For the Love of Goats Deborah Niemann

Who wouldn't love free food for your goats? But before you call your local brewer or distiller and ask if you can pick up their spent grain, listen to this episode with Dr. Robert VanSaun, vet professor and ruminant nutritionist at Pennsylvania State University.

Spent brewers grain and distillers grain are popular feed for cattle, but are less commonly used to feed goats. We've used brew grain to feed our pigs and chickens for about ten years, but have shied away from feeding it to our goats because it doesn't come with a guaranteed nutritional analysis or even an ingredient list.

In this episode, Dr. VanSaun discusses the nutrients we know are in brewer's and distiller's grains and what may or may not be in them, including potentially harmful substances such as sulfur and mycotoxins. We talk about what questions you need to ask the brewmaster before picking up grain, as well as other sources of spent grains.

Many thanks to our listener, Doris, who requested this episode.

See full show notes here >> https://thriftyhomesteader.com/brewers-grain-for-goats/

To see the most recent episodes, visit  ForTheLoveOfGoats.com

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Thanks for listening!

No one ever said raising goats was easy, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune or drive you crazy! You just need the right information. Click here to learn more about our Goats 365 membership.

Or see my other goat courses in Thrifty Homesteader Academy.

If you've been looking for a smaller breed of goat that's parasite resistant, has excellent mothering skills, and comes in a variety of colors, the Arapawa goat from New Zealand might be a good fit, especially if you are interested in conserving rare breeds.

In this episode, we are joined by Emily Nyman, Arapawa Goat Breeders Association President and Livestock Coordinator at Conner Prairie in Indiana, a living history farm museum that has a herd of Arapawa.

Their feral history means that this breed is very hardy, but there are also challenges for those who want to raise them, such as finding breeding stock. With only 300 total goats in the United States, you probably won't find them locally.

Emily talks about the Arapawa's history, appearance, size, and more in this exciting episode.

See full show notes here >> https://thriftyhomesteader.com/arapawa-goats/ 
To see the most recent episodes, visit  ForTheLoveOfGoats.com
Want to support the content you love?
Head over to -- https://thrifty-homesteader.ck.page/products/love-goats-tip-jar




Thanks for listening!

No one ever said raising goats was easy, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune or drive you crazy! You just need the right information. Click here to learn more about our Goats 365 membership.

Or see my other goat courses in Thrifty Homesteader Academy.

Can goats threaten your health if you're a pregnant woman? If you are a woman, there are some specific precautions you should be taking with goats giving birth and also when using drugs for synchronization.

Dr. Jamie Stewart, Assistant Professor at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and a reproductive specialist, is talking about zoonotic diseases that are of special concern to pregnant women, including toxoplasmosis, chlamydia, campylobacter, brucellosis, and q-fever. We talk about wearing gloves, a face mask, and even eye protection to protect yourself from unexpected splashes of goat body fluids, which can contain infectious organisms that can threaten pregnancy and the unborn child.

In addition to diseases, women of all reproductive stages can be affected by drugs like Lutalyse, Estrumate, and CIDRs when they come in contact with skin or mucus membranes. The potential for negative outcomes is much worse, however, for pregnant women.

One of the things we forgot to mention in this episode is that you should never perform mouth-to-mouth on a newborn baby goat because of the risk of contracting a zoonotic disease, a topic that we did discuss in our episode on Infectious Causes of Abortions in goats.

For more information, you can also check out our episodes on Zoonotic Diseases.

See full show notes here >> https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-diseases-and-womens-health/

To see the most recent episodes, visit  ForTheLoveOfGoats.com

Want to support the content you love?
Head over to -- https://thrifty-homesteader.ck.page/products/love-goats-tip-jar
Thanks for listening!

No one ever said raising goats was easy, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune or drive you crazy! You just need the right information. Click here to learn more about our Goats 365 membership.

Or see my other goat courses in Thrifty Homesteader Academy.

If you've ever had a goat with wonky knees, today's episode will shed some light on the problem. When a goat has carpal hyperextension, it means that the knees bend backwards rather than being straight.

We are joined today by Dr. Erica McKenzie, Professor of Large Animal Medicine, Oregon State University and Dr. Leah Streb, 3rd year Laboratory Animal Medicine Resident, UC Davis, who are just putting the finishing touches on the first study ever to look at this disease. They are talking about how it is diagnosed and the possible genetic link that they are seeing, which may mean that the disease can be passed on to offspring.

The research on this disease is in its infancy, and if you would like to contribute to future research efforts, you can contribute through one of these options:
Send a check payable to OSU Foundation at 4238 Research Way; Corvallis, OR 97333. In the memo section, specify Large Animal Medicine/Wonky LegMake a gift online by going the college’s giving page here. In the field underneath “I want to give to” press the x, and instead select or type in “Large Animal Medicine Fund/Wonky Leg.”Many thanks to goat owner and podcast listener Carole Zempel of Dragon Hollow Dairy Goats for letting us know about this study.

See full show notes here >>https://thriftyhomesteader.com/carpal-hyperextension-in-goats/

To see the most recent episodes, visit  ForTheLoveOfGoats.com
Want to support the content you love?
Head over to -- https://thrifty-homesteader.ck.page/products/love-goats-tip-jar
Thanks for listening!

No one ever said raising goats was easy, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune or drive you crazy! You just need the right information. Click here to learn more about our Goats 365 membership.

Or see my other goat courses in Thrifty Homesteader Academy.

Have you ever had a goat get an udder even though you are 100% sure she has not been anywhere close to a buck so could not possibly be pregnant? Normally, goats have to go through pregnancy and have a baby before they produce milk, but it's not impossible for a doe to start making milk without getting pregnant.

A precocious udder is one that fills up with milk even though the doe has not been bred. Most of these will just go away as mysteriously as they appeared with no intervention needed. However, that is not always the case.

In this episode, we are talking to Dr. Jamie Stewart, Assistant Professor in Production Management Medicine at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, about what causes a precocious udder and what we should and should not do in managing it.

See full show notes here >> https://thriftyhomesteader.com/precocious-udders-in-goats/
To see the most recent episodes, visit  ForTheLoveOfGoats.com
Want to support the content you love?
Head over to -- https://thrifty-homesteader.ck.page/products/love-goats-tip-jar
Thanks for listening!

No one ever said raising goats was easy, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune or drive you crazy! You just need the right information. Click here to learn more about our Goats 365 membership.

Or see my other goat courses in Thrifty Homesteader Academy.

Milk testing can provide you with a plethora of information about your does' milk production and the components of their milk, and they can even earn milk stars, but a lot of people never get started because they find the process daunting. 

Lisa Shepard, board member and former Performance Program Coordinator for the American Dairy Goat Association, joins us to talk about the different types of milk testing and how to get started. We talk about where to find a tester, as well as owner-sampler and group testing. You'll learn about one-day tests, 305-day tests, DHI, and DHIR. Lisa also explains how does and bucks earn milk stars, as well as the things that most commonly trip up owners when they are getting stared.

See full show notes here >> https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-milk-testing/

To see the most recent episodes, visit  ForTheLoveOfGoats.com

Want to support the content you love?
Head over to -- https://thrifty-homesteader.ck.page/products/love-goats-tip-jar
Thanks for listening!

No one ever said raising goats was easy, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune or drive you crazy! You just need the right information. Click here to learn more about our Goats 365 membership.

Or see my other goat courses in Thrifty Homesteader Academy.