Goats

Coccidia in Chickens & Goats – A Health Challenge for Both

What is Coccidia in Chickens and Goats?

Coccidia in chickens and goats, if left untreated can be very dangerous.

Coccidia otherwise known as cocci or coccidious is an internal parasite that can affect all species. Coccidia can be found in the dirt, fecal matter, pretty much anywhere outside that your animals will definitely be touching.

You would think that with how widespread coccidia can be that it would be a simple thing right? Wrong! Coccidia, although by definition (it is a single cell protoza) is a simple organism how it affects animals is not simple at all….

How To Care For Goats In Winter

By MrAnimal Farm 15 Comments

How To Care For Goats In Winter

You made it through the summer and now the weather has started to get a bit colder. You may have noticed your goats’ coats (ha ha) have started to get thicker. They are not out grazing as often as usual. And they are eating A LOT of hay. It should be pretty clear they are preparing for Winter. Now you too can prepare and learn how to care for goats in Winter.

Goats are outdoor animals, and because of that, they are pretty good at surviving outside. You can, however, learn some tips about caring for goats in the winter that will make their lives much more comfortable….

Kidding Preparation – 4 Essential Steps for Kidding Season

By MrAnimal Farm 2 Comments

Kidding Season can get really hectic, really fast. So, if you know you have a pregnant goat, you should be sure to be prepared. Goat kidding preparation will be important so that you don’t get overwhelmed when kidding is in full force.

We like to have all of our girls due around the same time so that we can get all of the sleep deprivation and bottle feedings out of the way all at once. However, this means LOTS of work for a period of time. Make sure you know about goat gestation periods so that you know when to expect your kiddings.

I don’t think there is any way to make sure that all the work is done without properly preparing for kidding season. However, with the proper kidding preparation, kidding season can go fairly smoothly.

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Goat Heat Signs – 6 Signs to Tell Your Goat is in Heat

By MrAnimal Farm 12 Comments

If you are keeping one of the types of dairy goats, you will have to breed your goats each year to keep them in milk. In order to get a successful breeding, you must be able to tell if your goat is in heat and during that time (usually only about a short 48 hours!) you must get them in with a buck to be bred. Goat heat signs are easy to identify once you know what to look for.

If you are interested in goat heat signs, that probably means you will be breeding your goats. Make sure you have the Goat Breeding Planner so you have all the breeding information you need!

In our case, we don’t have bucks yet, so we are doing driveway breedings (just a quick 15 – 30 minute “date” with the buck, then back home) so it is VERY important that we catch the girls as soon as they go into heat. (Update, we now have our own boys 🙂 Several of them! )

We REALLY love to use a leash and collar to walk our boys into our girls area when we see some of them showing the 6 goat heat signs below.

Walking the boys through will give you a DEFINITE yes or no if you are in doubt. The boys will be very enthusiastic towards girls who are in heat. And girls who are in heat will be VERY excited about the boys.

A few general things about a goat heat cycle before we jump into the actual goat heat signs.

When do goats go into heat?

Nigerian Dwarf goats will go into heat year-round, but will likely have the strongest heat cycles in the Fall. Some other breeds only go into heat in Fall – these breeds are seasonal breeders.

How often do goats go into heat?

A goat heat cycle is usually spaced out about every 18 – 21 days apart. So, most goats will go into heat about every three weeks.

A goat heat cycle only lasts a short time (48 – 72 hours usually) and they have to be right at the right timing in that heat cycle to be willing to stand for the buck to be bred.

Why do you need to know about goat heat signs?

As you can see, a goat heat cycle is a very short window of time to get your goat bred.

So, if you know that you want to get your girls bred, you’ll need to know when to do it! You should know some general things about a goat heat cycle, but now you want to make sure you know what goat heat signs to look for so you don’t miss your breeding window!

Before your goats are showing signs of heat, make sure you decide which goats to pair up and breed.

Let’s review how you will know your goats are in heat!

