Natural Management Practices For Goats
There are many ways to manage and care for your goat herd naturally, without chemical intervention. There are several tools that can be employed to transition your herd to natural methods, the most important of which are things you should already be doing as a goat producer, regardless of your market - tools such as quarantine; culling for health, parasite resistance, overall vigor, body and hoof structure, and mothering abilities; observing your animals and taking a pro-active approach to something that looks a little "off". Let us take a brief look at these ideas and a few others tossed in for good measure.
Learn to rotate your pasture and grazing areas. Rotate your hay growing areas. Rotate even your dry lots and pens if you don't have areas for your herd to roam. This will first of all reduce by a wide margin your parasite load, and when rotating fields and pastures will provide a more natural level of nutritional values. Have a field or small area or two where you can grow medicinal plants, shrubs, forbs, all the good things that goats love to nibble on. You can cut and harvest these for pen-kept animals, or move them in and out of these areas as part of your rotational grazing. This way you can observe what your goats are seeking out for treats and make adjustments to their care based on what they are ingesting. Remember goats are used to ranging over their territory to nibble here and there, so simulating that as much as possible will contribute to herd health as well.
How can you be pro-active? By keeping up with the everyday things such as weather patterns, temperature patterns, pasture growth patterns, regular FAMACHA and fecal exams done randomly and also aimed specifically at those animals not appearing quite right, and by observing the behavior patterns of your goats both individually and as a herd. If something has occurred that can have a negative impact on your herd, don't wait until signs are pointing towards trouble before you give them something for immune support or parasite resistance support. An ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound or more of cure!
Organic or natural production is a bit more than just avoiding chemicals in our livestock, however. It is more of a way of life for them. It should include ways to make sure they can react with their environment in a natural way, as well as allowing their body and life cycles to fit their personal environment. Allowing them to breed during their natural cycles instead of making it fit our schedules, feeding greenstuffs in their usual seasons, and worming in natural moon cycles to disrupt the life cycles of the parasites are just a few ways we can give them a more natural, organic life.
If we take a look at history it is obvious that goats have survived and thrived for thousands of years prior to the invention of vaccines, chemical wormers, drugs, etc. – and indeed are doing so even today in what we call “undeveloped” nations that do not have access to these modern conveniences. Goats have evolved in some of the harshest environments known to man based solely on what Nature provides for them. Each herd has its own unique climate to adapt to, with its own variety of plants to eat that must be adapted to, along with its own range of illnesses and parasites that must be adapted to. Nature on her own culled out the genetically weak as well as the animals unable to properly adapt to whatever climactic and seasonal changes may have occurred in that goat herd's individual micro-climate.
Observation is your best and most important tool regardless of how you are raising your goats, but especially important with natural methods. Take a long, critical look at your herd and each individual in your herd. Is the herd in overall good health? Are you spending a lot of time worming, trimming hooves, vaccinating? Is your average daily gain for kids where you would like it to be? Is your birthing rate in good numbers for you? Do your individuals have good membrane color? Good weight? Too little milk to feed multiple kids? In need of a lot of extra to keep on weight? In need of frequent worming? If you don't like any of these aspects of your herd, dealing with them as you transition will be important.
This is where culling becomes vital to the health of the entire herd, and to the health of your budget. Poor doers will not improve with natural methods unless the individual has been adversely affected by the use of chemicals. Like humans, some goats are just more sensitive to the negative side effects of chemicals, but rarely is this addressed in goat studies or by the individual herd manager. If the poor doers were born to a world of chemicals in their food, incorrect types of feed, chemicals in their bodies for worms, sneezing, coughing, etc. they may be having a rough time due to chemical sensitivities or malnutrition, not because it is actually an inferior goat genetically speaking. If you have a goat that you feel has good future potential, it may well pay off to keep that animal back for a while and see how it adjusts to a life without so much chemical intervention. Some producers who have followed what I do have remarked that some goats they had marked for culling improved greatly after chemicals had been removed. It always pays to try, especially if you have a great deal invested in your herd!
Because of various state and federal laws, I can't diagnose for you or give you exact written amounts of herbs to give to your individual goats as I am not a licensed vet. The best way to learn what to choose and how much to choose is to attend a clinic or hold one with your fellow goat producers. This article is not intended to replace the advice of your veterinarian, but to help you on your way to treating your own goat herd naturally.
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