Baby Goat Care Sheet - The Dos Lobos Formula

Congratulations on bringing home a new baby goat for your family!  Whether you're taking home a pet quality goat or a goat with milk production potential, one thing we strive for is healthy babies when they leave our farm.  The following is a guide with two options for you to consider for your situation: The Conventional Method or The Natural Method.  We use a blend of both depending upon the situation.  None of this is veterinary advice, so please find a GOOD goat vet in your area!  Most items recommended here can be purchased at your local feed store.

Vaccinations

CDT - Durvet brand Clostridium Perfringens Types C & D - Tetanus Toxoid 

• This is kind of the big one that is important to control, but also very much up for debate right now.  All babies that leave our farm will have had their first shot at 2 weeks during disbudding and 28 days after they will receive their 2nd dose.  This is a vaccine that has been recommended to be given annually.
• There are some new studies out there suggesting that all CDT vaccines lose their efficacy quickly and that in order to maintain "immunity", the goat needs to be vaccinated 4 times per year! In our opinion, that is excessive and not practical.  There are some other options.
• Tetanus Antitoxin is an alternative to doing CDT vaccines all year long, annually, or at disbudding/banding.  It's also good to keep on hand in case your goat gets injured or one starts displaying signs of tetany.  It's not expensive and is a good insurance policy.  

Deworming

• Where we are in Wise county, our vet has said that close to the Deep Creek area there is an increased incidence of parasite resistance because of the run-off into the rivers.  That being said, he recommends Durvet GoatCare 2X Type C Medicated Feed Goat Dewormer (contains Rumatel).  All babies that leave our farm will have had 2 rounds of this dewormer out of an abundance of caution. 
• Conventional, medicated deworming is recommended twice per year in the spring and fall, but we have had two different vets from different clinics recommend not to worm on a schedule at all anymore because of the parasite resistance in our county.  They recommend to only worm if you suspect something is off, and to only treat the one individual, and not the whole herd.  Take stool samples to your vet for them to analyze if you suspect worms.  Never worm your goats monthly, even if you're showing.  That's how we got into this parasite resistance mess in Wise county!
• There are also fecal sample kits that you can sometimes get for free from your local feed store from Safeguard, depending upon the deal worked out with them.  The Russell Feed and Supply chain in the Dallas Fort Worth area had such a thing worked out about a year ago, and they still may have it.  Reach out and find out.
• If you run into parasite resistance: the only option will be a prescription from your vet, so work closely with them to run fecal samples.  We've only run into this issue once with a goat we bought from another farm about 20 miles from us who frequently showed their goats.  It took 2 months before she was parasite free and she was on a knife's edge for a few days.  Be sure to let your vet know if you're deworming a pregnant animal -- you might endanger the babies if you give the wrong dewormer for resistant parasites.
• If you're doing things regeneratively like us, you know that deworming medications can set you way back on your soil health.  If you have to use medicated wormers, you can place the animal in the barn for the duration of the worming protocol and dispose of the bedding in the trash or burn it.
• If you run into coccidia, our go-to is Corrid.  You need a fecal exam done to determine if this parasite is present.  Other dewormers will not work on it, you have to use one specific for coccidia.  We also do not feed medicated feed with a coccidiostat added, also for the reasons mentioned above for soil health.
• A couple of quick methods to check for goat health without a fecal exam is to do the Famacha eye exam (the more pale the under-lid of the eye, the higher the likelihood that parasites are present) or one thing that I've noticed with my goats, if their eyes are bulging really big out of their head, they likely have a parasite load.  Their bulge will go back to normal after medicated deworming or a round of Corrid for coccidia.

I DO highly recommend using a medicated dewormer on any animal you bring to your farm if it was not wormed before leaving their previous home.  It's too much of a risk to bring a wormy animal (or resistant parasites) to your farm, even if it's one of mine.  Run a fecal exam first, and then go from there.  If you buy goats from the sale barn, you're on your own.  Cheap up front, expensive in the rear.  The sale barn is where the problems go.

