I'm getting ready to order some stuff from Jeffers for the goats. I want to be a good goat mama and since I'm new to goats I need some advice. I only have 2 goats at this time. They were fully vetted when I got them back in August.

Should I keep antibiotics on hand? If so what do you recommend - LA 200?

I'm guessing I should order some Probios to keep on hand.

Should I keep something for coccidiosis on hand? Corid, 10 oz packet or Sulmet drinking water solution 12.5% Sodium Sulfamethazine (I know FIAS has the dosages on their web site)?

I'm also ordering other basics such as hoof trimmers, blood stop for cuts, Bar-Vac CD/T.

I already have ivermectin as a dewormer, they were dewormed back in August.

Anything else I need, any other advice?

-- Anita in NC (anitaholton@mindspring.com), December 09, 2001

Answers

The things you mention in your questions show you are researching, and have a good idea of what you need. Where the rub comes is that you have just two goats, and, especially in the case of antibiotics, the chances are good that most will be wasted due to being out of date by the time they are needed. I don't know how far you are from a feed store; in our state antibiotics are available there. It is true that they are a bit higher than from Jeffers, but you will probably lose the savings due to waste. I just ordered some supplies from Jeffers, and for the first time I was told I would have to pay extra for next-day-air shipment for the CDT. and any other vaccines. I have never asked for next day air shipment, but now there is no choice. The CDT is also available at the feed store, so no reason to order it from Jeffers. If you ordered syringes and needles from Jeffers, you could get many year's worth at one time. I strongly recommend the "Shear Magic" hoof trimmer from Jeffers. It fits the hand better and is much easier to use because of the angle of the blades. In the Fall 2001 catalog it is on page 32 at the very bottom of the page, fourth from the left. Most of the people in our Dairy Goat Association use these, and we always offer at least one pair as a raffle prize during the annual Dairy Goat Doe Show. Are you aware that you should not use the same wormer continuously? The little critters can and do become immune. Safeguard paste is highly regarded as a wormer to alternate with Ivomec. No, Safeguard does nothing against external parasites, but our pest control program in this area calls for Ivomec injectable in the late Fall, and Safeguard paste the next time worming is desired. I hope this helps some. I will be most happy to correspond with you if you wish to email me.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), December 09, 2001.

Yes if you are going to use the boards for help you should get antibiotics, if you are going to use a vet than no you don't need to. I throw away unopened bottles of antibiotics every couple of years, they go out of date before they are even opened, but in the long run it still saves me and my customers lots of money. So even with your small herd, get some Tylan 50 (if you have small goats or babies coming) and Tylan 200 for large dairy type does. I also keep a tetracycline 200 mg on hand, but use Biomycin, or Oxytet 200, LA 200 has a very painful sting carrier in it and is exactly the same strength as the other tetracycline 200's in Jeffers catalog. Download saanendoah.com her serious goat stuff site is a must have in a binder. You should keep pritchard nipples on hand for emergency bottle feeding. If you are going to milk your goats you need another wormer like Valbazen to use while they are in milk, it has a real milk withdrawl time of 3 days, unlike Ivermectin. With your small herd and a very simply task you can keep your girls worm free and rarely needing worming, just the day you worm put the girls over into a yard or area they never are allowed in. This lets them poop out all the live worms and eggs, and not get into them again. Your does if they are bred need to be wormed the day they kid, if they are unbred then you need to take 7 nanny berries into the vet and see if they need to be wormed again, kind of important to let them go into winter fairly worm free, overwintering worms in your goats and barn, can overwhelm you and them in the spring. Just stick with the sulmet or the sulfaquinoxiline 20%, I don't recommend Corid since most folks do not use it correctly, and most cocci is treated instead of prevented. As you go along in your goat owning, your drug cabinet will expand and your equipment will soon take over your house! Keep everything in the house and not the barn, refrigerate everything you can, keeps it cool and dark. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), December 09, 2001.

Hi Anita, If you are milking and feeding a ration of grain, it's always a good idea to hang a little feeder of Baking Soda in the pen so the goat(s) can balance out the PH of their rumen if they need to. Also, keep a spare turkey baster and some vegetable oil on hand in case anyone over eats on Spring grass or too rich hay and gets bloat. You'll notice a foul-smelling frothy rumen and an "off" goat if this is the case. Dose them with vege oil using the turkey baster to remedy this. I just went through my first case of bloat (got some new hay that was just too rich for my +gallon a day milker). The vet also told me to give her a little banamine paste which I did. This is usually for horses, but apparently, okay for goats too! I also like to use a weight tape for determining wormer doses AND one of those horse hoof pics with the brush opposite the pick is really nice for cleaning out hooves before you trim. Good luck with your new "kids". You're gonna love being a goat keeper! -- Cheers, Renee M.

-- Renee Martin (icehorse@altelco.net), December 10, 2001.

Don't have time to write a list of what we keep on hand but came across this website from my links page on my website. Hope this helps. has a listing of goat/sheep items to keep on hand.

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001.