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 So, the goats have freshened (given birth), and now it’s time to start reaping the reward – fresh goat milk. Our goats are Nigerian Dwarves, which produce the highest butterfat milk of all dairy breed goats (around 6 – 10%), so their milk is incredibly good fresh, and makes awesome butter, ice cream, cheese, and yogurt. Obviously we’d like to get that milk, but the kids’ welfare also needs to be considered.
The question is when to start milking the does and how to feed the kids – do you immediately pull all the kids from their dams and bottle feed [...]
Continue reading The Goat Kids Are Here – Can We Milk Yet?
 When I initially posted pictures of all the 2013 Nigerian Dwarf goat kids at Bramblestone Farm, I identified that several of them were polled, but didn’t explain what that meant –so we got a few questions. A “polled” goat (of any breed) is one that is naturally born without horns (Almond Joy in the picture on the right is polled while her sister Toffee in the left picture is not). Most goats in the US today are naturally born with horns, and many owners choose to de-horn (typically by disbudding) them when they’re babies for various reasons (see Disbudding Goats). [...]
Continue reading What Are Polled Goats?
 We’re now less than two weeks from the start of this year’s kidding (see Kidding Schedule), and if the does deliver on time, we’ll have four does kidding over a three day span! The closer it gets, the more excited and nervous I get. There’s nothing I can do though, except to make sure we’re prepared. What does being prepared mean? Well for us it means:
Going through my list of kidding season supplies and making sure that it’s up-to-date, and that we have everything on hand (see list below). I try to have supplies on hand to handle all reasonable [...]
Continue reading Kidding Supplies and Preparation
 It’s obvious now that four of our Dwarf Nigerian does are pregnant (these pictures are of last years kids – see the Kidding Schedule for delivery dates this year), but we carefully considered their maturity and needs during pregnancy before taking this step. Basically, there are three stages of care to consider: 1) breeding, 2) early gestation, and 3) late gestation. At each of these stages there is a preferred BCS (Body Condition Score) that should be maintained, specific feeding guidelines, and preventative vaccinations/health precautions that are recommended.
Breeding
Before breeding, it’s typically recommended that first freshening does be at least [...]
Continue reading Basic Goat Pregnancy Care
 A lot of people are surprised to learn that most goat kids (except the few that are naturally polled (hornless)) start growing horns a few days after they’re born; but that most people don’t want their goats to have horns. So, the horns are typically removed when the kids are babies using a process called “disbudding” (see “Disbudding Goats” for more on this).
A wooden “disbudding box” is an essential tool for keeping the kids relatively still during the process, and since goat kidding season has started – here’s an easy to build plan for one (the picture below shows the finished box with [...]
Continue reading Goat Disbudding Box Plans
 Our four mature Nigerian Dwarf does are all obviously “in a family way” as my father-in-law says, and I was wondering how developed the fetuses are as we count down the days to kidding. They still have two months to go, and they look so big already. Here’s what I found:
1st Trimester
20 days – apparent heart beat
28-35 days – limb buds appear
35-42 days – differentiation of mouth, toes, and dew claws
42-49 days – nostrils and eyes apparent; mammary buds in females; empty scrotal sac in males; jugular vein barely visible
2nd Trimester
42-84 days – lung bronchial divisions are differentiated and air conducting [...]
Continue reading Goat Fetal Development
 Now that the does have been bred for 2013 (see Kidding Schedule), it’s time to think about drying them off. But, it’s said that you shouldn’t dry off does prematurely as that will shorten the length of all their future lactations. We were considering going on milk test next year, so we don’t want to do that - but also wondered whether milk testing would be worthwhile – would the does have earned their AR (Advanced Registry) milk stars if we’d tested this year?
The AR star is earned by a doe when the herd goes on official DHI (Dairy Herd Improvement) milk test and the doe produces the [...]
Continue reading Milk Production Testing?
 It seems that the question of how much milk a Nigerian Dwarf doe will produce comes up fairly regularly. Some think that they produce too little to be of practical use – but a good quality doe actually produces a substantial amount; and a couple of does can supply the needs of a family.
