# Raising goats ECONOMICALLY



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

As a new Topic of The Week, a suggestion was made for any input or advice as far as how we can raise a healthy, happy goat without spending a fortune,...any suggestions for the means that each of us use that can help cut costs with certain things we use to ensure healthy animals.

I am lucky enough to be able to feed a good quality hay BUT I also tended to have ALOT of waste due to over feeding in not so efficient feeders, I had gone through over 200 bales from September 2010 to March 2011 for a herd of 8 Nigerians.... at over $2 a bale, I knew I had to do something to make hay feeding more efficient and though I am resourceful in other ways I knew this was going to be a puzzle for me as I tend to feed everytime my kids would holler like they were starved. I purchased 83 bales of hay in October and had not touched it until early December when the supply of 25 bales from the previous year was gone... I made use of the buckets I get from work that frozen apples come in...square so they were easily screwed to the wall and now I have 4 in the does shed for my current 5 does, hubby used a hole saw to make feeder holes in the bottom edges and I can fill up each using 1 flake of hay twice a day, and my girls are still fat and content. My 2 boys don't have one yet as I'm making them as I can get the buckets but 1 bale of hay has lasted 3 days for 7 goats :greengrin:


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

I like this topic! :thumb: I have no suggestions at the moment, but if I think of one I will definitely post it!
I am especially interested in finding a good balance between milking does' production and expense.


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## Iwantgoats (Oct 3, 2008)

I found a metal magazine rack at the goodwill store for $1. I wired it (using hay bale wire) to the 2x4 in the shed and it holds a flake of hay. Perfect for my two does in there.


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## Petersfamilyfarms (Jan 15, 2012)

Love this!  

So what did you use to make the cut out holes smooth?


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

Oh my goodness, I love the bucket idea! I've been trying to come up with a better way to feed my girls their hay. Thanks for sharing!


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Right now the only time I buy straw is for kidding stalls. Wasted hay is forked up & spread around their lounging area.
Barn sweepings are thrown to the chickens. Makes for nice eggs when there's not much greens for forage.
If we have room & if it's available, the feed store gives away giant amounts of their floor sweepings. We use it for additional bedding if needed.


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## 4theluvofgoats (Jun 9, 2011)

Liz, how big are the holes in your bucket feeder? I've been trying to talk hubby into turning a 55 gal barrel into something similar to hold an entire bale of hay but we can't agree on a diameter for the holes.

~Christy


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My hubby used a "Hole saw"....it's a round saw blade that's attached to a drill, mainly used when doing wiring or plumbing work. Not sure of the size he used but the openings are 3 1/2 inches from edge to edge and I only recently added some rubber tubing the edges because I have noticed that each of my pigs...er goats have bare noses from rubbing the edges of the holes as they try to reach in as far as they can go. Because I do feed alfalfa hay, theres a good bit of the leaf that will lay in the bottom of the feeders, what the goats can't reach I just scoop out and put it in an open feeder where they can clean it up.

Those square plastic kitty litter buckets would work too, just remove the bails to prevent any potential injury.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Ooo...like that feeder Liz! :thumb:

Here are some things I recommend:

Buy supplies in bulk and when they're on sale (get on the suppliers mailing/emailing list for discounts/sales/etc.)

Buy your hay straight from the farmer and early into cuttings, buy as much as you can and store/tarp it. Luckily we grow our own, but I see to many people spending way more than they have to because they waited til the last minute or buy from people who resell it, buy from a feed store, etc.

Do your research on how to treat your animals, instead of relying on a vet. Research research research before there is a problem so you are prepared. I don't know how much money I have saved because I can doctor my own animals for most things instead of getting a vet involved. Don't get me wrong, there are some things that require a vet for sure, but many things that can be done by yourself with the right knowledge.

Old clothes or towels that you might throw out, you can cut into squares and use for kiddings, cleaning wipes, etc.

The plastic garbage cans with a lid make great storage for grain and minerals, keep it dry and keep the mice or other livestock out. They usually aren't to spendy.

...I'll try and think of some more!


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## Mandara Farm (Sep 12, 2010)

We have 3 giant cottonwood trees in our yard (not in the goat pen). This fall, we raked up all the leaves and bagged them so that now, during the coldest part of winter, the girls get "Cookies" on cold days -- a nice supplemental feeding that has no cost except raking time :thumb:


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

I make sure all my friends/clients know I will take stale bread(for chickens) stale cereal,cookies chips just about anything that the goats/pig/horses will eat. Also pumpkins/tree branches. Sometimes it takes some work to go pick it up but its worth it. When we had the big ice storm I had branches dropped off daily. They all know to check with me on type of tree 1st.


