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Meat Goat Association
Mountain States Meat Goat Association
Show Tips By Erica Ashby
of Kicking A Ranch
Show Tips By Erica Ashby
of Kicking A Ranch
MSMGA
Quarterly
Newsletter
Quarterly
Newsletter
. How to feed and exercise your show goats
It's that time of year when new hopes of your next famous show goats are born!
How exciting ,choosing this years "show string" !
I feed my goats Ranch-Way gestation pellets about a month before they are due to kid and after during lactation .I set a creep feeder up so the babies can eat them too . I usually have 5 to 6 in my show string ,even that is a lot to get ready in one go .
First I go around the barn to see what catches my eye .
When I have made my decision I will separate them when they have been weaned and I put them in together ,not does and bucklings!.
I will start them on pellets. I like Ranchway meat goat grower ,don't for get to change over gradually from the gestation pellet ,I like pellets because they don't sort out what they like and leave the rest .I make sure that they have enough minerals by sprinkling a little on their pellets,I like Ranch-Way Minerals . .All ways make sure that when you go to put more feed in the feeder that all the old food is cleaned out, Please don't assume that they will eat it later .Mice and birds will have pooped on it and they WON'T eat it .
I feed the amount by trail and error, if they do not clean up by mid day I will put less in the next day and the same goes for the evening feed ,you will soon get to know how much they will eat ,remember what they leave is costing you money .!I feed the show string a small amount of alfalfa hay ,if you feed to much they will get "hay bellies" !
There is a fine line between a goat growing and a goat getting too fat !!!! when feeding for the show ring.
Most Judges like to see a little extra " roundness " but not a jiggley fat goat !Brian Farris does a jiggle test ...so be warned if you ever show under him !!!
Make sure you C/D&T them with 2cc's and a month later the 2nd of 2ccs. I normally do this when they start eating well around 3 to 4 weeks old . I give them 3cc of fortified B vitamins every 2 weeks to keep their appetite strong .Make sure that their hoofs are trimmed frequently ,because you will be feeding them more than normal their hoofs grow a lot faster .If you don't they could have problems such as toes out or in or even low pasterns which I will address in Mays edition .
Most people think that they will get their goats fit by walking them for miles ..not true, "they" have done study's and it seems the only good way to build muscle is to do the "flight thing "Which means short sharp fast runs to get the adrenaline going thus building up muscle . I have found ,since I cannot run that fast that my dogs do a good job for me . The goats are out in a large pen/pasture and where as my dogs do not drive they certainly "round up" so they get the little herd dashing around until the dogs think they are rounded up .
One other way I have found works well and this only works for me because I have a long right of way fenced on both sides is to train your goat to trot along side of you on the 4 wheeler drive down to the end ,let him go and drive back as fast as you can ,Bomber used to chase after me all the way back ,it helps if there is something tempting for him to get back to ..like cute does !!He really got in shape doing this but not all goats will be quite so accommodating .If you don't have a long drive way or dogs try putting food one end of the pasture and water on the other .
When teaching to lead I try to get friendly early on ,I always milk a little colostrum and feed it to my kids straight away that way you bond with them also if anything happens to the doe or she doesn't have enough milk you know they will suck from a bottle .If you missed the bonding process I tie my Show prospects up high and leave them for a while ,don't go off somewhere as they might hang themselves .If they are really really stubborn and dig their heels in I might just give them a little prod with the cattle prod, once or twice will do the trick then all you have to do is touch them and go bizzz bizzz it works like a charm !!!!!
It's that time of year when new hopes of your next famous show goats are born!
How exciting ,choosing this years "show string" !
I feed my goats Ranch-Way gestation pellets about a month before they are due to kid and after during lactation .I set a creep feeder up so the babies can eat them too . I usually have 5 to 6 in my show string ,even that is a lot to get ready in one go .
First I go around the barn to see what catches my eye .
When I have made my decision I will separate them when they have been weaned and I put them in together ,not does and bucklings!.
I will start them on pellets. I like Ranchway meat goat grower ,don't for get to change over gradually from the gestation pellet ,I like pellets because they don't sort out what they like and leave the rest .I make sure that they have enough minerals by sprinkling a little on their pellets,I like Ranch-Way Minerals . .All ways make sure that when you go to put more feed in the feeder that all the old food is cleaned out, Please don't assume that they will eat it later .Mice and birds will have pooped on it and they WON'T eat it .
I feed the amount by trail and error, if they do not clean up by mid day I will put less in the next day and the same goes for the evening feed ,you will soon get to know how much they will eat ,remember what they leave is costing you money .!I feed the show string a small amount of alfalfa hay ,if you feed to much they will get "hay bellies" !
There is a fine line between a goat growing and a goat getting too fat !!!! when feeding for the show ring.
Most Judges like to see a little extra " roundness " but not a jiggley fat goat !Brian Farris does a jiggle test ...so be warned if you ever show under him !!!
Make sure you C/D&T them with 2cc's and a month later the 2nd of 2ccs. I normally do this when they start eating well around 3 to 4 weeks old . I give them 3cc of fortified B vitamins every 2 weeks to keep their appetite strong .Make sure that their hoofs are trimmed frequently ,because you will be feeding them more than normal their hoofs grow a lot faster .If you don't they could have problems such as toes out or in or even low pasterns which I will address in Mays edition .
Most people think that they will get their goats fit by walking them for miles ..not true, "they" have done study's and it seems the only good way to build muscle is to do the "flight thing "Which means short sharp fast runs to get the adrenaline going thus building up muscle . I have found ,since I cannot run that fast that my dogs do a good job for me . The goats are out in a large pen/pasture and where as my dogs do not drive they certainly "round up" so they get the little herd dashing around until the dogs think they are rounded up .
One other way I have found works well and this only works for me because I have a long right of way fenced on both sides is to train your goat to trot along side of you on the 4 wheeler drive down to the end ,let him go and drive back as fast as you can ,Bomber used to chase after me all the way back ,it helps if there is something tempting for him to get back to ..like cute does !!He really got in shape doing this but not all goats will be quite so accommodating .If you don't have a long drive way or dogs try putting food one end of the pasture and water on the other .
When teaching to lead I try to get friendly early on ,I always milk a little colostrum and feed it to my kids straight away that way you bond with them also if anything happens to the doe or she doesn't have enough milk you know they will suck from a bottle .If you missed the bonding process I tie my Show prospects up high and leave them for a while ,don't go off somewhere as they might hang themselves .If they are really really stubborn and dig their heels in I might just give them a little prod with the cattle prod, once or twice will do the trick then all you have to do is touch them and go bizzz bizzz it works like a charm !!!!!
MSMGA