Livestock & Pets

This section of the website holds articles on everything you need to know about keeping pets and livestock. Choose from the menu on the left to browse our articles.

Livestock & Pets
 

Goats need holiday care

Goats that have chewed their way through the dry herbage at many gateways over the summer need as much holiday care as any other animal in the family or on the farm.

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Plants that poison goats

Assume that all garden shrubs are a potential danger to goats. Some plants cause delayed poisoning as well as immediate poisoning eg ragwort and St John’s wort.

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Worm control in Goats

Throughout their lives, goats are very susceptible to worms in their stomach and intestines.

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Goat senses

Very similar to sheep, they have a similar blind spot at the rear – but they are more difficult to catch using this area as they are generally more alert than sheep.

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Social behaviour in goats

Goats are a flocking species but they don’t flock as tightly as sheep.

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Goat reproduction

Goats are seasonal breeders coming into heat in autumn with declining daylight.

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Hands-on at the goat face

We've been farming angora goats for over fifteen years and can't imagine life without them now.

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Angora goats

The magic of mohair

Snuggling up to a soft mohair blanket is a simple luxury, and we are so lucky in New Zealand to have some of the world’s best mohair producers on our doorstep.

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Angora health - ill-thrift and miscellaneous diseases

If your goats are not doing well, there are many possible causes. 
 

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Angora health - diseases of the skin and the brain

The signs of skin disease are usually fairly obvious, with itchiness, hair loss, scurfiness or sores, reddening or some other change in the appearance of the skin. 

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