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## pennyspasture (Dec 22, 2011)

Love the feeder idea. I have been using two milk crates that I cram 2flakes of hay in at a time. It works well until they have eaten about half, then they waste a lot.


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## pennyspasture (Dec 22, 2011)

Liz
What type of rubber tubing did you use and where did you get it? I love this idea!!


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## Petersfamilyfarms (Jan 15, 2012)

I pick up everyone's no good windfall apples and put them in containers I made of old pallets and chicken wire. I get what the seed cleaner rejects (wheat, grass seed, clover, oats) from my father-in-law. I haul hot water in milk jugs out to the barn in the winter, although I'd love to justify a purchase of a de-icing water bucket someday. And of corse planting a goat garden. Also collect all of my, my friends, and families canning "garbage". Especially corn husks. Oh, and my goats were free and I traded hay for the breeding fee.


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## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

For bedding we rake up dry pine needles and leaves.We gather raspberry leaves in the fall, dry them and store them in an open container to feed them to our bred does. I reuse feed bags for barn trash or to have for baby goats to land on. I use a large thick plastic round tote for a water bucket in the summer because it holds more water for them.We have done it in the winter to when we had our horse.Way cheaper then the galvanized water troughs.You can use a deicer in it to. 
I've used a laundry basket tied to the fence panel for a quick hay feeder. About all I can think of at the moment


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

pennyspasture said:


> Liz
> What type of rubber tubing did you use and where did you get it? I love this idea!!


What I used with these was what my hubby bought years ago to use when replacing gas supply lines on small 2 cycle engines (weed eater) I also have a coil of the same type of line that was used for an oxygen supply line on a oxygen machine my mom uses, it's replaced yearly and I took it because I'm a pack rat and figured I'd find use for it :wink:

Its split on one side lengthwise to cover the edges of the holes and held in place with duct tape...my tape just happens to be pink.

All of these are great ways to cut costs...I too reuse feed sacks, ATM...I have one I'm using to collect bailing twine.


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## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

pennyspasture said:


> Love the feeder idea. I have been using two milk crates that I cram 2flakes of hay in at a time. It works well until they have eaten about half, then they waste a lot.


I use the metal milkcrates too. They are up on a cement block and bungied to the wall. The only problem is I have one girl that likes to stand in one of them (she's tiny) I am thinking if i raise it up higher maybe she will stop. They were wasting a ton of hay before so I stopped putting fresh hay in every time i feed - i fluff it up if there is any left and usually move the remaining hay from one into the other so at least one crate is completely empty before putting a new flake in. They do get really flaky stuff at the bottom, and maybe once every 10 days i pull out the fluffy stuff and put it in their favorite sleeping corners, so my bedding is a mix of old hay and shavings.

I try to do my own vet stuff too (with alot of help from TGS)


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## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

We do our own vet stuff too thanks to all of you.Only once did we have to involve the vet since having goats.I'm actually wanting to go a step further and getting the book Goat Medicine.I love to read and learn and this would be a great way to help me in the future or someone else.It's expensive but I think it will pay for itself over the years of not involving the vet if I can help it.


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## amylawrence (May 19, 2011)

Love the bucket idea too! However, we have round bales from our grass pasture given to us in exchange for the neighboring cattle farmer who maintains and does the cutting. We have lots of waste, especially with our LGA donkey eating the middle out of the bale all day, then the bale collapses and she just poops all over the loose hay while she pigs out. Obviously no one will eat the dirty stuff.we try and be as resourceful and use salvage materials for our farm projects. Round bale feeders are expensive!!! Any ideas?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

A simple and easy round bale feeder can be made by using a "Cattle panel"...it's 16 feet long and 5 feet high, just wrap it around the bale, if anything it will keep it together and the donkey won't be able to flatten the roll, just cinch up the panel as the bale gets smaller.


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## amylawrence (May 19, 2011)

Thanks for the round bale saver idea Liz. We even have a cattle panel not in use- lucky us! We made our goat tote out of a cattle panel which fits perfectly in the bed of my truck and can carry 3 or 4 doelings or2 grown goats.

I think this is a good thread to brag on hubby's resourcefulness. Our farm has two large barns which are beyond repair and falling down. He salvaged wood, hinges, gates,hardware, and sheet metal and built our two goat shacks, complete with 2 kidding pens each, completely from the salvaged materials. Pretty? Not really. Practical? Absolutely.

He also had a piece of pvc drain pipe given to him which he cut in half lengthwise and mounted on wooden supports for 2 feed troughs. We also get huge plastic drums from a friend's workplace, cut them in half :shades: :shades: lengthwise, support them with concrete blocks for water troughs.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2012)

If you can grind your alfalfa hay and feed it that way it goes so much farther.
I used to put big round bales on the ground and they wasted about 40% of it depending which cut and if it was rained on or not. That worked since I have my own alfalfa field. Then I got a new baler, a soft core and the goats would eat them from both ends and they would fall over killing the goats, I lost 10 goats to this. Then I bought a bale processor and started feeding in bunks. My waste is about 15% now depending on which cut, 1st cut is always has long stems and unless it is ground they waste the stem. 
I know most of you don't have a bale processor but you do have chipper shredders that will do the small goat herd just fine. Grind only as fine as needed the biggest screen should work to start with. And get the feed to where they can't get in it like a trough, you can sweeten the hay with what ever grain you feed and make your own ration. I really couldn't believe the difference in the animals appearance and health. I will pay for the used bale processor this season, bunks too just in the hay I will save. Fuel is minimal and I can feed enough in their bunks to last 2 days.


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## pennyspasture (Dec 22, 2011)

Just wanted to say that I copied the feeder idea Liz had and it works great. I have cut back a lot on hay loss by using these. Here's a photo of the ones we made.


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## Petersfamilyfarms (Jan 15, 2012)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Love the feeders! Good size holes! 

Coupons and sales for supplies and feed. 
onder: Got to think of more .


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

:thumbup: Use washers with the screws when you attach them to the wall, otherwise the screw heads will go through the plastic as the goats wiggle them around during feeding. Great job!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Scrounge! We have gotten several used cattle panels by scrounging around. We often have to cut them shorter to get rid of bad ends, but if we get them free....who cares! We even cleared out an area of panels, wire, posts, etc, for someone at no cost but we got to salvage everything out of it. If you can do that, you can pick up some great stuff. You may have to just look around at some old farmsteads and find out who owns them and then go talk and offer to clean them up in exchange for salvage rights. It's work, but you can pick up some decent fencing supplies that way and often some feeders. 

Don't be afraid to buy used wire for fencing from farmers. If the price is right, even if you can't use all of it it's often way cheaper than new. And short pieces often come in handy too (like for making round bale feeders!).

Farm sales. You all know I LOVE auctions anyway. LOL Just don't get carried away with prices. I'm cheap...I only bid so high at the farm auctions. You can often get feeders, tank heaters, etc at a really good buy.


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## Mandara Farm (Sep 12, 2010)

Sideplanner, I love your idea of using a small chipper to grind the hay! Going to talk to by DH tonight about getting one. THanks for that great tip!


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## bessmiller (Jan 23, 2012)

> Don't be afraid to buy used wire for fencing from farmers. If the price is right, even if you can't use all of it it's often way cheaper than new. And short pieces often come in handy too (like for making round bale feeders!).


This is exactly what we did for our fence. My father-in-law had a rental house with 2"x4" wire fence all the way around the almost 1acre backyard, and told us we could have it if we wanted to take it all down for him. My husband had to work pretty hard at it, as it was entwined with vines, but we were able to selvage almost enough fencing for our entire pen, plus most of our wood posts!

Here's another tip: Always check the cull lumber bins at Home Depot. We have gotten so many great pieces of wood there that we have used for goat housing. We built one smallish shelter for about $3 using cull lumber. Oh yeah!


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## Willow (Jun 12, 2011)

Great ideas!! I've goten some great things for* free* with Freecycle. www.freecycle.org
_for chicken and duck pens _- fencing and chicken wire, metal posts 
_for 3 sided shelter, awning extension to barn, duck pen _- scrap wood, roll of tar paper, roofing shingles
_for goat milk_ - yogurt maker, ice cream maker
_duck nesting huts _- dog crates
Then there's always tag sale left overs and piles of freebies on the side of the road.
:laugh:


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## goatiegurl*Oh (Nov 11, 2007)

I saw a big outdoor water tank the other day when I went for a walk and thought they could make a good hay feeder. Has anyone used one? Lots of great ideas on this thread! :thumb: I've been taking notes


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

This such a cool thread!! Unfortunately I am not as resourceful as some of you...however I will be using the hay feeder idea-thank you Liz! I have been feeding hay out of an old swing set slide-lol! It keeps the hay clean and out of poops (my girls are good about not soiling the hay luckily!) I love the idea of having those handy little hay feeders to hang around the fence. 

I got lucky a few weeks ago and a friend of mine gave me an old hay manger for free! It needs some cleaning and painting and then hubby will hang it up for me. Those hay managers are really expensive if you buy one. 

To save $$ I use straw for bedding (it does cost $7 but for me 1 bale of straw goes along way!) We built our buck house this summer. It was not completely "cheap" but ...the bucks got an awesome house and wind wall and it was way less than I could have ever purchased a pre-made shelter for. 

Also---I think this is the best $$ tip of all. If you make sure your goats are adequately de-wormed it is amazing how much you can save on feed! I have found a very little grain goes along way with does especially when they are not wormy at all. 

I also purchase my BOSS from Wal-mart---sooooo much less expensive than purchasing it at a feed store or even at TSC.

Oh---last summer we put out an advertisement and hubby and I went on a few "hoof trimming" jobs. Each job we made $100+ and we put that towards our goats needs


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Friends save orange peels, watermelon rinds, etc. for my goats. A month ago we were at the electric supply store when we were offered some melon. I asked what they did with the rinds. Well, they got them out of the trash and put them in a bag for us. Our goats loved the treat.


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## TiffofMo (Jan 10, 2011)

Someone was a talking about a 55 gallon barrel to use as a hay feeder. I have 1 hubby made last yr. All he did was cut 2 big holes across from 1 other and i drop a whole bale in there it works good but at the time i had horned goats so they were always catching there horns. In the summer i use the barrel for a water trough. Its being used as a water trough in my boy pen.


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## sammischorzman (Jul 18, 2012)

Hey all Im new to this sight wanted to throw in what i do i have 3 goats 1 ff in milk and a wether and a weanling doe i too hated the waisted hay and started feeding outside rhe fence basicaly i noticed how rhey always had their heads thru the cattle panels so i made a section inside the barn that is abt a 1/2 panel wide and i put a piece of ply woodon floor and feed so no hay is on inside of goat pen they have to put head thru fence to eat i have noo waist whatever they dont eat i feed to the horse and thier stall is very easy to clean takes abt 5 min once a week to rake out.


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

I love this thread. So me being cheap, especially with the economy, I try to repurpose anything I can. When we moved here in March, it's rental, there was an old 60's model travel trailer in the back. It hadn't been moved in about 15 yrs and due to where it was you couldn't get it out now with the trees. SO, I cleaned about a truck load of nasty stuff out of it, people stored stuff, lived in it, including a pack rat. I took everything out except the sink, it has no function electric or water, and the cupboard around the sink. I scrubbed everything !! from the ceiling to the floor with bleach water and dried it 3 times. Then I cut a new floor from wood and painted it with truck bed liner paint, so it's washable- this was the most expensive part- about $60. I painted top to bottom in white gloss scrubable paint so it's clean!! It's totally clean, waterproof and rodent proof. It's now where my stanchion is and I milk.
The blue 55 gal drums were cut in half for water tanks.
I went to a smaller lumber processor and got a load of wood, 1x2 up to 2x6 most of which was 2'-4' and used that in projects from feeders to shelter building, even my stanchion- that was all free.
My husband is manager at a carbon fiber plant that makes surf shafts and paddles. Anyone who knows carbon fiber, it's very expensive, strong and light weight. He bring home any shafts that are 2nds, they are 6' tall about 1 1/2 or 2" in diameter. Woo hoo more supplies, I used them to make the verticle rails on a feeder. I used them to line the top of the chicken wire on the pen between the t posts. 
The most expensive is if I need large plywood, or nails, screws and hardware.


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Am I understanding you that you paid only $2 a bale for Alfalfa hay? I just spent $15 for 1 bale and the price has gone down since last winter.

I like your feeder but not sure where I would find square bales. Unless we get rain I will be forced to feed them a lot more alfalfa. Right now I am tossing alfalfa over the fence onto the ground and I can tell a lot is going uneaten. Problem is my goats will not share. Everyone is chasing everyone else away from whatever food I give them so I have 3 seperate feeders for 3 goats, otherwise the doe at the bottom gets nothing to eat. I leave 4 piles of alfalfa or weeds each time I feed them because the buck chases the queen from where she is eating and the queen runs over to the other doe and chases her and on and on it goes. Only way to insure everyone gets something is to leave 4 piles.

I look to save money on food everywhere I can. Right now the goats are not being let out to graze much due to hunters next door and the goats wanting to go next door to eat. So I have been gathering weeds and anything they might eat and throwing it over the fence. Goats love Mountain Ceder trees which are hated by humans and most animals. When we cut down a tree, we throw the branches into the goat enclosure and everyone happily cleans the needles and bark off the limbs. My ranch partner owns a house in the city that he is renting rooms out to relatives. There is an oak tree hanging over the fence which drops acorns onto a cement patio. We made a trip there this week and swept up a ton of acorns. I have been feeding the goats a little bucket of those acorns every other day. They love them. I have been giving them a lot of treats too, vegetable ends and fruit parts we don't eat. They gobble the stuff down. Anything I can do to keep their bellies happily fed I am willing to do.


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

My mother in law has willows on her ditchbank so i go cut those and throw them in the goat pen. The goats clean them off and then I weave the sticks into the spaces in my cattle panels to make them more kid proof. I was given a few bushels of apples this fall, I chopped them and fed some, then froze the rest for winter treats. Hadn't thought of the leaves idea, but I am going to proposition my dad for his! I love repurposing things and Craigs list is such a great resource for free or inexpensive items!


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

We purchased a chipper/mulcher. After the goats clean off the Mountain Cedar branches for us we can turn them into mulch. We used it for the first time this week and got 4 huge bags of wonderful mulch that we are using to make walkways with. Much nicer walking on mulch paths then rocks that twist are feet.


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## fezz09 (Oct 30, 2012)

Wow this is too cool!! I LOVE this kind of stuff!! We ought this 1/4 section about a year ago and the previous owners left the barn and sheds FULL of "garbage"!! I was pretty choked... Then this summer when I started going through it all I found a few things that were awesome or SOMETHING lol I took an old desk that was still sturdy and built three side on it with scrap wood, then with more lengths of scrap I made two ramps for it and call it the "launch pad" haha the goats and my kids LOVE it and it is a nice little shelter too!! I also made a really cool milking/hoof trimming/doctoring stand out of all scraps!! Very fun to teach the kids about recycling and using their imaginations!!


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

1. Feed your animals on pasture/browse as much as possible. Depending on your soil, you may be able to raise goats with no supplementary feed at all during much of the year. Of course keep an eye on their weight.
My goats (not milking or pregnant) have done great for a few months on no hay or grain - they are all sleek and fat, except the buck, who is not really skinny, just not fat like the rest - I think from being in rut. My feed bill is $0.00, my goats are healthy, and they drink almost no water (get nearly all they need from the green plants, apparently!) Feed as little grain as you can get by with - their digestive systems are not designed to handle much grain.

2. Make sure your goats get the correct balance of minerals; do not overcrowd; and keep things reasonably clean. These things will go a long way toward keeping them healthy. An ounce of prevention is worth far more than a pound of cure!



> Also---I think this is the best $$ tip of all. If you make sure your goats are adequately de-wormed it is amazing how much you can save on feed! I have found a very little grain goes along way with does especially when they are not wormy at all.


That one is going on my mental list of Most Important Notes!



> Do your research on how to treat your animals, instead of relying on a vet. Research research research before there is a problem so you are prepared. I don't know how much money I have saved because I can doctor my own animals for most things instead of getting a vet involved. Don't get me wrong, there are some things that require a vet for sure, but many things that can be done by yourself with the right knowledge.


SOOOO true! I have learned how to give shots and disbud; my paramedic brother draws blood for me, and next time I need to castrate I'm going to do it myself!
Along the same lines, it is amazing what vitamin C can do. It's the first thing I reach for when one of my goats is "off." I never use antibiotics, just vitamin C. (In an emergency, such as Listeriosis, I would use an antibiotic.)


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## Arkie (Sep 25, 2012)

I think the thread title is an oxymoron !!!!:laugh:

Bob


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

:laugh: OHHH yes, I hear you!
I am not an experienced goatkeeper, but judging by my (admittedly limited) experience, a lot of people could cut costs 80% and have healthier goats! Spoiled goats and an expensive diet are not necessarily healthier!


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## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Reading, research, practice!!

We do all of our own vetting (shots, disbudding, castration...) My husband and I were fortunate enough to work as vet techs at a large animal hospital where there was a very experienced goat vet there. My husband had to sew one of my Saanen's ears back on when she chased the dog under the porch and almost severed it off getting it stuck on a nail...Thank God for betadine, dental floss and a strong stomach!!

We also save money by having portable electric fence we can use to rotate the goats around the property to forage...it does take an initial investment but this year it paid for itself


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