Table of Contents

• Home Page
• Copyright information

• Building and Planning A-L
  • Bedding 
    • Depth of bedding
    • Water Absorbing Capacity of Bedding Materials
  • Business Planning
  • Feeder space
  • Fencing
    • Fencing Type and Height for Pastures and Pens and Lots
    • Measurements useful for fencing:
  • Fence Posts
  • Post Holes
  • Hay Storage
    • Hay Capacity per foot of shed length
    • Hay / Straw Storage Space
  • Heating
  • Lumber
  • Actual size vs. labeled size
  • Understanding board feet

• Building and Planning M
  • Manure
  • Math Formulas
  • Measurements of Goats 
  • Milking Parlor Equipment
    • Complete milking unit
    • Hoses
    • Milking Clusters
    • Cluster Components
      • Milking Claws
      • Liners (inflations)
        
      • When to replace inflations
      • Shells
    • Milk Meters 
    • Power Take-offs
    • Clean In Place (CIP)
    • Pulsators/ Pulsator Boards
    •  Vacuum Gauge
    •  Teat Dip Cups
    •  Headstall units
    • Milking Stands
    Milking Parlor Arrangement Options  
    • Stand arrangement: single and double
    • Stanchion arrangements on the stand: herringbone, parallel, or straight.
    • Pipeline arrangements:  Low-line , Mid-line , High-line (standard or swing
  • Milk Room Equipment
  • Bulk tanks
  • Bulk tank temperatures
  • Bulk tank capacity
  • Bulk tank washer
  • Sinks
  • Equipment washing sinks
  • Handwashing sinks
  • Hose chute
  • Cooling compressor
    
  • Vacuum Pump
  • Milk Jar
  • Milk pipe filter (sock) box
  • Paper towel holder
  • Self-closing doors
  • Milk Room Setup
    
    • Avg. peak pounds of milk per day per commercial dairy goat
    • Milkout time:
    • Stray voltage between equipment and ground
    • Minimum air flow requirements to milk on a pipeline system
    • Minimum air flow to wash per loop of pipeline
    • Regulators and Safety Valves
    • Vacuum Level
    • Vacuum Lines
    • Traplines
    • Pulsation lines
    • Sanitary Trap
    • Milk Lines
  • Milk Room Instruction Sheet
  • Milk truck pad

• Building and Planning N-Z
  • Pens for livestock
  • Regulations for setting up the milk room and parlor
  • Sample Farms: Diagrams of existing dairy set-ups 
  • Stocking Rates
  • Temperature tolerances
  • Ventilation
  • Wall Materials
  • Water
    • Water/goat
      
    • Considerations
    • Removable Watering Unit
    • Water Conversions
    • Stocking Rate for Waterers
    • Water Tank Capacity (round) 
    • Water Tank Capacity (oval) 
  • Windows

• Conformation
  • ADGA Standards for Judging Dairy Goats
  • Breed Characteristics
  • How to examine a goat before you buy
  • Parts of the Dairy Goat

• Conversions

• Definitions

• Disease Database A-B
• • General information about using this database and other resources for identifying and treating goat diseases
  • Milk Producers:  READ THIS NOTICE
  • Abscesses (See Caseous Lymphadenitis)
  • Acidosis   (See enterotoxemia, grain overload, founder, overeating disease)
  • Acariasis (see Mange)
  • Akabane
  • Alopecic Exfoliative Dermatitis  
  • Anthrax
  • BDV (Border Disease, Hairy shaker disease)
  • Black Mastitis   (See Mastitis, Black)
  • Bloat
  • Blue Bag   (See Mastitis, Black)
  • Blue Tongue
  • Border Disease   (See BDV)
  • Brucellosis

• Disease Database C-E
  • CAE  (See Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis)
  • Campylobacteriosis
  • Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis (CAE)
  • Capripox  (Goat Pox)
  • Caseous Lymphadenitis
  • Chlamydiosis
  • Choriopic Mange 
  • Circling Disease (See Listeriosis)
  • Coccidiosis (Scours)
  • Cobalt Deficiency (White Liver Disease)
  • Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
  • Contact Dermatitis
  • Contagious Agalactia
  • Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP)
  • Contagious Ecthyma (Orf, Soremouth, Contagious Pustular Dermatitis)  
  • Cryptococcosis (fungal pneumonia, C. Torulosis, European Blastomycosis, Busse-Buschke's Disease)
  • Cryptosporidiosis 
  • Cutaneous Myiasis (see Fly Strike)
  • Cutaneous Neoplasias (Papilloma (warts), Squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer), or Melanoma)
  • Dermatophilosis (Dermatophilus congolensis, Streptothricosis) 
  • Dermatophytosis (see Ringworm)
  • Diarrhea
  • Endotoxemia 
  • Enteritis (Colibacillosis)
  • Enterotoxemia (overeating disease, pulpy kidney disease)

