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KEEPING RECORDS
As with any business, record keeping is essential in determining how your business is doing profit and loss wise, how any change in management has affected the bottom line, what areas need change or not, what improvements are needed, where and what kind of adjustments could make a difference in labor reduction; and the list goes on. A business that neglects to keep accurate records cannot identify problem areas. But along with record keeping, the goat farmer must be open-minded enough to know that solving some problems means culling animals. If you're not willing to take this important step, then you have wasted time tracking your animals. Do you know which goats are a liability? How do the offspring of this buck or doe do at birth, at weaning, at harvesting? What health problems might be passed on to offspring? Good and bad traits are both in the genes that make up a kid.
Record keeping does not need to be an elaborate set-up and once initiated, just requires consistency, and if you have a partner (wife, other) communication. The basic information you need to collect for each of your animals: Date of birth Weight at birth Identification Weight 60 days but could be more Weight at 100 days or whenever you decide Sire and dam As the goat matures and is either sold or becomes part of the breeding stock, you need to record: Vaccinations Health problems and methods of correction Breeding dates of does Births and any gestation or birthing problems for that doe Kids weaned Buck breedings and results
After you've done all this, how does it figure in your goat operation? Good question. By tracking all of the above information, you can determine: Which goats are living up to the potential given them by their sire and dam? Which goats have the best weight gains while on the dam? This is also handy information in tracking which are your better does. Which goats gained the most after weaning? This goes to genetics of the parents. Which bucks produce the best kids? Which does have the best milk production? The kids weight gain to weaning is this gauge. Example: Buck1 covers all the does he is assigned. Insemination rate is determined by how many does cycle again. If he covers 20 does, and 2 cycle again, his initial insemination rate would be 90%. If he covers the 10% that recycled and they are bred, his rate rises to 100%. Good boy! However, if 50% of those does recycle, look to the doe as a potential cull. Keeping non-breeders is not cost-efficient. Five months later, the first 90% of the does deliver twins of varying birth weights. As with most Kikos, the kids are up and nursing within minutes. Within hours they are moving like troopers. You now have your first set of data to contribute to the value of Buck1, birthing weights and genders. (But remember, there is a mother involved in this equation who contributes her genetics to the kids.) Three weeks later, the remainder of his assignments deliver, completing his proliferation rate, either 95% or 100% depending on how many didn't recycle after the second breeding. He might be a keeper. Let's see how his kids grow. Of Buck1 kids, 75% had good birth weights, while 12% had less than expected weights and 13% had higher than expected weights. His score has improved, 88% of his kids can be expected to gain well. Now, the dam's mothering traits come into play, whether she's a first-timer or a pro. How many kids does she deliver and how many does she raise to weaning? What are the weights at weaning? Was she a diligent mother, not rejecting either kid? Did she or her kids encounter any health problems on the way to weaning? This determines the value of the doe. It also ends part of her contribution to the value of the kid. The rest of the data supports how well the kid lives up to its potential. Some ranchers choose to weight at different times. Bucklings are usually separated earlier than doelings. A buckling left too long with the mixed herd can do some major damage by breeding does that need to mature a lot more. Whatever age the kid is weaned, the next weighing will determine how well the kid gains on its own. If you pour the feed to your kids, they will naturally gain better than kids without creep-feeding or supplementing. For the commercial rancher, the bottom line is the weight of the kid: the least amount of expense will provide the most profit. However, knowledge, whether personal or from ranchers who have experienced various scenarios, is a good teacher. Sometimes weather plays a part in a kids gain and holding it longer and providing a supplemental feeding for an additional period can put more money in your pocket over and above what you would have made if harvested at the scheduled time. The puzzle begins to fall into place. Buck1 and Doe1 provide 50% of the kids potential. Doe1 delivers twins, a buck and a doe, the buck weighing more than his sister, which is usually the case. The buckling gains a little better than the doeling because he pushes her away a lot and hogs the milk. So, at weaning, while both have gained, the doeling lags a bit behind. The doe has done her job by producing adequate milk for both kids and raised them both to weaning. The doeling has gained very well after the buckling was separated, so he might have been the cause of her slow gain. Once the kids are on their own, their weight gain determines how well they are living up to the potential provided by both parents. Both kids have inherited their parents parasite resistance and sound hooves. Both have gained average to above-average at the age levels tracked by the rancher. This is the Utopian setting, of course. But by tracking this data, you know which are the superior does and how well Buck1 kids did. Let's recap. Birth rate and weight, weaning weight, weight at 180 days or whatever time period you chose. Buck2 covers his does. You keep the same data for him as Buck1. You can now compare Buck1 to Buck2 to see which provided the best genetics to his kids by merely looking at the data. His job as sire is easier to track than the does in that one season usually shows his potential. The doe may take several breedings to determine her value. If a doe, after several seasons, continues to perform below your expectations, it's time to cull her. Sometimes first timers will improve as they mature; sometimes they don't. This depends on the does condition, the weather, and don't forget management practices. If this sounds complicated, it's not really. It's just a matter of consistently recording progress. Birth date Birth weight Gender Id Weight at weaning Weight at 180 days
Looks like Samson did pretty well. With these records for each kid, you can compare how the kids performed as a group and against the group average. You can also see how the does compare against each other, and which buck produces the best kids. Delilah, once away from her bully brother, also gained very well. Comparing year to year data can tell you how any management changes affected profit. It can also let you know the areas that could stand improvement.
An accurate scale. There are a number of scale set-ups that will do the job. We like our platform scale with a digital readout like the ones in a vet's office. They're portable, easily maintained, and run on AC or DC power. A chute and cage enclosure to contain the goat is essential as they usually don't cooperate by standing still or staying in place. A chart to record the data. See Sample If you are computer literate, you can set up your data in a spreadsheet from the paper chart. Set up properly, you can see at a glance how the animal is performing. It saves a lot of time.
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