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Introduction to Goats
- A brief review of the historical and current usefulness of goats.
2) Here’s Looking at You Kid and All the Other Goat Terms
- New to the goat world or just want a refresher on terms? Here is a quick overview on twenty common goat terms.
Goat Nutrition
Overview
3) Why Goats Always Carry the Kings-Hood and a Bible
- A brief review of the goat ruminant digestive system
4) No, You Can’t Feed Goats Anything!
- This podcasts covers the basic nutritional requirements of goats
Risks
- If you don’t know what bloat is or how to avoid it, you need to listen to this podcast! Foam and gas bloat represent deadly risks to your goat.
6) What Johnsongrass, Frankenstein, and Nazis have in common
- This is the first of three podcasts on common toxic plants with goats. Learn about how some great works of art and the myth of Frankenstein’s monster share a common origin.
7) When Fate Flexes Her Alkaloids, Goats Die and Witches Fly
- As the second in a series, this podcast discusses the risks of alkaloid containing plants.
8) Forget Goat Tanning Beds, Try St. John’s Wort
- This podcasts summarized the remaining toxic risks to goats
Vaccinations

9) Why Do We Give Goats Sheep Vaccines?
- Typically, vaccinations such as CDT which are labeled for sheep are used for goats. Why is this? Is this safe and efficacious for my goats? Learn more
10)A Bit of Mouse Brain, a Smidgen of Hamster Kidney, and a Rabies Virus
- This podcast is a follow up goatcast and delves deeper into the similarities of human and animal vaccines. It also covers some vaccine production insight of both antiquity and today.
11)Do You Overeat? There’s a Vaccine for That!
- Part One of the CDT Vaccine. Overeating disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease to goats.
12) Why Being the Most Powerful Can Be a Weakness
- Part Two of the CDT Vaccine. Let’s talk about tetanus!
13) Should I Vaccinate My Goat for Rabies
- Let’s examine rabies in America and add context and data to help answer this important question.
- With CDT and rabies vaccines for your backyard goats, you may wonder what other vaccines are available for your goats.While they may not be necessary for your situation, let’s cover eight different antigens that can be used in goats.
Zoonosis
15) To Pet or to Fret
- Petting zoos – are they wonderful ways to socialize with animals or just a great way to get a disease? Learn more here.
16) TBD
Have a Question or Comment for VetZone?
All comments and questions are reviewed by a boarded veterinary specialist. Please note that we can NOT give out medical advice. If you have a veterinary medical emergency, please contact your local veterinarian at once. We try to respond within 2-3 business days.
This free, six-lesson course is provided by the Center for Food Security and Public Health. For anyone entering into 4-H, this is a fun and easy way to learn how to protect people from zoonotic disease.(the entire course takes roughly 3 hours and can be paused and restarted at your leisure).
This USDA page helps link you to up-to-date goat management and health studies, biosecurity recommendations, and an overview on zoonotic diseases.
This page provides a robust list of recommended links that support dairy goats.From nutrition, to various disease states, milk articles, reproduction, and recent publications, this site helps direct you to reliable sources no matter what your need.
This is a great resource to learn about more than 80 common goat breeds. You can also learn about other livestock breeds.
Founded in 1904, their mission is to “to collect, record and preserve the pedigrees of dairy goats and to provide genetic, management and related services to dairy goat breeders.” There are currently over 2 million goats registered and have roughly 20 thousand members.
The foremost research facility for goat medicine and nutrition. This site holds a library of up-to-date information and free handbook resources.
For a menu list of all goatcasts along with a list of external links for goat producers, visit this site on a desktop or tablet mode. (You may alternatively request a desktop version on your mobile device).

To Pet or to Fret
I love capers! When I see these tasty little delicacies included in the description of a savory dish, my mouth is already watering. Being a

Optional Goat Vaccines
One of my all-time favorite TV shows is Frasier from the ’90s. In one episode, Frasier’s brother Niles reminds us of the axiom, “Less is

Why Should I Vaccinate My Goat for Rabies?
Have you been recommended to have your goat vaccinated for rabies? Perhaps you don’t have a goat but own other livestock or even pets. Have

Why Being the Most Powerful Can Be a Weakness
“Thou shouldst say regarding him: ‘One having a gaping wound in his head penetrating to the bone, perforating the sutures of his skull; he has

Do You Overeat? There’s a Vaccine for That!
I’ve always loved the story about the tortoise and the hare. Born a glacial thinker, the story gave me hope. As a child, I worried

Forget Goat Tanning Beds, Consider St. John’s Wort
While many people take St. John’s Wort as an herbal treatment for depression, the plant induces painful sunburns in goats when eaten. Sound crazy? Wondering

A Bit of Mouse Brain and a Rabies Vaccine
In our last podcast, we tackled the common question of why you might give a rabies vaccine that is labeled for one species to an

Why Do I Give Goats Sheep Vaccines?
Why oh why, would I give goats sheep vaccines? Seems counterintuitive right? We put horseshoes on horses, give cats cat food, and give goats… what?

When Fate Flexes Her Alkaloids, Goats Die and Witches Fly
In the last podcast, we discussed cyanogenic plants – plants that create cyanide. Some trees are consistent risks, other plants like Sudan grass depend upon

What Johnsongrass, Frankenstein, and Nazis Have in Common.
At the dawn of the 18th Century, in a small Berlin laboratory, a dye maker used a contaminated ingredient and stumbled upon a discovery that