Here is the list of signs a goat is in heat that we looked for:

1) First, start paying extra attention to each doe while she is on the milk stand.

You want to know what she “normally” looks and acts like. This way, when her behavior changes, you will know.

Some girls will get more friendly when they are in heat. Some goats will get more standoffish when they are in heat. We have seen some girls mount other does when they are in heat.

So, the actual behavior may vary from doe to doe when they are in heat. But a good sign your goat is in heat is a change in that does typical behavior.

2) Extra tail wagging

You have probably noticed that your goats will wag their tails some while eating, scratching etc. A good goat heat sign to look for is EXTRA tail wagging.

We weren’t sure that this would be easy to spot, I mean what constitutes as “extra”?

Well, if you have been doing #1 above, you will likely know what “extra” is. It is obvious that the does wag their tails more. They also wag them at different times like while they were eating their milk stand treat.

3) Swelling

Often times when a doe is in heat you will notice her vulva (“lady parts” if we are being polite) will be swollen. By knowing what she usually looks like, it is easier to notice any swelling.

4) Discharge

Your doe will likely have some vaginal discharge when she comes into heat.

You may notice it just on her “lady parts”, but it can also end up on the underside of her tail and tail hair.

5) More Vocal

Our girls are all relatively quiet (unless they are separated from the herd or wanting bananas!). However, during heat cycles, does will many times become more vocal.

We have one girl in particular who will literally SCREAM at the fence line ALL DAY LONG when she is in heat. This is a VERY clear sign your goat is in heat.

6) Wether detectors

If you have a wether in with your does, they may also be able to help you detect if your does are in heat.

Wethers (even though they aren’t in tact) will often start to exhibit buck-like behavior — curling lips, clicking noises, mounting — towards the does in heat.

Once your girls are bred, make sure you are prepared for kidding time!

Want to see a doe who is displaying the signs of a goat in heat?

Check out our YouTube video below. Don’t forget to subscribe!

For More on Goats, Check these out!

Goat Breeding Planning – Using ADGA to Make the Right Matches

By MrAnimal Farm Leave a Comment

I have to admit something, we just wrapped up our first round of kidding season (one round left) and we are already battling with our goat breeding planning for next year.

Has anyone else ever felt this pressure? We are all working hard to make the right breeding decisions to improve our herd, but WHAT should those decisions be?

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Can You Freeze Milk? A Fast & Easy Way to Preserve Milk!

By MrAnimal Farm Leave a Comment

A few years ago, when we were only milking two goats we would use our milk right up. Fast forward to today, we are milking upwards of 14 goats every day and we are OVERRUN with milk! So, we need a fast and easy way to preserve all this extra milk. This left us wondering, can you freeze milk?

Luckily, the answer to can you freeze milk is a resounding YES!

Freezing milk is SUPER easy. It does not take up a lot of time and the quality of the milk stays pretty good.

You can pasteurize your milk and then freeze it, or if you use your milk raw, you can just freeze milk raw.

Even if you aren’t crazy like us – milking 14 dairy goats a day – you might still have a need for figuring out how can you freeze milk. Even if you don’t milk goats at all, but perhaps find a great sale on milk, you might want to know how freezing milk works.

One of the main ways that we save money is by shopping sales, using coupons and stockpiling when the price is at a rock bottom. We have been known to buy tons of something if it is on sale and then preserve the item for later use, like: freezing blueberries, freezing peppers, freezing mashed potatoes and freezing spaghetti squash.

There are several general ways that you can preserve food – pressure canning, dehydrating, water bath canning and freezing just to name a few. We usually have so much stuff going on here that we try to use the FASTEST way to preserve things. This usually ends up being by freezing the food.

So, when we found that we were overrun with milk we found ourselves asking, can you freeze milk? Whatever your reason is – whether you have a bunch of goats you are milking, a milk cow or you just found a banging sale – we have found that freezing milk is the BEST way to preserve milk.

