Tricks of the Trade

Well, one thing that is VERY helpful for us is we have catch pens that surround the shelters in each of our pastures. I feed the goats in the catch pens and then when I need to catch them I just call them up for feeding and shut the gate... BOOM instantly caught

 

A milking stand....it is absolutely great that my hubby built me one made for mini's!! The slider stanchion is great for keeping a wiggly goat still while I vaccinate and trim feet...works on Hank too! Though because Binky and Chief are hornless I need to have him build me a box for them to stand on to keep their heads in the stanchion!!

 

I have one of those cheeeeeeep horse hoof picks- the ones with the pick on one side and the brush on the other. It is great to have the brush to clean the dirt from the hoof becore clipping- save dulling the clippers and allows me to see better. I imagine any brush will do but the pick is cheap and handy.

 

Keeping water clean

I have a small, fine, plastic strainer (from the dollar store) to keep water troughs cleaned of debris or insects between weekly scrubbings. Or you can use a large aquarium net from a pet store.

In winter before we got heated buckets, I would break up the ice and use a cat little scoop to scoop out broken ice. I dearly love my heated buckets!!

 

Here is a neat site I found: http://members.tripod.com/%7EAlchemyAcres/archive.htm I was reading a post on here that mentioned lung worms, so I googled it and came across this site and just wanted to share it. It is a list of monthly tips from 97 to 04 about all sorts of mostly goat stuff, some funny, some marketing and raising.

 

If you wear gloves when you trim hooves, wrap masking tape around the places on your hands where the gloves rub the most. This will stop blisters from forming. Really works esp if you have a lot of goats to trim.

 

Along with my heated water buckets, I put the bucket in a tire and pack hay or straw around the bucket to keep it from freezing in really really cold weather; I live in Northern Mn, so even with the heated buckets, my goatie buckets freeze slightly...ACV also helps keep the water from freezing as much...

I use hay bags (not the net kind) to keep my goat's hay off the ground...I put them up a little higher than chest level so they can't get their legs caught in the nose hole (they are horse hay bags). It keeps their hay clean, and off the ground...which my goaties appreciate! AND I appreciate that they can't step on it and stick their noses up at it in discust and not eat it!!

 

The bales of bermuda we used to buy had wire instead of twine holding them together. I rolled up and saved the wire on many a thing. Handy! Just make sure if you're using it on something the goats can reach, to turn in the ends or do something so that the goats cannot scratch or cut themselves on it.

 

For Mystic's Mom...those heated water buckets, what kind and where did you purchase. Those would be so nice!

 

Here's a good tip, A miniature horse hoof trimmer is great for trimming bucks' and large does hooves, along with the regular goat trimmer. :horse:

 

SUPERLUBE! http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail. ... cat_id=125
For lubricating before assisting with kidding and disinfecting tags and making them easier to go in the ear.

 

By far the best hoof trimmer ever (for mini-goats) is "Shear Magic" hoof trimmers from Jeffer's Supply. We did use it on my cousin's boers but did not care for it too much (not big enough), it does work great for the mini's though!

We use the recipe from Fiasco Farms "Goat Baby Wipes" to wipe down udders before and after milking, cleaning baby goats off, and other stuff - works great and cheap, cheap to make!!

 

Hi- A great tip that I have had success with is using the "Goatlix" round pans for feed and water pans-Put them in a 17 inch old tire and never worry about chasing them down again!!!

 

I have a couple of cattle panels that I keep clips on- I can clip the panels to the fence for putting hay in corners or cutting a pen in two. When the panels are not needed, I keep them clipped to the fence somewhere so they are handy in a pinch.

 

Nancy d- yes, picking poops with one goat tipping over the wheel barrow while another come and stands on the dust pan while the third chews on the broom bristles.
I do something similar as long as it is not raining- I clip feed buckets onto the pasture fence- they all run out there to get the food and I shut the gate to the pen behind them so I can clean it. Then reverse the process with putting hay in the containers inside the pen and opening the gate for them to rush in the other way-lol
Always in a hurry to be the first goat to the food.

 

Good idea on the fresh hay!! I have tried everything to keep our goats from attacking me when I feed- the only thing is- they keep hay and just want the feed. I try to throw a scoop or so over the fence to get them back-They are too smart for that- you open the gate- a few run out (the bottle babies)-the other ones knock you down and trip you,(the friendly grown 200 lb does) knock the bucket out of your hand, jump on you-then the best part is getting that bucket back-you can't get their head out of it. There is no telling how many bruises I get on my sides during the week :hair: