AY Honors/Goat Husbandry/Answer Key
1. Identify live or from pictures at least two breeds of goats. Tell if they are raised for milk, meat, or wool.
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Goat Breeds/Saanen
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Goat Breeds/Toggenburg
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Goat Breeds/Nubian
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Goat Breeds/British Alpine
You may also visit http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/ for pictures and information on different goat breeds.
2. What type of housing should be provided for goats?
3. What types of feed are used for the following:
a. First month
b. Second month
c. Pregnancy
d. Freshened doe
e. Yearling
4. Name three poisonous plants to goats.
Milkweed
Nightshade
Rhododendron
- NewGrowthBracken.jpg
Bracken fern
Death camas
Hemlock
Laurel
Oleander
5. When are kids weaned?
Kids are weaned at 6 to 8 weeks of age.
6. When must the buck kids be removed from the does, and why?
7. How are goat's hoofs trimmed?
Go to: [1] for information.
8. Why are goats good for clearing brush land?
Goats are reputed to be willing to eat almost anything. The digestive systems of a goat allow nearly any organic substance to be broken down and used as nutrients. Contrary to this reputation, they are quite fastidious in their habits, preferring to browse on the tips of woody shrubs and trees, as well as the occasional broad leaved plant. However, it can fairly be said that goats will eat almost anything in the botanical world. Their plant diet is extremely varied and includes some species which are toxic or detrimental to cattle and sheep. This makes them valuable for controlling weeds and clearing brush and undergrowth.
9. Name at least six items that are made from goat skins.
- Gloves
- Drumheads
- Rugs
- Boots
- Wineskin (Bible times in particular)
- Lampshades
- Coats
10. What are wattles?
11. Raise at least two goats for six months.
Have fun!
You can usually find information on goat care on the computer or at your library.
12. If milk goats are raised, answer the following questions:
a. What are the points to consider when choosing a good milk goat?
b. How is pasteurization done and what is its purpose?
Pasteurization is the process of heating liquids for the purpose of destroying viruses and harmful organisms such as bacteria, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.
Unlike sterilization, pasteurization is not intended to kill all micro-organisms in the food or liquid. Instead, pasteurization aims to achieve a "logarithmic reduction" in the number of viable organisms, reducing their number so they are unlikely to cause disease (assuming the pasteurized product is refrigerated and consumed before its expiration date). Commercial-scale sterilization of food is not common, because it adversely affects the taste and quality of the product.
Pasteurization typically uses temperatures below boiling since at temperatures above the boiling point for milk, casein micelles will irreversibly aggregate (or "curdle"). There are two main types of pasteurization used today: High Temperature/Short Time (HTST) and Extended Shelf Life (ESL) treatment. In the HTST process, milk is forced between metal plates or through pipes heated on the outside by hot water, and is heated to 71.7 °C (161 °F) for 15-20 seconds. ESL milk has a microbial filtration step and lower temperatures than HTST. Milk simply labeled "pasteurized" is usually treated with the HTST method.
13. If milk goats are raised, do the following:
a. Do the milking morning or evening for two goats, or morning and evening for one goat, for at least three months.
Before you do any milking, you will need to sterilize your equipment. Failure to do so will yield foul-tasting or contaminated milk, and neither of these is desirable. Sterilization can be accomplished by soaking the equipment in bleach water (¼ cup bleach for every two gallons or water, or 1 part bleach to every 128 parts water) for a minimum of two minutes. Then drain out the bleach water and allow the water and bleach to evaporate for at least 15 minutes.
Before you begin milking, you should clean the doe's udder. Again, you can use bleach water for this. Wash the area thoroughly, as this will help you prevent the spread of mastitis (an udder infection). Dry her off with a disposable paper towel. Use a seamless, stainless steel pail to catch the milk. Make sure you use a seamless pail, because the seams are nearly impossible to get clean. Some people like to use a goat-hobble to keep the doe from stepping into the pail during milking (if this happens, everything in the pail is ruined, and you will have to re-sterilize the pail before you can reuse it).
Express three to four squirts into the pail and then check for abnormalities (such as blood clots). Then continue milking until she milks out. When finished, cover the pail. Then pour a solution of bleach water (2 Tbsp bleach, 1 quart water) into a small paper cup and dip the doe's teats in this solution.
At this point you should weigh the milk and record your reading. Then transfer the milk to a milk tote (also seamless and stainless steel), and move on to the next goat, or get the milk into a refrigerator or into a pasteurizer.
b. Keep daily milk production records.
You can create a chart such as this, filling in the amount of milk each doe produces on each day. Standard practice is to record the milk's weight rather than its volume. Record the doe's name (or some other identifier) at the top of the columns between the "Date" and "Notes" fields. Record general health information or any unusual observations in the Notes column. You can also use a spreadsheet to track this information.
| Date | Notes | ||||
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