• Disease Database F-K
  
  • Floppy Kid Syndrome  (Metabolic acidosis without dehydration)
  • Fly Strike (Cutaneous Myiasis)
  • Foot and Mouth Disease
  • Foot Rot, Foot Scald
  • Founder (see Enterotoxemia)
  •  Goat Pox (see Capripox)
  • Grain Overload (see Enterotoxemia)
  •  Hairy Shaker Disease (See BDV)
  •  Heartwater (Cowdriosis)
  • Hypocalcemia, (Milk fever, Parturient Paresis)
  • Gangrenous Mastitis (See Mastitis, Black)
  • Johnes Disease (Paratuberculosis)
  • Ketosis (See PregnancyToxemia  if the goat is dry and pregnant. See Lactational Ketosis if the goat has recently delivered her kids and is now milking.)

• Disease Database- Miscellaneous
  
  • Miscellaneous Links
    

• Disease Database P-Q
  • Papillomas (see Cutaneous neoplasias)
  • Parturient paresis (see Hypocalcemia)
  •  Paratuberculosis (See Johnes Disease)
  • Pasteurella (See pneumonia, pasteurella)
  • Pemphigus
  • Peste des Petits Ruminants
  • Photosensitization (photo dermatitis)
  • Pinkeye (Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis)  
  • Pleuropneumonia
  • Pneumonia, Pasteurella
  • Polioencephalomalacia (Thiamine Deficiency)
  • Pregnancy Toxemia (Ketosis)
  • Q Fever

• Disease Database- R-Z
  • Rectal Prolapse
  • Rift Valley Fever
  • Rinderpest
  • Ringworm (Dermatophytosis, Dermatomycosis, Tinea)
  • Scours (See Coccidiosis or Diarrhea)
  • Scrapie
  • Selenium Deficiency (See White Muscle Disease)
  • Skin cancer (see Cutaneous neoplasias)
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma (see Cutaneous neoplasias)
  • Soremouth (see Contagious Ecthyma)
  • Streptothricosis  (See Dermtophilosis)
  • Tetanus (lockjaw)  
  • Urinary Calculi (see Urithroliasis)
  • Urolithiasis (urinary calculi)  
  • Uterine Prolapse  
  • Warts (see cutaneous neoplasias)
  • West Nile Fever (West Nile Virus)
  • White Liver Disease (see Cobalt Deficiency)
  • White Muscle Disease (Selenium deficiency)
  • Zinc Deficiency

• Forms

• Grazing  Goats on Pasture and Browse
• Adaptive advantages that enable goats to graze successfully
• Benefits of grazing
• Challenges of grazing
• Effect of grazing on milk production and components
• Feeding behavior of goats on pasture 
• Grazing management goals
• Green feeding (zero grazing)
•  Managed, intensive (rotational) grazing, with moveable interior fencing
  
  • Maintaining the integrity of the pasture
  • Stocking rate for goats on pasture 
  • Time between grazings
• Meeting nutritional needs on pasture
• Methods of seeding / reseeding pasture
• Parasite control on pasture
  • Sustainable methods
  • Treatments with chemicals:
• Pasture forages for the southern U.S.
• Pasture forages for the tropics
• Pasture forages for Wisconsin livestock grazing
  • Cool season grasses
  • Warm season grasses
  • Alternative forages
• Pasture mix specifically recommended for pastured goats in Shawano County, Wisconsin
• Pasture planting recommendations by soil type, for Wisconsin livestock
• Planning birthing to make best use of pasture forage
• Training Goats To Electric Fence  
  • Parsons Method 
• Watering system for pastures
• Links

