This capstone unit integrates practical health care, daily husbandry, nutritional management, record keeping, and small‑scale business practices for goat producers. Students will prepare for on‑farm decision making by addressing kidding, vaccinations and drug use, feeding strategies, legal requirements for milk and meat, and value‑added or service opportunities such as boarding, weed control, and therapy/entertainment.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze herd health records, diagnostic test results, and vaccination histories to develop a comprehensive preventative health and biosecurity plan for a small goat herd
- Demonstrate safe and correct procedures for administering injections, maintaining treatment records, and applying drug withdrawal and food‑animal legal requirements when producing milk or meat
- Apply nutritional and management strategies—including supplemental feeding, mineral provision, water management, fodder systems, and pasture/hedgerow design—to maintain appropriate body condition and production goals
- Evaluate potential business and service models (boarding, weed control, composting, milk/meat sales, therapy/entertainment) for legal compliance, animal welfare implications, and basic profitability, then prepare an operational checklist or plan
Curriculum
- 1 Section
- 28 Lessons
- 30 hours
Expand all sectionsCollapse all sections
- Unit 4 — Goat Health, Husbandry, and Business28
- 1.1Giving Injections20 mins
- 1.2Getting Ready for Kidding20 mins
- 1.3Staying Legal while Selling Milk20 mins
- 1.4Boarding Other People’s Goats20 mins
- 1.5Getting Only One Goat20 mins
- 1.6Goat Milk Tastes Bad20 mins
- 1.7Building a Mineral Block Holder20 mins
- 1.8Entertaining with Your Goats20 mins
- 1.9Considering Vaccinations20 mins
- 1.10Selling Compost20 mins
- 1.11Buying Unhealthy Goats20 mins
- 1.12Goat Meat Tastes Bad20 mins
- 1.13Providing Supplemental Feeding Options20 mins
- 1.14Keeping Health Records20 mins
- 1.15Hiring Out for Weed Control20 mins
- 1.16Neglecting Routine Management and Care20 mins
- 1.17Goats Get Most of Their Water from Plants20 mins
- 1.18Creating a Hedgerow20 mins
- 1.19Testing to Avoid Problems20 mins
- 1.20Providing “Goat Therapy”20 mins
- 1.21Overlooking Your Goats’ Dietary Needs20 mins
- 1.22Goats Are Only for People Who Can’t Afford Cows20 mins
- 1.23Supplementing with Fodder20 mins
- 1.24Knowing the Law Regarding Drugs in Food Animals20 mins
- 1.25Giving the Goats Too Little Attention20 mins
- 1.26Only Male Goats Have Beards20 mins
- 1.27Getting a Buck before You’re Ready20 mins
- 1.28A Dog Makes a Good Friend for a Goat20 mins
Instructor
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