Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, breeding, recording, identification, practical advice By Dr Clive Dalton Identification & recording A unique identity Good permanent ID methods Brass tags Very small plastic tags Medium plastic tags Large plastic tags Poor permanent ID methods Other temporary ID methods Raddle Chalk Neck tags Coloured clips Coloured wire twisters New … Read more
Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, health, giving injections, practical adviceBy Dr Clive Dalton & Dr Marjorie Orr Injections General hygiene Subcutaneous injection (under the skin) Intramuscular injection (into the muscle) Intravenous injection (into the vein) Intramammary injection (into the udder)In sheep (and goats), antibiotics for mastitis are normally given intramuscularly but you may need … Read more
Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, information, further reading, references By Dr Clive Dalton Further readingARC Report No. 10. (1998).The nutrition of goats. Report of technical committee on responses to nutrients.ISBN 0-85199-216-1. Batten, G. (2002).Simply goats. A guide to making money from your farm with goats.A FITT project funded by New Zealand Woolpro. ISBN 0-473-07077-4. Charlton, … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Feeds available to goats Pasture Supplementary feeds HayGood things about hay Bad things about hay Pasture SilageGood things about silage Bad things about silage Balage and haylage A buyer’s guide to silage Silage quality check list Send a good representative sample of the silage to a laboratory for feed analysis to … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton FeedingFeeding behaviour Nutrition Feed intakeA goat doesn’t eat knowing its nutritional needs. Seeking out fibrous plants or salt may prove this statement wrong, but generally they are mainly interested in feeds that are palatable and to continue eating until they are satiated. At certain times such as when they are suckling … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Breeding (Genetics) Where to start Purebreds CrossbredsThese are animals that have varying proportions of Angora and some other goat types. Here is the process of “grading up” using a purebred Angora buck through four generations towards purebred status. If you cannot afford a purebred Angora buck, then you can use a … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Breeding objectives in Angora goatsBreeders agree that all of these traits listed below are important, but they may put them in different orders of priority. For example if you are spending hours treating goats for footrot and dealing with dirty rear ends with worms, then getting rid of these two traits … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Practical recording tipsNew Zealand sheep farmers, shepherds and research technicians over the years have shown amazing innovation in developing practical ways to make field recording easier. The following are some of them: Plastic tagging adult does Brass tagging adult goats Tagging kids at birthThis is the most challenging part of recording, … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Aging goats by teeth Looking in a goat’s mouthGoats don’t like dental examinations, so you’ll have to firmly restrain each animal. Here are some tips: Be prepared for surprises Goats with no teeth can still manage to eat if there is plenty of pasture available, as the front teeth only bite … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Handling goats Behaviour Catching & holding goats Yards Good things about yards Shelter/Shade & housing Danger times for goats Birth. Post shearing
By Dr Clive Dalton reproduction the female (Doe or Nanny) Signs of oestrus: The male (Buck or Billy) Birth behaviour of does Birth behaviour of the kids When to kid
By Dr Clive Dalton Goat welfare issues There are plenty of these. Here are some common ones: TransportGoats used to human contact will be little problem during transport, but even so, it’s important to study the Code of Recommendations and Minimal Standards (Number 15, 1994) on the MAF Welfare of Animals Transported Within New Zealand. … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Management calendarJanuary February March April May June July August September October November December
By Dr Clive Dalton Getting started Buying goatsFemales What to buy depends on what’s available at the time and what the current market is like. If mohair is out of fashion, then does will be a lot cheaper than when fibre prices are good and people are talking about an approaching boom! An established flock … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Your legal responsibilities The Five FreedomsThis is the main principle behind the Animal Welfare Act as the person responsible for the care of an animal is legally bound to provide it with “The Five Freedoms”. These are: The first four freedoms are all very straightforward and it’s only the fifth one … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Introduction Why keep goats? Points for: Points against: