List Of Goat Chores

 Ever feel like you are going to go insane with all the chores you need to do? Well, I started a list. A list lets me push a great deal of  pressure off on to paper and organize the to do's into a prioritized order. The one for the goats is rather daunting in itself let alone all the other animals and the garden and house.

One of the biggies on my list is dis-budding. I call it de-horning but really that isn't correct. To de-horn is to remove existing horns and to dis-bud is to remove the tiny little buds that will become horns. As you can see from Contessa above, we did a horrible job on dis-budding last year. We've two new kids to dis-bud and the other three have one small scur a piece forming to stop before they look like the above doe.

How will we fix the above doe and her sister? We will file a ring around the base of the horn, scur whatever, in order for an elasticator band, the same kind you use in disbudding a calf and place that in the files ring. This will kill the blood supply for a major artery runs part way up through the middle of the horn. The scur or horn will then fall off and then you have to kill the horn cells by burning or it will regrow. Or you can take the goat to the vet and have them dug out.  They don't guarantee bucks because the horns can still grow back.

• Dis-bud

1. Dock
2. Cheyenne
3. Florence
4. New buck that needs a name
5. New doeling that needs a name

• De-horn

1. Katarina
2. Contessa

Contessa isn't going to like it and the whites of her eyes are going to get a whole lot wider when we put the bands on and tattoo her.

Yup, tattooing is on my list too.

• Tattoo
• Cheyenne
• Florence
• Dock
• New Doeling

I'm not sure about the other new little buck.

We did not register the kids last year and in fact we haven't transferred Chicory's papers to our names either. Before we weren't selling breeding stock. Now we are. So I've a slew of goats to register this year.

As for Katarina's little buck, we haven't decided what we are going to do with him. I'm not going to register his mom. So do I sell him as a unregistered buck or wether him. My hubby and I have differing opinions and so we need to get photos and put the two bucks up for sale and see what happens. If we do it quick, we can still wether Katarina's buck if there is no interest. The other purebred buck, Dock, will for sure be sold as a buck due to his dam's and sires bloodlines and Dock's conformation.

All of the above work is in preparation to register them. Which I have all the paper work but need to fill it out as I am a member of the American Dairy Goat Association.

• Photograph goats from all angles for our records and to show to people interested in buying kids next year.
• Chicory
• Contessa
• Cheyenne
• Florence
• Dock
• New buck
• New doeling

Of course it is feet trimming time once more and everyone needs their feet trimmed. Well, not everyone but everyone over a month old, which excludes the two youngest kids.

And I've a couple sheds to clean and sawdust to haul away that piled up while the weather was too wet to haul it off to my garden because I wasn't interested in getting our pickup stuck in the mud.

We also have the tin sided goat shed that needs one side replace. And there is a new gate that needs bought and altered for goats. Plus the two gates we have need stripped down to the frames and we've a pig panel we are cutting up to weld on the frames. 

Then there is the scraping of the pens which didn't get done last year and the painting of two wood goat sheds which needs done every year. The goats rub off the paint in big patches. They must not think I have enough to do already. Granted, the sheds are really old.

Then there is the hay feeders that I want built. Hay is going to be a fortune this year partly due to diesel prices. To haul the hay and the tractors needs to bale it. We have one set up but it isn't quite working as well as it needs to and we need to build two for the other pens. 

Last but not least is one of the goat pens that I'm going to enlarge. Oh yeah, and the dose of copper that I haven't put in the water yet to keep that level up in their bodies. And I need to teach two yearling does to jump on the milking stand without lifting them on as I'm presently doing with Contessa. I figure I'll get her going a bit and then start on Katarina. 

I've the kids to teach to lead and the yearling does also. And I almost forgot I've pens to weed eat and mow around to keep the goats and stock from bowing the fences outward to get at the grass along side. Not to mention sell two bucks and a doeling. Good thing I have the goats all wormed because as you can see my list is getting long. 

Yup, having goats isn't any work at all. LOL 

No, seriously, if you want goats, be sure and look at this list and the one I made before when I was setting goals. Goats are awesome and the milk heaven BUT, they aren't maintenance free and I haven't even mentioned breeding and taking care of the milk. They aren't simple like having a dog or a cat but they are highly rewarding.