almost 2-year-old-daughter. It was a bit of a balancing act! 

We use the over the fence feeder troughs to put our supplies in order of use and so they’re easy to access. There’s a whiteboard with a checklist of tasks for each goat and dosages based on animal size. This helps streamline the process. Next year I’m hoping to add a chute and sorting facility to our system. Right now, it works, but it has the potential to add extra stress on the goats and is also hard on our own bodies.

At the end of November, after Thanksgiving, we’ll split our herd into groups and put the bucks out. The timing works out well. We kid in mid-April, which its usually starting to warm up.  We often have extra family and friends around the farm with the holiday and deer hunting season. 

We’ll put our yearlings into one group so there’s no extra competition or stress with the older does during breeding. We also will often use a smaller buck.

The older does are split into two groups with our other bucks. We use breeding harnesses to know when does are exposed. They are kept in their groups for 20-30 days, or until all does are marked. Then we combine the groups at 45 days. Around 60 days we will usually pull the bucks and put them in their winter pen. 

Five months later it’s baby goat time! 

Wonder why we kid later in the season? Read this blog post here.

If you’re interested in learning more about what we do on our farm raising goats for meat, join our online community here.  ​

Electric fence is a must for keeping goats on pasture: keeping them and our livestock guardian dogs in, AND keeping predators out. 

As good as electric fence is, it isn't foolproof. Sometimes it's not working as well as it could be. 

The only way you might not know is if... hmm... a goat breaks out of your paddock fence, or you find one of your livestock guardian dogs roaming the whole pasture. Thank goodness for perimeter fence! (Learn how we use permanent, perimeter fence and temporary paddock fencing in this article).

So how do I know if the fencer is working like it should be? I will look at the fencer itself (see picture below) and check to see if it's fully energized, with the lights flashing all the way up to green. If it's not something could be grounding it out. But, do I always want to run back to the barn and troubleshoot? No. 

So, enter in one of my favorite grazing / electric fencing tools -- a fence tester. I have the Fault Finder by Gallagher.

When I suspect the fence might not be as hot as usual, or not even on at all, I'll take out the Fault Finder and test the fence. It will show the KV running through the fence, and if there's a grounding issue it will point an arrow to direct you in the direction it's at. It gives me a general idea of where to check the fence to look for down trees, areas where deer may have knocked down the top high tensile wire and it's now touching the woven wire, or other issues. These tend to be my most common issues. 

I also like to use the fence tester when I'm running more temporary fence than usual, or running temporary fence outside of our permanent fenced in pasture. These are instances where I want to be especially certain the fence is HOT. The more electric wire I put on my energizer, the greater odds it might drop the KV. Usually, in these instances, I might also need to do more trimming or knocking down grass and brush to make sure there's no other grounding issues, which impact how hot the fence is.

If you're going to use electric fence and graze, this is a tool to have. There are several options out there to choose from. I happened to use Gallagher's Fault Finder since I use a lot of their fencing products and have been happy with the quality and performance.

if you're interested in learning more about more of my favorite goat things and how we’re raising meat goats on pasture, join our online community for raising goats for meat here.