HERD HEALTH
We've never had a case of contagious abscess, nor have we had an animal test positive for CAE or anything else in the many years we've been raising dairy goats and testing. All past testing has been performed by our vet, who keeps records of those tests. Of course, we're very careful about who we purchase from and our goats are fairly isolated since we don't show.
We do not pasteurize our milk for kid or human consumption due to the fact it kills enzymes and depletes vital nutrients. Thus, it's of utmost importance to us as a family that our herd be disease free. We make delicious kefir, yogurt, and soft cheeses with our raw goat milk also. Here's a link explaining the health benefits of raw milk:
http://www.realmilk.com/healthbenefits.html
Our does and bucks are given once a year CDT vaccinations approximately six weeks before kidding starts. Kids are vaccinated at six to eight weeks of age. We will immunize a kid earlier if a buyer requests it, although kids carry their dam's immunities during this time.
Here in the high desert we don't have much of a parasite problem, so Hoegger's herbal wormer has always sufficed. We add it to their grain approximately twice a year and stool cultures for O&P performed by our vet have always been negative.
All sales are final and we do not accept a goat back onto the property once it has left, due to health concerns.
Our herd is not on the national scrapies program at this time, due to it's small size. We may sign up again with our federal vet once the goat population builds a bit.
FEEDING/HOUSING
We currently live next door to a huge commercial cow dairy and at the suggestion of our federal vet we keep our goats inside our large barn. They are not allowed outside to graze due to the fact that the dairy blows wheel lines from their manure pond onto the property during the summer and fall months.
Our goats have huge stalls with rubber mats which are totally cleaned about every three days. Pine shavings are used for bedding. Our barn is very well lit and during the summer months we have doors that can be opened on all four sides (as long as the wheel lines aren't in sight!)
Due to the extreme cold during winter months here in the high desert, we use heated water buckets. These are cleaned frequently and we do occasionally add vinegar to the hard water, which is very heavy in mineral content.
Fresh dairy grade alfalfa hay is cheap and easy to find here in southern Idaho because of all of the local cow dairies. Our goats are fed alfalfa hay free choice all year round. Bucks and dry does are fed three way whole grain (with molasses for palatability) and Supergain horse supplement once daily. The Supergain has vitamins, trace minerals and probiotics and we've found it to be excellent for maintaining condition in dairy goats year round. When the does are in milk they are fed grain twice daily on the milk stand, basically as much as they want (challenge feeding).
Baking soda and Golden Blend mineral salt (available from Hoeggers) are offered free choice at all times.
KIDDING
We attend all births and have been known to stay with a doe all night if need be. We have a baby monitor in the barn, which is turned on once the does start to udder up in preparation for kidding. Due to extremely cold winter temps here in Idaho, the kids are quickly bundled up and brought into the house for thorough drying and immediate colostrum feeding. They'll remain inside for at least the first few days, housed in a large plastic stock trough (which is easy to clean). They are then moved back to a small stall in the barn with a heat lamp.
Bottle feeding is basically on demand, dictated by individual kid's appetites. We don't use a microwave to heat milk as it kills enzymes and changes the protein molecules in the milk. We feed raw goat milk, carefully heated in water on the stove if necessary.