• Medical A-D
  • Abdominal Pain
  • Age Determination
    • Using teeth to determine age
      • Broken mouth in an old goat.
      •  Age when teeth come in
    • Using presence of body parts to determine fetal age 
    •   Using fetal length to determine fetal age
  • Anatomy and Physiology
  • Assessment Form
  • Behavior of Goats
  • Blood Sampling
  • Body Condition Scoring
  • Boluses and balling guns
  • Castration
  • Cleaning/ Disinfecting
  • Composting Dead Goats
  • Disaster Preparedness For Livestock
  • Disbudding (see "Horns" on Medical page E-M)
  • Drenching and Dosing
  • Drug Databases
  • Drug Labeling, Extra-Label Drug Use (ELDU), AMDUCA, MUMS 
  • Drug Dosages  (How to Figure Them)

• Medical E-M
• Ear Tags
• External parasites (Lice, fleas, ticks, mites,  keds)
  • Links:
• Goat Facts
• Herd Health Program
• Hoof Trimming
• Horns:  Disbudding, dehorning, removing scurs
  • Reasons for removing horns
  • Reasons for keeping horns on the goats
  • Disbudding (removing horn buds from newborns)
  • Dehorning (removing horns from adult goats)
  • Scur removal (removing thin horns that have grown back in spite of previous disbudding)
• IV Medication or blood drawing from a vein

• Medical N-R
• Parasite Control (Internal, parasites)
  • Signs of heavy parasite load
  • Anti-parasite drugs (also called dewormers or anthelmintics)
  • Three Approaches to Parasite Control: Smart Drenching, Bliss Method, Hutchins Method
  • 1) Smart drenching 
  • 2) The Bliss Method of controlling internal parasites   
  • 3) The Hutchins approach to controlling worms on pasture
  • Other ideas about parasite control
  • Testing for anti-parasite (anthelmintic) drug effectiveness  
  • Two main types of parasites from the Trichostronguloidies family  
  • Factors that affect the release of adult parasites  
  • FAMACHA testing
  • Links:
• Parasites (external) (see the " Fleas and Ticks" section of the Medical E-M page)
• Paste medications 
• Poisonous Plants
• Quarantine
• Reportable Diseases

• Medical S-Z
• Shots
• Filling a syringe
• Giving A Shot
  •  How to give IM shots (intramuscular)
  • How to give SQ shots (subcutaneous)
• Taking a Goat's Pulse (Heart rate)
• Taking a Goat's Respiration Rate (Breathing rate)
• Taking a Goat's Temperature
• Tattoo Identification
  • How to tattoo
• Teeth
  • Broken mouth in an old goat
  • Dental anatomy in ruminants
  • Sore teeth, especially in older animals
• Ticks (see External parasites on Medical C-E page)
• Tube feeding
  • How to insert a feeding tube
• Ultrasounds
  •  Rectal ultrasounds
  •  Abdominal ultrasounds
  • Ultrasounds and Abortion  
  • Ultrasounds and Hydrometria
  •  Using ultrasound to measure fetal age
• Vaccinations
  • CD&T  For prevention of overeating disease ( also called enterotoxemia)
  • Selenium
  • Pasteurella Pneumonia Vaccine
  • Tetanus
• Wattles
  • Procedure for wattle removal
• Weight
  • Method 1: Heartgirth conversion chart
  • Method 2: Heartgirth and length formula

• Milk Production
  • Antibiotic Residue In Milk
    • Milk and Slaughter Withhold Times
    • Testing the milk for antibiotics
    • Common mistakes that cause antibiotic contamination in milk
    • What to do if you think you milked a goat on antibiotics by mistake
    • Consequences of shipping milk with antibiotics in it
    • On-farm test kits for antibiotic residue
  • Apocrine Secretion (Goat) v. Alveolar Secretion (Cow)
  • Breeding for conformation, increased milk production and components
  • Colostrum
  • Components: Butterfat and Protein
    • Butterfat (also called milk fat)
    • Butterfat Normal values
    • How to raise butterfat
    • Milk Protein
  • Plants That May Affect Milk Quality

• Nutrition-Dietary Needs By Category: Newborns, Youngstock, Does, Bucks
  •  Feeding the Newborn (Birth to 8 weeks)
    
    • Other information about feeding the newborn:
    • Pasteurization
    •  Making milk and colostrum for large numbers of kids
    • Selecting Milk Replacer
    • Feeding Options
    • Limiting Consumption  of Milk
  • Preventing scours (coccidiosis) in bottle-fed and bucket fed kids
  • Average Daily Gain
  •  Weaning methods
  • Feeding growing youngstock (Bucklings and Doelings):  12-14% Crude Protein, 60 TDN
    • Two feeding periods 
    • Expected monthly weight gain 
    • Nutritional requirements 
    • Preventing coccidiosis (scours) in weaned kids
  • Feeding Milking Does        CP 15% TDN 65%
  • The effect of the milking and reproduction cycles on nutritional needs
    • Forage needs for lactation
    • Grain needs for lactation
  • Feeding does about to be bred
  • Feeding pregnant, lactating does
  • Feeding Dry Does
  • • How To Dry Off Does
  • Feeding Does, after birthing
  • Feeding Bucks   Crude Protein (CP) 12, Energy (TDN) 60

