Dairy Goat Performance

When it comes to dairy goat health and performance, the right environment creates a foundation for them to thrive. Good barn ventilation provides clean air to exhaust common pollutants from the barn, reduces animal stress and decreases the risk of illness. Evaluate ventilation systems in your barn to ensure you are providing an optimal environment.

A 2003 barn fire at Loudenbeck Farms' dairy cow farm in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, ultimately changed the course of the operation's future.

The dry period should be considered as the start of the next lactation for a dairy goat doe. To lay the foundation for success and minimize the roadblocks ahead, effectively managing dry does will maximize their full potential.

Each year, the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) teams up with a state association to host the yearly ADGA National Convention.  This year, the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association (WDGA) has the honor to partner with ADGA and host the conference in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, October 19 to 25. 

The key to a good kid barn ventilation audit is to evaluate the air quality in many different scenarios. Weather can change the kid’s environment quickly. Monitoring air quality should be part of your daily checklist. If problems persist, enlist a trusted consultant to assess your options.

By Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus | Baleage, or wrapped haylage, is a feed that is not only convenient but also packed with nutrients essential for dairy goats’ health and milk production. It combines the benefits of haylage and the versatility and portability of baled hay.

By Sarah Varney, Vita Plus dairy goat specialist | Lester Sterken, and his wife, Helen, own and operate Musty Meadow, a dairy goat farm in Delevan, Wisconsin. Access to well-managed corn silage and haylage allows the Sterkens to feed a total mixed ration to meet the nutritional needs of the herd, reduce feed waste, and support farm profitability.

Attention to kid care and management can reduce immunological stress and will increase the survival rate of kids.  During her Vita Plus Dairy Goat Seminar presentation, Kate Stollen, DVM, Stollen Veterinary Consulting and Holsum Dairies LLC, reviewed challenges associated with birth and youngstock care.

The transition period for dairy goats is the three weeks before kidding to three weeks after kidding. During his Vita Plus Dairy Goat Seminar presentation, Kevin Wellejus, VMD and partner at Calumet Goat Company, explained that during this transition from the dry period to milking, the doe’s physiology changes dramatically.

As a Vita Plus dairy technical specialist, Noah Litherland, Ph.D., has long been interested in rumen development and the physiology of growth in youngstock.  He applies that interest to his family’s farm as they raise dairy goats.  During his Vita Plus Dairy Goat Seminar presentation, Litherland focused on starter intake as a key component of youngstock nutrition and management.

With the goal of raising healthy, high-producing dairy goats, the team at Blakesville Dairy Farm in Port Washington, Wisconsin, focuses on care and management of kids to enhance lifetime health and performance while continuously being progressive in their farming practices.

Proper management of a doe’s dry period can have significant impacts on the doe’s longevity and productivity as well as kid survival. In this second article in a two-part series, experts discuss nutrition strategies that can lead to success in the dry period.

Proper management of a doe’s dry period can have significant impacts on the doe’s longevity and productivity as well as kid survival. In this first article in a two-part series, experts discuss management factors that can lead to success in the dry period.

By Dr. Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus | Everyone has their own way of reading a forage lab report and focusing on the information they feel is most important to them. As a forage specialist, I focus on the following items in this order.

By Dr. Danielle Mzyk, Janesville Animal Medical Center associate veterinarian | Coccidiosis is caused by microscopic protozoan parasites called coccidian (Eimeria spp.). These parasites cause severe damage to the intestinal cells of goats, leading to diarrhea, clinical disease, and reduced growth and production. Here are five key points in understanding and managing coccidiosis.

By Dr. Lucas Mitchell The ability to turn ordinarily undigestible feeds into valuable meat and milk products should be considered nothing short of a superpower, and it is what makes ruminants a unique, valuable, and sustainable source of food. As such, it is critical to prioritize rumen development early in life so that, later in life, they can more thoroughly digest and make use of fibrous feedstuffs.