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Introduction to Dairy Goat Keeping Part 2 - Terms and Definitions

9/5/2016

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This is for all the new goat owners out there that haven't yet learned all the goat keeping lingo. 


abscess - a lump of pus, to partition off an infection from the goat's body (see also CL)

afterbirth - the placenta that comes after the kids at a birth

airplane ears - ears that point straight out

band - a small elastic band used to castrate young males, and to dehorn (see also elastrator)

bagged up - when a pregnant doe's udder has filled in preparation for kidding

blind teat - a teat without an orfice (see also orfice)

bloat - when a goat eats too much too quickly and cannot get the gas out of its rumen, that rumen swells and causes the goat discomfort and later death if left untreated 

breeding season - the season in which goats naturally breed, about August to January for most breeds 

buck - male 

buckling - male kid

buck rag - to be used to tell when a doe is in heat in leu of a buck, a buck rag is soaked in buck smell (both the urine and the smell from the scent glands) and hung in the doe's pen (see also scent glands)

burdizzo - an instrument of castration that crushes the connection between each testicle and the body

cabrito - goat kid meat

chevon - goat meat 

clippers - not to be confused with trimmers, clippers are for clipping a goat's coat for a show, to stay cool, for easier milking, etc (see also trimmers)

coccidia - also known as cocci or coccidiosis, it is a very small and severe parasite that mainly effects kids and young goats that have not built up an immunity to it

collar - not to be confused with halters or harnesses, collars are simply one strand of cord or webbing around a goat's neck

condition - the muscle and fat toning on a goat (see also over conditioned and under conditioned)

creep feed - a way to let young goats have a free choice or undisturbed feeding place by putting up a short fence with slats close enough together that the young goats can get through but not the older and larger ones

cull - to sell or butcher a goat that does not conform to a goatherd's standards

dam - a goat's mother

dam raise - to let a dam nurse and raise her own offspring 

dehorn - to remove horns after they have begun to grow

dewclaw - the two round hoof-like growths located just above the hooves at the back of the pasterns

dewormer - medicine given to kill parasites, or worms (see also wormer)

disbud - to use a disbudding iron to kill all the nerves in a circle around the horn bud on a young kid, and thus stop the horns from growing

doe - female 

doeling - female kid

dry - not lactating

dry up - the process a lactating doe goes through to discontinue lactation 

elastrator - the tool used to place the band on a goat's scrotum or horn (see also band)

elf ears - ears a maximum of two inches, typically found on LaManchas (see also gopher ears)

erect ears - ears pointing upward or forward 

fecal test - when a sample of a goat's fecal matter is put under a microscope and the parasite eggs are counted 

first freshener - a doe who has freshened only once (see also freshen)

flush feeding - increasing the amount of feed given to a doe just before breeding to maximize the number of offspring 

freshen - to kid, and thus freshen or refresh the supply of milk. 

gopher ears - ears one inch or less in length, typically found in LaManchas (see also elf ears)

gum pallet - the hard gum a goat has instead of upper front teeth

halter - a more secure way to restrain a goat than a collar, a halter has multiple ropes going around the head of the animal (see also halter)

hay - dried grass

herd queen - the herd's dominant doe

hoof trimming - trimming back a goat's hooves when they have grown out too far 

kid - baby goat OR the verb "kidding" in future tense (see also kidding)

kidding - birthing (see also kid)

kidding season - a period of time, usual from January through July, that varies from farm to farm, when all of the does kid

lactation - milk production

lactation curve - the curve a doe goes around in her lactation to produce the amount milk needed for the age of kids she has 

lamb bar - a bucket or other container with multiple nipples on it to feed more than one kid free choice or at the same time

ligs - the two pencil shaped ligaments on either side of a goat's tail that usually disappear around the time a doe is about to kid 

loose minerals - a mineral and salt mixture formulated specially for goats not to be confused with a mineral block (see also mineral block)

milker - lactating doe

mineral block - a block of salt with minerals in it 

miniature dairy goat - any of the standard dairy breeds crossed with Nigerian Dwarf, or purebred Nigerian Dwarf (see also standard dairy goat)

off feed - not eating

open doe - a doe that is not pregnant

orifice - the opening at the bottom of a teat

over conditioned - too much conditioning - i.e. too fat (see also condition and under conditioned)

pan feed - to feed young kids milk from a pan instead of a bottle 

parasites - microscopic organisms that take nutrients from a goat either by sucking their blood or by sitting in their intestines and eating the nutrients there - parasites can be internal or external

parrot mouth - when the jaw is overshot (a defect) and thus resembles the mouth of a parrot 

pasterns - the portion of a goat's leg from the dewclaw to the hoof 

papers - registration papers, bills of sale, services memos, etc.

pendulous ears - long, drooping ears typically found in boers, Nubians, and African exotics 

polled - born without horns

progeny - a doe's offspring

registration papers - papers stating a goat's dam, sire, breed, DOB, breeder, owner, ear type, tattoos, and other information, legalized by one of the many associations  

ruminant - an animal with a rumen (see also rumen)

rumen - the most active and largest of the four stomachs a goat has 

salt block - see mineral block

scent glands - the two glands behind a buck's horns that produce a strong odor during rut (these can be burned at the same time the buckling is disbudded - see disbud)

scours - diarrhea 

sire - a goat's father

standard dairy goat - any of the large breeds of dairy goats (see also miniature dairy goat)

straw - what is left of the dried wheat plant after the grain has been harvested

tattoo - the numbers and letters stamped into a goat's ears, or in case of LaManchas the tail web, and are used to identify the goat

topline - a goat's back from withers to rump

trimmers - not to be confused with clippers, trimmers are used to trim hooves (see also clippers)

under conditioned - too little conditioning - i.e. too thin (see also condition and over conditioned)

undershot jaw - when lower jaw farther out then the upper jaw 

wattles - loose pockets of skin, usually near the throat, that act as a cooling system for the goat

wether - neutered male

wormer - the goat slang version of "dewormer" (see also dewormer)

worms - the goat slang version of "parasites" (see also parasites)

yearling - a young goat between 1 and 2 years old


A list of commonly used abbreviations:

AC - ammonium chloride

ACV - apple cider vinegar

ADGA - American Dairy Goat Association

AGS - American Goat Society 

BCS - Body Condition Scoring, a way to score a goat from 1 to 5 on their condition with 1 being emaciated and 5 being obese 

BOSS - black oil sunflower seeds

CAE - Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis, an incurable, though usually not deadly, virus 

CL - Caseous Lymphadenitis, a deadly, incurable bacterial disease 

FAMACHA - Fafan Malan Chart, a way to score how anemic a goat is 

FF - first freshener, a doe who has freshened only once 

IM - (an injection) given in the muscle 

IV - (an injection) given in the vein 

MDGA - Miniature Dairy Goat Association 

SQ - (an injection) given under the skin 

UC - urinary calculi 


Get caught up on the first part of my Introduction to Dairy Goat Keeping series here:
Introduction to Goat Keeping Part 1 - Breeds 

Stay tuned for more to come!

​
By Suzanne Tyler
the Green T Goatherd 
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    Hello!

    We are a family of eight living on twenty-two acres of land in North Carolina. We girls like to write about the times on the farm, and its a fun thing to do as there is alway something happening on the homestead!

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