Natural Deworming

Natural alternatives to deworming have worked very well for us so far and include: 

• Apple Cider Vinegar (with the "Mother") offered free choice (but my goats seem to think this is candy and go through it like crazy -- so offer it once a month or so).  You can buy it at the grocery store, or work with your feed store to possibly purchase it in bulk.  If you need help sourcing bulk options, I can point you to some contacts who can help.  IMPORTANT: apple cider vinegar is very acidic and can burn your animal -- make sure to dilute it with an equal amount of water before feeding it.
• Biochar -- this is a product that is burned wood, bones, or other organic material that is water quenched at a certain temperature to create a very brittle, tasteless, odorless pure carbon crystal.  Because of the electrical charge of the char, it adsorbs toxins, bacteria, and parasites which then get eliminated by the animal into the soil... then goes on to nourish the soil better with the presence of more carbon!  You don't need to feed a lot of this, maybe a pinch or two per animal, per day, or offer it free choice or mixed in with your mineral.  Be careful not put out too much -- because of its adsorptive properties and hunger for things to latch onto, it can bind to nutrients that your animal needs and your animal will become deficient.  A little bit goes a long way.  You can make your own (do plenty of research first!) or you can find a local farm that makes it such as Dave at Big Little Farm for $10/lb if you're in the DFW area, or you can buy it from Organic Gut Solution for $19/lb.  This stuff is safe enough even for baby chicks and we feed it right away -- when you do, your babies will feather out completely about 2 weeks faster than without.  For real!  We love this stuff!
• Redmond Conditioner - this is a volcanic ash/clay mixture mined in the USA in Utah and this is the absolute best stuff next to the Biochar!  You can offer this free choice, mix it with your mineral, or mixed into your goat feed.  Our baby goats really went after this stuff after just a few days of age this year.  It has a lot of trace minerals and also raises the pH of the gut, making it an inhospitable home to parasites.  This stuff was the key to eliminating flies from our cattle last summer!  This can also be mixed in with your mineral/biochar free choice mixture.
• Sodium bicarbonate -- this is a quick fix to raise the pH of your animal's gut if you suspect parasites are at play.  Just make sure to offer Apple Cider Vinegar free choice to lower their pH back down if the animal needs to.  Also, Arm & Hammer baking soda will work... but it tastes terrible, and even your goats might turn their noses up at it.  There are other brands available at your local feed store that are more palatable (and loads cheaper... the stuff I linked is too expensive, but it does work!  Shop around, and you can find more affordable options that work.)
• Dried Candied Molasses -- you can get this from your local feed store and can be used to help entice your animal to want to eat the mineral/biochar/sodium bicarbonate/conditioner mixture.  So far, a 1:1:1:1:3 mixture with the molasses being 3 parts to the others seems to work well with our goats... maybe too well.  They eat this stuff like candy!

So far, this protocol for prevention has worked very well for us.  We obtained our first goats in December 2022 and started using this method in March of 2024 and we have never lost a goat to health issues (or predators!)  They are all healthy and have passed fecal exams with flying colors.

Minerals

• We recommend only Redmond Premium Goat Mineral for your goats.  It is mined in the USA so you don't have to worry about toxic contaminants coming from out of the country.  We used to use Kansas Gray Salt, but ran into issues in the fall of 2024 where our females were short-cycling and coming into heat every 5-7 days, unable to get pregnant.  We switched back to the Redmond mineral, and all of them settled and got pregnant within a week of the change.
• For wethers: if you have hard water (which most of Texas does) you will need a mineral with ammonium chloride in it to prevent urinary tract blockage in your wethers.  It is not necessary for bucks to have this mineral.  If wethers are banded too early, they are more prone to blockage.  If you band boys after 8 weeks, the chances of this problem occurring are reduced, so we band only at 8 weeks.  MannaPro Goat Mineral with Ammonium Chloride is what we keep on hand, plus, it has a higher ppm of copper, so if your goats are copper deficient, a boost from this might help.  You'll know your goats are copper deficient if they are losing tail hairs.  DOT NOT feed ammonium chloride mineral or feeds containing it to your pregnant does!

Feed

Our goats have a job at our farm: weed control!  We don't have trees, so the browse available to them is limited, but they do well controlling the dove weed, ragweed, thistles, mares tail (their favorite!).  So in the spring-fall, we don't offer feed or hay unless we have pregnant animals or if we are milking.  We only offer hay in the winter.

• Square bales of bermuda hay lasts our herd of 15 +/- individuals about a week, colder spells may require more
• 1 flake of alfalfa hay is offered per day per pregnant female starting at 6 weeks before their due date, or when they start to show a little bit of udder.  The extra protein and calcium in alfalfa really helps them get ready for kidding and keeps their lactation up.
• MFM Goat and Sheep pellets are our go-to for feed for pregnant does and for goat kids for weaning.  You can find something comparable in your area that is milled locally.  We offer as much as the pregnant does want and don't restrict any feed during the late-term pregnancy and after kidding.  They will have this feed gradually restricted as the kids enter weaning.

