EasyKeeper Extension 

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Safe travels pre-transport checklist

truck hauling livestock trailer

There's a lot to think about and prepare for before you move animals: verifying your vehicle and trailer are in good working condition, your trailer is properly secured, ensuring the animals will be safe in the trailer, and confirming you've obtained and loaded any important documents. Use this checklist to help prepare for a successful day on the road.

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Bottle feeding and hand-rearing goat kids

baby goat drinking from a bottle

There are a number of reasons to feed your kids by hand, seperate from their mothers. This article explores why a producer might want to hand-rear kids and discusses the pros and cons of some of the different options.

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Getting the best from your bucks this breeding season

boer goat buck with young doeling

The stress on a buck during breeding season can lead to health issues and the reduction of reproductive performance.

The key to your buck’s successful breeding season is good health management, starting with a pre-season breeding readiness assessment to identify and respond to any issues early enough that he’ll be ready to do his job during breeding season.

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Fundamentals of goat nutrition

pregnant boer goats in nevada pasture

This article provides a practical explanation of the basics of goat nutrition could be useful for producers to make informed decisions about economical feeding practices and make more astute feedstuff purchases.

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Understanding nutritional requirements for winter feeding of gestating and lactating meat goats

female boer goats in pen

Most producers do not have winter forages for grazing and so they depend mostly on legume, grass, or mixed grass/legume hays. Such hays are typically cheaper in terms of protein (CP) and energy (TDN) content than commonly available grains, grain byproducts, and oilseed meals. Females of breeding age can ‘make it’ on all-forage diets, either pastures or hays, provided...

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Calculating rations for winter feeding of gestating and lactating meat goats

savannah does with newborn kids

For most owners, hays are the basic feedstuff used during the winter months when pastures are not adequate to support the nutrient needs of their goats.

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Pearson's Square rations calculator (free online tool)

easykeeper pearson square rations calculator

For most owners, hays are the basic feedstuff used during the winter months when pastures are not adequate to support the nutrient needs of their goats.

Normally you would have to do the math manually. We wanted to give you an easier way to get your mixed ration calculations done quickly, so we built a Pearson's Square calculator for you to use.

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Goat herd improvement through on-farm testing

young commercial meat goats laying down

Standardized performance testing and on-farm testing programs have been in existence for over 40 years. They have been highly successful in increasing performance of economically important traits in cattle and sheep. They have evolved and changed over time but started with simple data collection and evaluations. These types of programs will work for goat producers as well as they have for beef and sheep producers, goat producers simply need to get started collecting data.  

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Troubleshooting off-flavors in goat milk 

goat milk in a carafe and glass

Good quality milk should have a pleasantly sweet and clean flavor with no distinct aftertaste. If you raise dairy goats for milk consumption, it’s inevitable that you will have, or have had an off-flavored batch. Sometimes the flavor will pass, but other times it will persist, and drive you crazy trying to figure out what could have caused the problem. There are a many reasons why you might get an off-flavor in your milk, so the best thing to do is to troubleshoot. 

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Meat goat production in cold climates 

savannah goat kids enjoying straw wind break

Meat goat production in the cold climates of the northern U.S. and Canada requires careful management if one is to attain maximum profitability. Under these challenging conditions, meeting the dietary requirements for all stages of goat production (growth, gestation, lactation, dry) is the key to success. 

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Meat goat selection, carcass evaluation & fabrication guide

boer meat goats

This manual has been developed as a guide to the meat goat industry in evaluating live meat goats, measuring important carcass traits and standardizing cutting procedures for goat carcasses.

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Ensure safe travels with your goats (infographic)

truck hauling livestock trailer

Transporting your goats can be stressful–for you and your animals. There is a lot to think about when you're moving animals from one place to another. That's why we put together this infographic with tips and advice ranging from preparation to care on the road.

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How the miniature dairy goat breeds are being developed

granch champion miniature dairy goats

Breeding for specific qualities is a long process that takes a high level of dedication. Breeders the world over spend years trying to breed stronger, better producing animals and often the judge of a good producer is the strength of their animals' genetics.

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Certified healthy: Animal Welfare Approved

animal welfare approved logo

There is one way that goat producers can make their products stand out. It’s a square green, blue and white label that has a picture of the sun peaking over the horizon, and it says: Animal Welfare Approved.animals' genetics.

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Ensure safe travels with your goats (infographic)

EasyKeeper Extension Disclaimer

The information contained in this site is for general guidance on matters of interest only. The information is provided with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not herein engaged in rendering veterinary or other professional advice. While EasyKeeper Herd Manager, Inc. ("Company") has made every attempt to ensure that the information contained in this site has been obtained from reliable sources, no liability can be accepted for any errors or omission or for any person acting or refraining from acting on the information provided on this site. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with licensed veterinarians or other competent advisors. It is the sole responsibility of the reader to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information in this site.  

The Company accepts no responsibility for the content of any website to which a hypertext link from this website exists. The inclusion of a hypertext link to another website does not constitute an endorsement of that site by the Company.