Feeding
Goats must have fresh water available at all times. In
the summer we give our goats fresh cool water several times a day. In the winter goats prefer warm water. (It warms up their
bellies on those cold winter mornings.)
Our goats are fed twice a day, each receive (1 cup in
the morning & 1 cup in the evening.) Our does & bucks receive a feed that we mix ourselves, it consists of 3 parts
“steamed crimped oats“, 3 parts “Blue Seal” Dairy Goat pellets, 1 part sweet feed of “COB”
with black oil sunflower seeds. Our wethers get mostly "steamed crimped oats" because many sweet feeds contain grains and
wethers can be susceptible to a fatal condition called urinary calculi (calcium stones in the urinary tract) if they are over-grained.
Bucks can be susceptible to this condition also. Goats should have hay available to them throughout the day, free choice.
We prefer a mixture hay of Alfalfa, Timothy & Orchard grass. Goats are "browsers" and should be allowed to rummage for
grasses, leaves, weeds & bushes. But be careful many plants are toxic. The more common yard plants toxic to goats are:
oleander, azalea, castor bean, buttercup, rhododendron, philodendron, English ivy, chokecherry, laurel, daffodil and many
members of the lily family. Cultivated plants that have toxic substances that can harm goats include the tomato, potato, cabbage,
rhubarb & avocado plants. Other toxic plants are various toadstools and mushrooms, mistletoe, and milkweed. This is just
the most common toxic plant list. For a more complete list check the USDA Agriculture Information on poisonous plants to livestock.
Health
We believe that all goats need immunizations to stay healthy.
We give all goats here their Bar-Vac CDT(clostridium perfringens types C&D tetanus toxoid) first immunizations as a kid.
When the goat reaches 1 year old and every year after it receives a booster Bar-Vac CDT injection.
Goats do get parasites, (worms, lice, fleas, ticks ...)and
our goats are dewormed 4x yearly. I alternate wormers for my goats because they can & will build a resistance to wormers.
I worm according to seasons: Ivomec Plus wormer orally in spring & fall (kills lice and other external parasites also).
Safeguard paste ( @ 5x the dosage) in winter & summer. This keeps our goats worm & parasite free all year.
We make sure that the goats have a trace mineral salt
(it will be the red kind) at all times. Goats will need these minerals that are missing in it's environment to keep it healthy.
And we always keep common baking soda available for our goats. A goat eats baking soda to keep urine acidity in the proper
range and it helps with digestion. Goats will self medicate themselves. They know when they need the soda and how much they
need. A goat can lap up an average of 2 tablespoons of baking soda a day.
Never overfeed your goat oats because they will bloat.
Bloat is an excessive accumulation of gas trapped in numerous tiny bubbles, making it impossible for them to burp. If this
should ever happen a cup of oil (corn, peanut, or mineral) or baking soda will usually relieve the condition. But be careful
giving any goat an oily substance orally because it can choke due to the oil consistency is different than most liquids. Bloat
can be fatal, another good reason to keep baking soda available.
Medications we keep on hand can be seen here in our
Goat Medicine Cabinet . We do recommend that every goat owner
have emergency supplies readily available. We get our supplies from our Veterinarian, EastGate Feed Mill, Tractor Supply Company,
and online at Jeffers Livestock & Caprine Supply.
The most important advice we can give is if you are to own goats,
please find a good ruminant veterinarian in your area. We have been fortunate to find a ruminant vet only 10 minutes away
from Laurel Haven, who comes here regularly to check our goats and give care when needed. He also disbuds our kids humanely
and is very knowlegable about goats. It is wonderful knowing help is only 10 minutes away if ever needed. We wish all that
owns goats be lucky enough to find a ruminant vet in their area as compassionate for goats as ours is.
Shelter
A goat hates to get wet and needs a proper shelter to
escape the rain, snows & wind. We provide our goats with dry shelters with straw for comfort and warmth. Inside the shelters
we have built shelves around the sides. Many of our goats love to sleep up off the ground on these shelves and little ones
feel safe under them. They are not to fussy about the type of shelter you provide for them as long as they can escape the
rain & snow. But most important is that it is kept clean & dry. Our shelters are cleaned daily with fresh dry stall
and straw to prevent parasite or bacteria from growing.
Outside of the shelter there should be a place for your
goat to be able to roam & play. Goats love to jump and play king of the hill. Stumps & logs make great play toys,
along with the large spools used for cable etc. A small rock pile will help keep hoofs wore down, although hoofs will still
need regular clippings. We trim our goats hoofs every other month but do maintenance checks in between.
General Information
You should never have a single goat, for they are herd
animals and will become very lonely. At least have a pair. The more the merrier. Wethers tend to make the ultimate “pet
goat” and tend to get along well with all other goats. If you keep your goats healthy you will have happy goats. A goat
will usually let you know if something is wrong, be it they are sick, unhappy, or just bored. Our goats give us hours of enjoyment.
They are silly little creatures that love to play. They are also very intelligent animals that can be trained and made into
lovable great pets.
Everything was written from my own experience or educated
information obtained by books and the internet. Every goat breeder has there own way of doing things depending on region &
climate and what works best for them. It is best if a new goat owner gets a book about caring for goats. Some good books I
recommend: "Your Goats: A Kids Guide to raising & Showing " although it says for kids it has general easy to read information
& instructions. "Raising Milk Goats the Modern Way" is another overall good book, easy to understand goat references.
If you have any questions about Laurel Haven
Nigerian Dwarf goats, DO NOT hesitate to contact us, we can be reached easily by emailing lhn717@aol.com
