The Goat Source Newsletter
Volume 5 Number 5 May 2008

Hi, Here is the May edition of The Newsletter. I have kids on the ground now and life has suddenly gotten more crazy, if that is possible. The new little boys from Kansas have settled in nicely and are growing like weeds. I had a full house (all the kidding jugs were full!) by Friday and I was putting them in the barn aisles. Thankfully, Sunday was really nice and everybody is outside now and the barn is clean and waiting for the next batch.

UPDATE: Re my letter to members, Cuervo had triplets, all doing fine - see the previous post "I’d rather be lucky…"

Feed prices have gone up and prices for on the hoof kids and milkers are static or down. If this keeps up, I will have to do some serious re-evaluation of my operations. Lots of the people I know, have gotten out of livestock altogether, or gotten smaller. Tighter belts are going to be the order of the day,  I’m afraid. I just bought grain and it is now over 12$ a bag (50#).

Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends.

 

What’s New This Month?

  • A Piece of String
  • USDA Ag Census
  • This Month’s Quiz
  • Classified Ads
  • Product Review
  • Answer to the April Quiz/Congratulations to the prize winner.
  • Helpful Hints

A Piece of String

As you may all know by now, my doe Cuervo had triplets. The first one was out and dried off when I came home. She laid around for awhile, giving a half hearted push every once in awhile, but generally doing nothing. From her size I know she had to have more kids on the way, so I brought her into the barn along with her kid and got the obligatory bucket of hot water (doesn’t every birth have to be accompanied by hot water?). I use hot water, plain dish soap and a splash of clorahexadine to clean up the doe and wash my own hands. This done, I tied her up and did a little preliminary exploration. Two fingers in, and nothing. I find myself closing my eyes and talking to myself at this stage, when I encounter something, but certainly not two feet and a nose. I am not left handed, but since Cuervo is now trying to break my arm by swinging her butt into the fence, I have no choice but to continue lefthanded. I finally determine what she is presenting is a backbone, but - is it going forwards or backward is the question. After much screaming and swearing (Cuervo was screaming and I was swearing), it turns out the kid is trying to do a frontwards swan dive, head down under his belly and both front legs down and back. The legs come up after a few attempts. Back to my right hand, (scrubbing up again), and all I can get ahold of is an ear. Great. At this point, I was almost ready to go call the vet. I know the theory of how to pull this presentation, I just have never done it before.

This is where the piece of string comes in. I went in the house and got a piece of nylon string and tied a slip knot in the end, making a loop. Sanatizing the string first, then I reinsert my hand and carry the string down, find the head and after serveral tries, put the loop over the kids lower jaw and snug it up. Then for the grand finale, I push the backbone back while pulling on the string, and up pops the head (well, not exactly that easy, but you get the idea), feet are up and out and now we’re in business! A couple of good pushes later and I have the second kid (another buck) out on the straw. Not breathing of course. Clean the nose off, poke a straw up his nose and pump the rib cage up and down a couple of times, cough, cough and he’s off and running. I’m glad - I have given mouth to mouth to a newborn before and I don’t recommend it for queasy stomachs.

I went to get more towels, and when I got back, she has another buck, out and is cleaning him up. By now, mom could have delivered a basketball and never missed a beat. When I finally got everything cleaned up and put up, the new family is dry and happy, I am beat and my evening schedule is in shambles. Another sucessful goat adventure.

What I want to know is why does my nose always itch when I’m doing this type of thing?

USDA Ag Census

By now you may have receive the Agricultural census from the USDA. I have gotten three of them and every one of them has gone straight into the trash. The envelope they come in has promenently printed on the front "Your response is required by law." In fact, it is not. According to the US House of Representatives’ Office of the Law Revision Counsel web site, Title 7 has never been enacted into “positive law.” By not being enacted into “positive law,” Title 7 is considered “prima facie” evidence of the law (1 USC §204), “and are presumed to be the law, but are rebuttable by production of the prior un-repealed acts of Congress at variance with the Code.”

Why should this be of concern to us? In a round about way the answer comes from a recent legal decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia. The court ruled USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) must, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), provide its compliance
database, its geospatial information system database and 11 other databases to Multi Ag Media, LLC, a publisher of dairy magazines and seller of custom lists to ag marketers. And Monday, April 28th, USDA delivered those databases.

If we, the small livestock owner comply with the demand for our personal information (which we have repeatedly been told will be confidential), I believe the next lawsuit coming down the road will demand that these records be handed over to the marketers (or anyone who demands them). And, because of the precedent set by this lawsuit, the USDA will have to hand them over. And, the same will apply to the NAIS program that the Federal government is pushing. Are you willing to let the government take your personal information about your small farm and give it out to anyone who asks? I am not. And I will not.

May Quiz

What is leafy spurge? Why is it relevant to goats?

Classified ads

Going "Green"?  Would you like to make your farm & home better for our planet with ecofriendly products? Visit for more information www.freewebs.com/briarwood-farm 715-572-0240

Wanted  Top Quality Anglo nubian buck . Looking for a top buck  I recently lost mine to a cranky snake and still have does to join.  Must be tested for cae and jd .Would prefer accredited stud.
Lesley&Tom McDowell, 71 Mayfield Rd, Baan Baa Via Narrabri, NSW 2390 Australia 

glendowen @ hotmail.com          (Be sure and take out the spaces in the email address)

Get your goat person a great  shirt!  Get Yer Goat has them!!

I Love Goats! Pocket Knives Laser Engraved folding pocket knife (opens to 6 ¾ inches). Black composite handle with pocket clip. Every goat person needs a good knife!! I love mine and use it all the time!

 Order today - $5 each plus S&H. Discount when you order more than one. Email me at

The Goat Source 

for more information. Need a good fund raiser? Order these for resale OR get your own design laser engraved (custom orders must be for quantity of 100 or more). Quantity discount on all custom orders!! I can work with you on custom orders, just let me know what your needs are!

Product Review

Last year, at the ADGA Convention,  I bought a small set of clippers from Caprine Supply. They are the Super Pocket  Pro Trimmer. I finally got to put them through their paces. I dehorned kids (not my favorite job) and used it to clip heads. I have to say, it sure made it a lot easier than using the A5’s. The PP is very small, very lightweight and while it is lacking in a lot of power, it certainly is more than adequate for clipping kid heads. It fits in the palm of my hand and is cordless so it is easy to manage. Under 20$, too!

 April Quiz Answer

 There were no entries to the April quiz. The question was "What is heritability and how does it affect your herd?"

Some important economic traits are to a degree highly heritable and  they can be of importance to the commercial breeder. The higher the degree of heritability of a trait and the fewer traits that are selected for, the faster the genetic progress that can be made. Check out this article:

Genetics by Marvin Shruley

 Helpful Hints

I keep a large rubber tub with a snap on lid out in the barn where the kidding jugs are. I fill it with clean towels, so when a doe is kidding, I have a supply right there where I need it. I also keep used but still good plastic trash bags for the clean up after kidding.

I have a large electric wire spool sitting outside the gate at each pen. Useful to set things on or serve as a chair when I am feeding bottle kids or just need a sit down!! Also great when the vet comes out as a work table. Now if I could just keep the dog from jumping up on it every chance he gets!!

That’s all for this month,
See you next month!!
Leslie, The Goat Source
The Goat Source
13611 NCR 9
Wellington, Co 80549
(970) 568-9622
 http://www.goatsource.com
The Goat Source