Goat Facts

The scientific name for goat (Capra aegagrus hircus) was derived from the Wild Goat (C. aegagrus). In latin "Capra" is the root of the word "capricious" which means whimsical, mischievous, quirky, bizarre and suitable to change fast.

Mothers will call their young so they stay close at all times, a baby goat is called a "kid". The Mother and kid goat recognize each others calls as soon as the mother gives birth. Baby goats are weaned off their moms after around 6 months. Its called "bleating" how goats communicate with each other. A "doe" or "nanny" is what a female goat is called. A "buck or "billy" is what they call a male goat. A male castrated goat is called a "wether". "Kidding" is the act of a goat giving birth. The infection of the goats udder is called "mastitis". It is a common problem amongst milking goats.

Goats can even climb trees because they have great balance and some goat species can jump over 5 feet high. A goats eyes are rectangular rather than round. At night they have excellent vision and can due just as much at night. A goat herder notice how much energy his goats had, after eating coffee bushes and that's how coffee was first discovered. There are over 210 breeds of goats in the world. Goats have no teeth in their upper front jaw. Goats have 24 molars and 8 incisors. Both sexes, female and male goats can have beards.
The La Mancha dairy goat does not have outer ears and looks ear-less. People often ask if the goat had its ears cut off.

Male goats reach puberty at the age between 4 to 8 months and the female is between 7 to 10 months. Male goats at the beginning of mating season go through a period called a "rut". The "rut" is the beginning of the courting for a doe, a very strong foul musky odor and fighting between bucks begins.
Goats can be born without or with horns "polled". The average life of a goats is between 8 to 12 years. Goats have a four chamber stomach, goats are "Ruminant" is any hoofed even-toed mammal, that digests its food in two stages. First by eating the raw materials and regurgitating a semi-digested form known as "cud" (ruminating: chewing the cud.) then eating the cud.
The goat is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. "Wattles" is that little tufts of hair that dangles from the goats throat.

Goat's milk and cow's milk big difference, goat's milk has smaller fat globules than cow's milk. Making it naturally homogenized and easier to digest than cow's milk. Goats milk is higher in niacin, calcium and vitamin A than cows milk. A goat is a herbivores, that eats leaves, grass, hay and furns {plant eaters}.


Tetanus is something to watch out for in goats and what are the proper shots to give them, (Tetanus-is an illness that is caused by Clostridium Tetany). Also do the research on de-worming your young goats (kids) and do the research on the proper doses. Also look up "Cocci" (If your fecal test shows an high rate of cocci (over 200 per gram) you need to take action quickly. These are important facts so do your research on this if you are raising goats, especially young goats (kids).