Weaning

We start weaning at 6 weeks of age.  The babies will do 4 hours away one day, then 6 hours, then 8, then 12 or 16, then a break where they spend the whole day with their mama.  Then we do a full day, plus overnight weaning, followed by another day of rest with mama, then we do 2 days, then 3 days without mom.  By the end of 2 weeks, they're weaned and ready to go to their new homes.  We don't separate boys from girls until 7 to 8 weeks, depending upon the space available and if we have another like-aged boy that can be housed with the baby.  So far, we've been fortunate and our current buck loves the babies and so we let him play the part of babysitter for the boy pen.  Wethers will be banded before they leave for their new home.  Any boys not reserved as bucks will be banded between 8 and 9 weeks of age, period.  They can't stay in the weaning pens forever and intact.

Bottle Babies vs Dam Raised, and other Behavioral Issues

• We prefer to let the dams raise their babies.  I'm not a goat, and I don't want to job of a mama goat!  Every animal on our farm has a job, and if they can't do it, they're fired -- either sold in private sale, sale barn, or butchered for meat, including dairy goats!  
• That said, it is my belief that kids turn out better mannered for a herd hierarchy if they're dam raised.  We took on some older goats that were raised as bottle babies from the day they were born and they matured as a group on their own with no adult goats to teach manners.  They are the biggest and meanest herdmate bullies.  I thought one of them had killed one of my yearling does when they rammed her so hard that she didn't want to get up.  That was the last straw and I saw the difference in ones that were dam raised vs these ill-tempered bottle brats.  They are also the loudest and the biggest drama queens, spoiled princesses.  Therefore, if any of our babies leaves as a bottle baby, it's serious, and something happened to the mama or the mama rejected it.  Otherwise, I would prefer not to ever sell bottle babies for the sake of other herds that might purchase bottle brats one day.  The herd teaches manners, and anything that defies herd manners to the extreme, I put on a cull list and send to the meat packer.  If anyone wants to debate this, they can message me.  My farm, my rules.
• The same with fence jumpers, or wethers that jump fences to get to the girls and to fight a buck during the rut.  Wethers keeping the buck at bay during rut...  they gotta go to the freezer.  Wethers jumping the fence to get to the girls' expensive alfalfa hay during pregnancy and lactation gotta go.  Fence jumpers period are freezer camp attendees.
• Going under fences is a different problem... our livestock guardian dog digs under the fences and has taught our entire herd to follow her her lead.  I can usually fix a hole and the goats won't try to go through.  The dog is their only means of getting under with a new hole.

Horns vs Disbudding

• I used to be anti-disbudding after we bought a registered Pygmy buck in 2023 and saw as his horn scurs grew what a terrible job someone had done with him.  And then our horned goats started getting their heads stuck in the fence trying to eat the same grass on the neighbor's side as ours... after 2 years of dealing with a lot of lost time due to fishing goat horns out of the fence, we disbud all babies and all new goats we purchase MUST be disbudded.  PERIOD.  I value my time greatly... and when I go out to feed in the extreme heat or cold and there's 5 goats all in a row with their heads stuck in the fence, I lose my temper because it will take me an hour of fighting all of those goats to get their head out of the fence.  Therefore, any babies you purchase from us will be disbudded.  If you back out of the sale, I'm not left holding the bag on another horned animal to fish out of the fence if it never sells.  Look at it as me doing you a favor in the future and saving you the same amount of time if you have similar fencing to us.
• Now that we are moving our entire herd toward registered goats in 2025, any registerable goats that you purchase to show must be disbudded anyway, per show rules.  It's a service that is handled by our vet for very cheap ($10/kid) and includes their first CDT shot.  A win in my book!

Ivermectin and Australian Shepherds

I only bring this up because Aussies are very popular in Texas, and we have 3!  Australian Shepherds have a gene called MDR1 which makes them deathly allergic to Ivermectin.  We will not be using any medications with Ivermectin unless the sick animal is confined in the barn and the dogs can be kept away.  Dogs LOVE to eat poop... it's a fact of owning a dog.  Medicated animals eliminate the excess medication and then the dogs eat the poop... and get sick or die.  I've seen a few posts in breeder groups where dogs have been sent to the vent for Ivermectin poisoning because they have this gene.  So, just be aware that this is possible, and keep your working dogs safe by quarantining your sick stock!

Other Resources

As if you haven't felt like you've been drinking from a fire hydrant today, there are plenty of more resources online for you to reference.  Two groups that come to mind are ADGA Breeder Hangout on Facebook and Goat Emergency Team on Facebook.  Join these groups and just read some posts once in a while.  It's very informative and you can learn a lot to file away for another day!