• Nutrition- General Information 
  • Anatomy For Nutition
  • Basic Nutritional Needs
  • Monitoring Nutritional Status
    • Body Condition Scoring
    • MUN Testing
  •  The Goat's Natural Adaptive Advantages For Feeding
  • The Goat's Natural Diet and Feeding Habits

• Nutrition-Grouping Goats To Simplify Feeding

• Nutrition-   Links to articles and webpages on nutrition

• Nutrition-  Formulating and Adjusting Rations
  • National Research Council Guidelines on feeding goats
  • Nutrition calculators
  • The Goat’s Diet in Confinement Operations
    • 1) Forage (hay, fiber, roughage)
    • Types of hay
    • Options for storage:
    • Hay Quality  
      •  Hay Quality, Feed Values, Approximate Prices (Note: price will vary widely year to year)
    • Recommendations on cutting alfalfa in Wisconsin
    • Forage maturity and feed value
    • Sampling forage
    • Using Round Bales in a Commercial Goat Dairy
      • Problems with round bale feeders
      • Methods of delivering round baled hay or baleage to the feeding area
      • Storing round bales outdoors
      • Round bale: hay or baleage
    • 2) Supplement (grain, ration)
      • Using supplements in the goat diet
      • Adjusting supplement for diffferent quality forages
    • 3) Minerals
      • Figuring Minerals for your Goat’s diet
      • Making a mineral feeder
      • Links:
      • 
        
    • 4) Vitamins
    • 5) Buffer
    • 6) Water
  • Checking an animals nutritional status

• Plans
• Goat Dairy Library plans

• Adult goat coat
  Attaching Pritchard Nipples to Bucket Feeders
  Feed bunk, concrete walkway
  Feed bunk, industrial shelving, slanted headstalls
  Feed bunk, wood, pallet headstalls
  Feed bunk, wood, slatted headstalls
  Feeder, vertical, mineral  (PVC)
  Figuring Stand Space (goats parallel)
  Headstalls, pallet board, different applications
  Kid box
  Making Bucket Feeders (using plastic buckets with lamb nipples)
  Mini-Milker
  Round bale feeders for goats
  Stand, metal, herringbone, for parlor milking  (VERY slow to load.  Many pictures.  Be patient.)
  Stand, metal, parallel, for parlor milking 
  Three-sided shed
  Three -sided shed, simple 
  Watering  Unit, Hudson Valve-Plasson Coupler.pdf
  Wooden milking stand for one goat (made of plywood)

• Plans from other sites

• Producer tips: Good ideas for day to day chores
  • Bottle Holder  (Red River Farm)
  • Colored Leg Bands (Red River Farm)
  • Dehorning (Judy Remo)
  • Goat control with a spray bottle (Red River Farm)
  • Grain feeder for kids (Red River Farm)
  • Homemade Incubator
  • How to make moveable pens and gates in a wooden building (Red River Farm)
  • Leg braces (pipe insulation) (Red River Farm)
  • Leg braces (venetian blinds) (Judy Remo)
  • Umbilical cord dipper    (Judy Remo)
  • Taping teats shut  for CAE prevention (Judy Remo)
  • Thawing Frozen Plastic Pipes (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Rural Activities)
  • Waterer, 10 gallon drum for 100 goats (Van's Fencing)
  • White board for temporary birthing record in kidding area (Red River Farm)
  • White board for easy record-keeping in the milking parlor (Red River Farm)
    

• Reference
  • Equipment Suppliers and Service Providers
  • Farm Newspapers in Wisconsin and elsewhere
  • Goat books and pamphlets highly recommended for the new producer
  • Goat Magazines/Newspapers
  • Help Lines
  • Labs (Wisconsin)
  • Understanding Percent
  • Understanding the pH scale, measuring acidity (acid) and alkalinity (base)