Ok, so now that we understand that we can freeze milk, how exactly is this done?

Freezing milk is super easy and you only need a few supplies.

Supplies for Freezing Milk:

Funnel

Milk strainer

Glass jars

Quart or Gallon Freezer Bags

Sharpie

How Can You Freeze Milk:

Once you have decided that freezing milk is the best way to go, make sure to gather your supplies and then follow this process. It is not difficult at all!

If you are milking your own goats or cows, you will have a few more steps to take.

Preparing to freeze milk –

1) You will need to filter your milk.

This is pretty simple. Place the stainer/filter – we like to use this milk filter – into your glass jar. Then slowly pour your milk through the filter to remove any hair or debris.

2) Pasteurize your milk, if desired.

If you like to pasteurize your milk before using it, you will now want to pasteurize your milk. Pasteurizing is pretty simple, but it does take a little time. Here are some easy instructions on how to pasteurize milk.

If you have already filtered and pasteurized your milk or if you bought your milk from the store, then you are ready to get started on the next steps.

Here is when we get right to how to freeze milk.

1) You will want to use freezer bags.

We like to use quart bags so that the amount of milk is manageable. The smaller bags are also easier to find room for in our deep freezer. However, you can also use gallon freezer bags, if you prefer.

2) Label and Date the bags.

Using a sharpie or other type of permanent marker, write the date and what you are freezing on the label area of the bag. We usually just write something simple like “Goat Milk 6/5/18”.

Making sure to date the bags as you are freezing milk is important, otherwise you might now know how old the milk is later on. And although by freezing milk it SHOULD technically be safe long term, after a 6 months is really when quality can start to degrade.

3) Slowly Pour Milk into Labeled bags.

We always make sure to have the milk portioned out first. We like to freeze milk in quart bags, so we have the milk measured into quart glass jars first.

By measuring your milk out before freezing the milk, it makes sure that you don’t overfill the bags. As the milk freezes, it will expand. So, if you overfill the bags, it can cause them to burst when the milk freezes.

4) Squeeze Out Excess Air & Close Bag.

We try to get out all the excess air possible before zipping the bag shut. Excess air can make it harder to stack the bags of frozen milk. Having excess air will also cause air pockets to gather in the milk which can be a pain to deal with.

5) Lay the bags flat in your freezer.

We try to make sure that when we are freezing milk that the bags are laid flat. This makes the milk freeze evenly. Having the milk frozen evenly makes it thinner and easier to stack the bags up later.

How long can you freeze milk?

Technically, when something is frozen, it should last indefinitely. However, there is usually a best by timeframe on food products.

This means that while it may still be safe to use or eat after the best by timeframe, the quality may significantly decrease. When freezing milk, the accepted best by timeframe is 3 – 6 months.

Can you Freeze Milk and then Drink it?

So, maybe you don’t do a lot of cooking and you aren’t using your milk to bottle feed baby goats or other animals. You might be wondering if you can freeze milk and then use it for regular drinking.

The answer is yes, you can drink milk once it has been frozen. It will have a tendency to separate after freezing. This means that the cream will separate from the milk. So it may have a different taste or texture.

To minimize the separation, be sure to shake the bag well after thawing.

After freezing milk how long does it take to thaw?

While you can thaw your frozen milk under running water, that takes time. So, we usually just pull the bag of milk out the night before we need it and place it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight.

Thawing frozen milk in the fridge usually takes about 12 hours or so.

Can You Freeze Milk That is Expired or is Expiring?

You definitely don’t want to be freezing milk that is already expired. If it has already expired then it should just be tossed out.

If you are wondering if you can freeze milk that is getting ready to expire, that is up to you. However, the fresher the milk the better results you are going to get when freezing it.

Now that you know the answer to can you freeze milk not only is YES, but that it is a simple process you can make sure you don’t waste any milk. You can also be prepared to actually stock up on milk if you find a great sale!

Learning how to freeze milk has been a fantastic time and money saver for us and should be for you too!