DHI (Dairy Herd Improvement) testing is the official method for monitoring milk production for dairy goats, and we have one goat that has been on official test - 3*M Old Mountain Farm Hot Tea 3*D. In her first lactation, she produced the following, as officially recorded in the DHI records:
What this shows is that at [...]
Continue reading Nigerian Dwarves – How Much Milk Do They Produce?
 It’s that time of year when many goat owners are choosing which bucks we’ll use for breeding, and I see many bucks for sale or for rent. But, it’s very important not to use just any buck; and to select bucks that will improve your herd and the breed in general.
By choosing a buck that will improve your own herd, you can increase the milk production and dairy conformation qualities of the kids being produced, thereby increasing their value – either in kid sales or milk product sales. Most people looking to purchase goats are looking for either milk production or [...]
Continue reading Choosing Goat Herdsires
 Linear Appraisal is one method used by the American Dairy Goat Association to evaluate the quality of a dairy goat. All dairy goats, irrespective of breed, are judged against the same scorecard and in the same way. According to the ADGA handbook, “The linear appraisal system evaluates individual type traits that effect structural and functional durability to take full advantage of the potential for genetic improvement through selection”.
Our herd participated in linear appraisal this year and it was a tremendous learning experience. We learned a great deal about the different parts of good dairy conformation and why each part is important to produce a healthy, productive milking goat. I [...]
Continue reading Dairy Goat Linear Appraisal
 Tinker Bell Being Milked
The first time I saw a Nigerian Dwarf goat being milked using a machine, I was shocked. We were just beginning to investigate them as a possible breed for Bramblestone Farm, and I’d assumed that they were too small for a milking machine. But, lots of folks use a machine to milk Nigerian Dwarfs; it can be faster, easier, and more convenient than milking by hand.
As it turns out, it takes longer to write out the steps describing how to milk using a machine than it does to actually do it. It’s an easy process that takes [...]
Continue reading Machine Milking Nigerian Dwarf Goats
We’re often asked this question, and like to have anyone asking taste goat milk for an answer – they’re usually surprised when they find that it’s creamy, sweet and mild – virtually indistinguishable from whole cow milk. But, we raise Nigerian Dwarf goats, which produce milk that’s quite high in butterfat, hence the mild and creamy taste. Other goat breeds produce milk that’s typically lower in butterfat, so the flavor and consistency can be quite different.
As mentioned above, one of the big differentiators in goat milk is the percentage of butterfat. A goat that produces milk at 10% butterfat is [...]
Continue reading What Does Goat Milk Taste Like Anyway?
 We raise Nigerian Dwarf goats primarily for milk production, so that means the does need to be bred yearly and that about half of the resulting offspring will be male. Unfortunately, only a few intact male goats (bucks) are really needed in the goat breeding world; and, those bucks are usually rather smelly – so additionally only a few are really wanted. On the other hand, neutered (wethered) male goats make very sweet pets (not aggressive or smelly like bucks and very affectionate) and great 4H projects for kids, so it make sense to wether most of the male offspring.
There are [...]
Continue reading Wethering (Neutering) Nigerian Dwarf Goats via Banding
 Now that the goat kids are being weaned and we’re getting milk, it’s important to keep milk production records for each of the does. These records give valuable information on how much we can expect each girl to produce (it should increase each year as they get older – to a point), what the lactation curve looks like for each doe (the amount they give varies throughout the lactation – usually peaking a couple of months in and tapering off after that), whether they’re good candidates for milk production testing, what the effects of changes in feed are, give an [...]
Continue reading Milk Production Records
A lot of people are surprised to learn that goats naturally grow horns; and, that many consider horns a detriment so they’re frequently removed when the goats are babies – this process is known as “disbudding”. Horns in goats are generally considered detrimental because:
1. Horns get stuck in things, and can cause the goats to injure themselves
2. Goats with horns can hurt each other when they “play” butt each other
3. Horns can hurt people
4. Horns can cause damage to fences, barns, mangers, etc.
5. People generally prefer hornless goats so they’re worth more
6. Horns can break, and a goat can bleed to [...]
Continue reading Disbudding Goats
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