We provide the following information to give prospective buyers an idea of how we manage our herd. This is not advice. We share this information to help others decide if our animals are a good fit for them. We firmly believe that there is no right way to "to goat," and that each individual will find, along the way, what practices work best for them. We also recognize that circumstances, information, and best practices can and will change over the years. We certainly do not do things the same as when we started with goats nearly 20 years ago, and we will adjust our management as necessary based on the specific needs of our animals, new credible information, etc.--the below is subject to, and most certainly will, change!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to chat about our goats and our management.

Biosecurity and Disease Testing
We test all animals for CAE yearly. We do also test for Johnes and CL, but due to the size of our herd and the unreliability of the tests, especially for individual animals, we do not do this every year; instead, we try to do the whole herd every 2-3 years to maintain a herd-wide baseline.

We do not allow visitors in our fields, stalls, or common areas. We rarely bring goats in from other farms, but when we do, we quarantine and perform a biosecurity screen before the animal joins the herd. We do show, and so we try our best to minimize risk when taking animals off the property, such as showing off our trailer/not using pens and maintaining as much distance between our animals and others. We do not allow our bucks to be used for outside breedings.

Vaccines
All kids and adults, no exceptions, are vaccinated with CD/T according to current veterinary guidance. We will not sell kids or adults that have not been vaccinated. Clostridium diseases and tetanus are horrible ways to die that are largely preventable by proper vaccination. If you do not want your animals vaccinated, we are not the herd for you.

Parasites and Deworming
We raise all kids on coccidiosis prevention methods. Currently, this means all our kids are on dry lot and fed a daily coccidiosis preventative (Pro-Bac-C).

We do not deworm our animals on a schedule, but use several strategies to manage internal parasites. For example, some strategies include ensuring our animals do not eat off the ground or graze short grass, routinely using the FAMACHA method, frequently (DAILY) noting the condition of our animals both by visual checks and putting our hands on our animals to assess condition, and keeping common areas and stalls as clean as possible. We will use chemical dewormers when necessary, but very rarely have to do so.

Horns/Disbudding
Unless naturally polled, all animals born on our farm are disbudded; no exceptions. We will not sell animals with horns.

Raising Kids
All kids are pulled at birth and bottle fed fed pasteurized goat milk from our herd, no exceptions.*  All kids are raised on dry lot and are on daily coccidiosis prevention. We typically wean from the bottle at approximately 5 to 6 months of age.

DNA Typing
As of September 2022, most of the bucks on the property have DNA on file and we are working to have samples submitted for the remaining few. In 2023, DNA typing of bucks will become mandatory to register progeny with ADGA, so all herd sires used will have DNA on file by that time. We are also submitting samples for several of our more senior/foundation does, and plan to do so for more in the future. We are happy to submit DNA on any animal not on file by request of (and expense of) a potential buyer. 

*Feeding pasteurized milk is common sense milk handling and is very important to us for good management and disease prevention. Yes, feeding heat-treated colostrum/pasteurized milk is a CAE prevention strategy--of course, we religiously test for CAE and maintain a CAE-free herd;  CAE prevention is not our primary reason for feeding pasteurized milk. There are MANY other illnesses/diseases that can quickly spread through your entire kid crop if feeding pooled, raw milk, such as mycoplasmas or bacteria that can cause mastitis.