Interactive lesson

Goat health, step by step

Interactive lesson: quarantine for a new goat, the morning look, temperature and rumen, FAMACHA and grazing against worms, foot trimming, emergency signs and the home medicine kit.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Natural health care for goats module. Already bought? Unlock

This lesson is general guidance, not professional training. Local regulations and expert advice always take precedence. Read our disclaimer.

The whole lesson as text

1. A new goat and quarantine

Most diseases come into the herd with a new goat.

Buy from a healthy herd — From a known herd, with tags, papers and health records. Lumps, swollen knees and thinness are reasons not to buy.
Quarantine for 30 days — A separate space, with no nose-to-nose contact with the herd. Ideally the goat is tested for CAE, CL and Johne's.
Separate boots and kit — A separate bucket, rack and boots for quarantine. Check and trim the feet while the goat is kept apart.
Herd first, then the new one — Every day, work with the herd first, then with the new goats. She joins the herd only after 30 days with no signs of disease.

Why: Biosecurity means: don't let disease into the shed, and if it gets in, don't let it spread. Some goat diseases have no cure, and some pass to people.

Don't borrow trailers, racks or foot shears without washing and disinfecting them.
Visitors who keep goats or sheep don't come into your shed.

2. The morning look

A goat stays quiet as long as she can. She shows illness only when it is advanced.

A look with the hay — A healthy goat is curious, first at the rack and with the herd. Count who doesn't come.
Is she cudding? — After eating, a healthy goat lies down and chews the cud. A goat that hasn't cudded for half a day is ill.
Alarm signs — She stands alone, head down, won't get up, grinds her teeth. The left flank is tight like a drum.
Dung and bedding — Pellets are round and separate. Soft clumps, scours, blood or mucus are alarm signs, and the bedding must be dry, with no ammonia.

Why: A 2–3 minute look in the morning, while you give the hay, is the most important health check of the herd. Illness caught in time can often be solved without chemicals.

Measure a healthy goat a few times, so you know what is normal in your herd.
Watch how bucks and wethers urinate: straining and dribbling are alarm signs.