• Reproduction
  • Abortion
  • Age at first service
  • Artificial insemination
  • Birthing
    • Birthing stages (stages of labor)
    • Normal presentation  
    • Kidding Photos
    • Difficult births
    • Rate
    • Signs that there is a problem with the delivery
    • When to assist
    • How to assist
    • How to tell if all babies have been delivered and the placenta has been discharged (Bumping)
    • Naval cord care
    • Number of fetuses
    • Signs the goat is within 24 hours of birthing  
    • Ligament test
    • Signs of labor
    • Supplies needed for birthing
    • Time of birthing
    • Uterine Inertia
    • What to expect after birthing is over
    • Birthing Links
  • Breeding
    • Body condition score during breeding season
    • Breeding cycle
    • General breeding patterns in tropical and temperate climates
    • Breeding "in season" in Wisconsin (breeding September - December, birthing February - May)
    • Breeding "Out of season"
    • Using lights to stimulate out of season breeding
    • Using Progesterone, Progestins with gonadotropins, Prostaglandin to stimulate breeding
    • Breeding Older Does
    • Buck harnesses for recording breeding
    • Flushing
    • Forms
    • Links
  • Buck fertility and stamina
    • Buck preparation for breeding season
    • The scrotum
    • Number of does serviced per buck
    • Semen concentration
    • Signs that the buck is ready for breeding
    • Testicular or penile problems
    • Selecting economically importent genetic traits with the highest heritability
    • Links
  • Heat (estrus, oestrus)
    • Duration of standing heat
    • Heat detection with a buck rag
    • Heat stimulation
    • Using a teaser Buck to stimulate heat
    • Using the "Buck Effect"to stimulate heat
    • Ovulation
    • Signs of heat
    • Signs that heat is ending
    • Sound of a goat in heat
    • Synchronizing  heat for group breeding using "the buck effect"
    • Time between heat periods
  • Infectious reproductive diseases
  • Milking through
  • Pregnancy
    • Average length of pregnancy
    • Dry period
    • Fetal development
    • Hydrometria (also called "false pregnancy" or "cloudburst pregnancy")
    • Pregnancy testing
    • Hormonal assays
    • Ultrasound
    • Xrays
    • Signs of pregnancy

• Seminar Notes

• Caprine Milk Quality and Mastitis (Dr. Scott Haskell)
  Goat Nutrition Seminar (Tim Thompson)
  Parasitology Seminar (Dr. Bliss)
  Reproduction and Breeding of Dairy Goats  (Dr. Scott Haskell)
  Feeding for lactation (Dr. Robert Van Saun)
  

  All of the following handouts from this seminar are available at: http://vbs.psu.edu/extension/resources/dr.-van-sauns-publications/proceedings-papers-and-posters/small-ruminant:
  1) Feeding for lactation
  2) Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
  3) Feeding for Two: How to Properly feed the goat and her rumen
  4) Transition diets for small ruminants: understanding pregnancy nutrition and it's impact on animal health
  

  Troubleshooting Plate Count Problems  (Lenny Schaub)

• Setting Up a Goat Dairy in Wisconsin
  • Act with Caution
  • Bulk tank temperatures for four day pick up
  • Buying Goats
  • Farm Identification Number  
  • Forms for goat sales
  • General information about buying goats
  • How Many Goats Should You Buy?  
  • Insurance 
  • Licensed Wisconsin and Illinois dairy plants that buy milk from WI producers
  • Milk Pickup  
  • Milk Tests
  • Minimum milk production levels for goats in a commercial herd
  • Regulations/ Plan Review/ Inspection
  • Scrapies tags  
  • Start-up costs
  • Supplies You Will Need To Buy
  • Those Difficult First Weeks of Milking  
  • Understanding Taxes
  • Veterinary Issues
  • What happens when you are applying to be on a milk route (Kolb Lena)
  • What to do if you can't get on a route

• Value Added Goat Milk and Meat Products
  • Goat Milk Products
  • • Beauty products
    • Cheese
      • Cheese Recipes:
    • Tofu
    • Yogurt
  • Goat Meat Products
    • Butchering 
    • Marketing Meat Goats
    • Marketing Links:
    • Starting a meat goat operation with extra dairy does
    • Nutritional Value of Goat Meat 
    • Storing and Cooking Goat Meat
    • Meat Goat Nutrition   
    • The differences between feeding dairy and meat goats
    • Feeding Meat  Does
    • Feeding young meat stock
    • Expectations for breeding weight of meat goat breeds (varies by breed):
    • Meat Goat Links
    • Value-added Links