9010
5/26/00
| Item | What to Look For | Pass | Fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavior | Friendly, come to you; not scared | [___] | [___] |
| Temperature | Put finger in mouth | [___] | [___] |
| Stools | Nice berries; orange paste if very young | [___] | [___] |
| Confirmation | Follow breed characteristics? | [___] | [___] |
| Body | Nice proportion | [___] | [___] |
| Nostrils | Clean and dry, NO discharge | [___] | [___] |
| Eyes | Sparkle, no cloudiness, NO discharge of any kind | [___] | [___] |
| Eyelids | Not rolled in or out | [___] | [___] |
| Ears | Conform to breed standard, clean | [___] | [___] |
| Horns | Properly disbudded, healing, dry | [___] | [___] |
| Lungs | No rattles; no hard breathing on exercise | [___] | [___] |
| Legs | Straight, solid, not real thin | [___] | [___] |
| Joints | Not hot, swollen or weak; no stiffness | [___] | [___] |
| Feet | Normal shape, not rolled, pointed; well trimmed | [___] | [___] |
| Navel | Dry; no infection, swelling or hernia | [___] | [___] |
| Penis | Sheath not soiled or inflamed | [___] | [___] |
| Testicles | If castrated, well healed and NONE left up in abdomen | [___] | [___] |
| Tail | Clean, no pimples; fairly erect | [___] | [___] |
| Pairs | Are there 2 or more available; one gets very lonely | [___] | [___] |
| Seller | Appear honest; any recent illnesses in herd? | [___] | [___] |
| Premises | Is the place clean? | [___] | [___] |
| Record | Is a written health record available? | [___] | [___] |
| Relatives | Are parents and any older siblings available to look at? | [___] | [___] |
| Helpfulness | Will they give you a small amount of feed to ease transition to your ration? |
[___] | [___] |
Print off this chart and take it with you when you go goat shopping.We receive countless letters from people who just got home from buying their first goat. Instead of doing their homework before going shopping, they bring home all sorts of disasters. The most common problem is that there are horns which are too long to be removed easily. It is our feeling that dehorning and castrating are things which should be taken care of by the breeder BEFORE kids are released for sale. As you may have noticed elsewhere, we are adamant in insisting that all kids should be dehorned early. The second most common problem is some variety of respiratory ailment. Under no condition should you buy any animal which is even slightly sick, no matter how cute, friendly, darling, irresistable...period. Not only are the chances of survival greatly reduced, you are also risking the health of your existing animals. The third most common situation is where people bring home the kids and then begin to wonder what they are going to feed them. Get these plans made way before you go shopping.
I would be very appreciative of any suggestions which you might have on improving the above chart.
