Kate Downham

Tori Escobar wrote:
I have had goats for just about 2 years. They are rotationally grazed through our land which includes lots of trees, bushes and browsing options. They are never in one place more than 2 days.
They go in a shed at night and when weather is very bad. I only have three right now. They have only received herbal dewormer and have access at night to a full mineral bar.
My one milk doe who kidded in December is so thin. She is a nubian but looks to be just loosing weight since kidding. I’ve been milking her but decided to stop because of her condition. She gets some supplemented oats and alfalfa pellets but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
What would you do?
Is this a situation where she’s just not a good fit for the farm or do I use chemical dewormer to save her from continued weight loss?
Her doeling I hope will be more suited to our management.

Sounds like an excellent setup. How long are you resting each space for after they’ve been in it?

Dairy goats often go through a skinny phase shortly after birth, but if they’re healthy, they bounce back over time. Most dairy goats will lower their milk production on their own if they are not getting enough calories or if there are serious health issues.

You could try feeding sunflower seeds in with her treats, these will provide fats as well as extra calories. How much oats are you feeding her each day?

The most important thing about any change in feed is to do it gradually - start with a small amount (or small increase) and work it up gradually to whatever amount seems right.

If you’ve done a worm count and it looks like worms, feeding herbs, diatomacious earth, and tannin-rich plants such as oak leaves can help.

If she has trouble with lots of oats, you could consider feeding barley instead. My goats don’t seem to show any difference between oat, barley, or wheat feeding though. Probiotics might help too.

I've been raising goats 100% naturally for 12 years now. It definitely is possible.

We've built up a herd over time that thrives on our land without chemicals.

Some things that have been helpful:
Understanding that goats are browsers and not grazers by nature - many of the worm problems that people think are common in goats are because they are forcing their goats to graze grass that is too low or has not been rested long enough. Goats have high mineral needs, and by providing mineral-rich feed, either from access to trees, or through a mineral lick, will help them become resilient to parasites and other health problems. Keeping their food well off the ground, either by keeping them as forest animals, in pasture at least 6” high, or fed hay in hay racks, will help them to avoid ingesting parasites.

Understanding that you don’t need a zero worm count to have a healthy goat. Some parasite load can be OK if the goat is healthy in other ways, so it’s always best to just observe your goats first for signs of health rather than relying on worm counts.

It’s far easier to prevent health issues in the first place with good management, than it is to deal with full-blown health problems. Backyard Dairy Goats goes into a lot of detail about signs of health to look for, preventative remedies, and simple natural remedies you can use to nip a problem in the bud.

The ideal situation is to start with goats from a breeder who has been raising them without chemicals - that way you are starting out with the best genetic potential for your needs rather than having to do many years of selective breeding like I have. Some of the best goats we’ve bred have come from “no-name” bucks of random origin rather than pedigree animals, because the best breeding animals have not necessarily been selected to thrive without chemicals - different breeders will take different approaches to that. So if you’re looking for your first goats, it’s best to ask a lot of questions of breeders about whether they use chemicals, how they deal with health issues, and how they manage their goats.

Sometimes I feel like I should be “prepping” more by storing more cheap food or long-life food, but at the end of the day, if we’re not going to eat that food unless it’s something like in “the road” happening outside, then we are far more resilient storing the foods that we do eat.

A pressure canner has been a great help - it means we can have shelf-stable bone broth, meat, and ready-to-eat meals that meet my family’s requirements.

Encouraging the best kind of weeds in the garden makes us more prepared too. When life has been crazy or weather at planting time has not been good, it has given us nutrition and resilience just having a huge amount of dandelions and fat hen coming up all over the place. Planting and tending any kind of perennial can be seen as a gift to a future self.

I’d like to put ads for some F-code stuff in my new blog design and was wondering how I go about linking the things that have their own websites e.g. https://woodheat.net/ - how do I make an F code link for that?

Also I was sure that there was a solar dehydrator website somewhere like the free heat one above, but I can’t find it linked in the top bar on the free heat and other sites - am I just imagining that there was one for this? And are there any other websites that are missing from the top of the free heat site?

Also is there anywhere that I can find all the square pictures that are used to advertise stuff on Permies? I already have the free heat and the solar dehydrator ones, and am not sure what other ones there are around. If there is anywhere on here that I can find images that look good as small sidebar ads, please let me know.

What an inspiring thread! Your pictures are making me hungry.

Do you have any tasty ideas for polenta? Or sesame seeds? I too many of both of these.

Drinking lots of water seems to help. Bentonite clay foot baths also seems to help.

Reducing exposure is important. We use the phone/internet 3x a week instead of every day, and I think that makes a difference. Phones can be switched on to aeroplane mode when not in use. Electronic stuff gets locked away in faraday bags overnight, and that helps us avoid exposure while we're sleeping.

I can definitely feel when the phone has been accidentally switched onto wifi mode. Some phones do this automatically, and often the default setting for a new phone is to have wifi constantly on and many people don't realise that they are blasting wifi at everyone around them.

The most EMF sensitive person that I know is currently getting chiropractic treatment, and that seems to be helping. This could be because his EMF issues are related to a nerve injury and the symptoms are a bit different to most peoples, but it is something that could be worth trying for other EMF sensitive people.

I use different jars depending on how much milk is coming in. We love the 3L/3 quart jars for when there's lots of milk, but 2L/half gallon ones are good when there isn't so much.

I prefer the plastic storage lids for jar lids. In the past we've used standard metal canning lids, but they get rusty and yuck before long, whereas the plastic ones have lasted longer.

Here are some photos of our very primitive setup.

Portable milking stand we picked up second hand from someone 12 years ago. It's mostly stuck together with star posts, wire, and baling twine now, and the legs are half-buried in dirt that's washed down onto it over the years, but it works!

The headgate is basically 2 non-moving poles, with a top one to connect them, and then in between those there's a pole that pivots around, and is secured to the top with a loop. It's the perfect width for sheep and goats. I can measure it if you'd like.

Close to the milking stand we have several 55 gallon drums that we keep their milking time treats in. One of these functions as a flat surface for straining milk.

It's outdoors, sheltered slightly by some trees, but if it's pouring down with rain then it's not very pleasant to milk in, but we still manage. Eventually I'd like an undercover area.

I have a bucket with a lid that I think is 7 litres/7quarts. We also have a stainless steel jam funnel, and a piece of organic cotton cheesecloth.

Inside the house every night I boil water, and use that to sterilise the bucket, jars and cheesecloth. The next morning, it's all ready and waiting for me, and I just carry the stuff outside, milk, and pour through the cheesecloth and funnel, into the jars.

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