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Basic Goat Terms
If you are looking into getting your first goat, there are a lot of terms that you may come across that confuse you. I know when I started out, I had no idea what a wether was, or what polled was. So, to help out new and potential goat owners I have compiled a list of the most common basic goat terms.
Doe – Female Goat
Doeling – A baby female goat
Yearling – A one year old goat
Buck – Male Goat
Buckling – A baby male goat
Weather – Castrated male goat
Kid – Baby goat, either male or female
Kidding – Giving birth
Polled – When a goat is naturally born without horns
Debudded/Disbudded – