# 4-H show goats



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

My niece has moved back and is going to be showing again this year. So it's time for me to learn how to feed and groom. Before we just fed them the same as our does and did our best clipping. But now that she is older and will try better I want to learn as much as I can so we can do our best. We may not have any champions here but doing our best with what we have is what I am trying to teach her along with responsibility and to have fun. We know winning is not everything but it would be fun.

I have switched feed to kalmbach game changer 6600r. The kids love it and seem to be growing ok but not amazing. We don't show until July 27th and I want my wether to be about 90 pounds. He is about 45-50 right now. I know as summer goes on and it gets hotter they eat and gain less. So I have them all on almost full fees. We have 3 doelings (but I don't think we are taking 1) and 1 wether. Any help I can get as far as fees or additives would be amazing. I will do my best to get pictures if you need them and think that would help. I let my niece pick out all of her goats on her own since she is 15 now it should be her job. I honestly think we sold the best ones. But we will still have fun. This girl we probably won't show is pretty nice in my opinion so I kept her even tho Kerigan didn't pick her.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

This is maylee (3-6 mo old class. Kerigan calls her paisley)








This is Swiss miss (6-9 mo old class)








This is mocha her wether








This is How Bout Dat who Kerigan does not plan to show (3-6 mo old class)


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

According to our 4h leader with the goats, they will gain more if they are fed 2X a day as close to 12 hours apart as you can. In a way this makes sense to me because, have you heard how starving your self as a diet actually back fires because your body goes into survival mode and when you do actually eat your body will put more weight on, so in that way it makes sense but me? I'm having my son feed free choice all they want in the creep feeder. 
Ok so I'm not a pro by any means even a tiny little bit, but when I took my bucks out this year they looked BAD, they usually don't and since I'm breeding earlier next time I wanted weight on them and have been feeding them this







And then 3 handfuls of this mixed in REALLY REALLY well.....I'm not joking it smells so bad!














And so far I am super pleased with the weight they have been putting on. I think we are 2 maybe 3 weeks in on that Nasty crap and I already see a difference.


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## gwith (Aug 12, 2014)

One thing we learned at goat camp, yes there is a goat camp, is that if you only give them feed, their insides will become extremely smooth and they will not absorb the nutrients as good. They recommended you feed them a handful of rough alfalfa stems at least 30 minutes before feeding time to get things going and keep the insides rough. 

We have added calf manna, black oil sunflower seeds, and corn periodically if we think we need a little something extra. 

Also, the 12 hours feedings is important. 

Be careful with all that hay on the ground. They may eat it. It will cause worms and could fill them up where they won't want to eat all your feed.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

The does will be shown as commercial or breeding? Shaved or hair on like ABGA?
If they don't get shaved, I'd brush them as often as you can morning and evening if possible. You can use a scotch comb like this:
http://www.horsetackonline.com/scotch-curling-comb.html

You an use a brush as well and it will help them shed their winter coats, and help train their hair to lay flat. Plus, it's a great way to get them to relax, most enjoy it once they get used to it. 
Something that may help coat shine and skin is adding in an oil - corn oil, rice bran oil, or healthy goat coat. They will also add extra fat. We typically use rice bran oil to start with and I love it. This year, we are behind on everything and just adding corn oil. 
Adding oil will help with red goats skin. For some reason our red goats get dry skin easy, and the oil really helps keep their skin looking good and sleek coats.

I'd probably clip them about 6-8 weeks out so you can get an idea of what they look like under all the hair, plus if you take off too much then you'll have time for it to grow back. That's what I generally try to do, although we are really behind this year, and have been so busy.

With our young does we tend to feed free choice. We give enough in the morning and evening for them to get full and have a little left over. We typically add beet pulp so on show day if they tend to look sunken in we can increase the beet pulp and help get them filled out. That is usually our struggle, because they tend to not eat as well or drink as well at the shows. Once in a while we've drenched them with electrolyte water.

I'm no expert on wethers. I will say a lot of people seem to like Fitter 35, and a lot of sheep people around here tend to use it as well. I've heard of people using Champion drive as mentioned above. We were going to buy one, can't remember which one, maybe Champion drive. We actually used calf manna instead (trying to build up a yearling buck), and it worked really well. So you might want to compare them and see which would be cheaper. I may end up putting the yearling back on calf manna if he doesn't switch to our new feed soon. He is sooooo picky it's not funny.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks I have not tried brushing them yet and I know since it's warming up they need to start getting that winter coat out. They will be in the breeding class. Our fair does not have registered classes so they show as breeding or market. I will look into some oils I imagine I don't add very much to the feed correct? I will also look into those additives as well. Since I look at them everyday it's hard to tell if they are growing or not so I really need to get the scale out. Thank you all for the help.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I totally understand seeing them every day and it being hard to tell any changes. I have that problem too. 
On the oil, a little bit goes a long way. If we feed pelleted feed only, I generally work kids up to where when I mix the feed/oil in a bucket, it has a light coating on all the pellets, but not dripping wet. 

I usually start the oil about a month before they start showing, and adjust it according to their skin/coat. Plus, the fat in it should help. 
I know all the does last year looked great on it.

The problem I am having this year is the 2 yearlings. They are fat! Usually I am building up yearlings this time of year after winter, but it was such a mild winter this year. I have to cut them back on feed again, and they get a minimum amount of corn oil for skin/hair. Ours have been shedding out for a while now.
We brush them while they are eating. The only ones we haven't really brushed are the young breeding goats, but they are under 3mo, and prefer the brush instead of the comb.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I clipped all the goats today and I am not good at clipping does. They don't look real good but I have a month to get them fixed.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

They look good.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks pam we will see how they do this year.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Very nice


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Thank you very much


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

They look fantastic! Congrats on having such a nice show string this year for her to show! The only suggestion I'll make unless your doing it on purpose is, when clipping the chest, you also do the back of the neck. You don't have to cut it super short, just short enough that it gives them a clean, feminine look. 
I can't tell with the angle, but you also go up the underside of the tail and clean the tail up.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I did go up the underside of the tails and tipped the tops. I didn't do the back of the neck or the head yet. I know I will have to clip them again and blend better I just wanted to try it out first to see how hard it was. We have just over a month till our fair so I wanted some practice.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I would get everyone in and clip them. That's what my son and I are going to do till we get it figured out. Although I said that last year and by the time I knew it we had a week to figure it out lol


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

It won't be much work to "fix" them so atleast they are all done for the most part.


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