Follow These Tips for Keeping Goats Healthy
It is not difficult keeping goats healthy if a bit of common sense is used.
Keeping goats can be fun and rewarding. All it takes is some basic know-how and paying attention how goats thrive.
Sheep and goats are as different as night and day. They have totally different nutritional needs.
If you feed your goat supplemental feed, remember to check what the nutrition label says so you are not feeding your goats the wrong feed.
Raw grain can be deadly to bucks and wethers. They cannot digest this type of feed. If you are just beginning goat farming, consult with a veterinarian about your bucks needs to keep them healthy. He can recommend the proper supplements,feed and amounts for your goat.
A good supplement to give you goat is dry oatmeal. Goats will eat about anything. They love treats of any kind and go nuts with branches and leaves of anything close enough to eat. You can spoil your goats and also endanger their health by giving them too many treats.
Always make sure to feed fresh and nutritious hay – with or without alfalfa, as needed. Green feed always has more nutrition than brown feed.
Goats can drink up to about five gallon of water a day. Be sure to keep their bucket full of clean water. During cold weather try to keep their water ice free.
Keeping Goats well stocked with needed minerals because they need lots of them. Keeping mineral blocks available for them is good goat farming. Salt can also be made available in a separate feeding dish or as a feeding block.?
Feed your does a well balanced grain supplement, especially when they are pregnant. It is for their good and the kids good to keep them fed with healthy feed.
Your goats coat condition can alert you to how much added grain you need to give her to keep her in the pink. Same way with supplementing lactating does with more protein, since this is important in their milk for young kids.
Be reminded that hoof trimming is necessary every 4 to 6 weeks, to keep your animal from developing hoof rot or leg and hoof issues.
To help keep your goats in optimal health, get them vaccinated every year to ward off any unwanted illness.
Here?s another funny yet important fact. Make sure every goat comes running during feed time, otherwise, something may be wrong.
A goats coat is a good indicator of their health. Patchy, dull and/or course hair can be sign of worms or other diet problems.
An other sign of health is the legs. If they bend or bow back or inward can be an indicator of bad diet.
These tips will surely be of good help in caring for your goats and knowing what signs to watch for to keep them in good health.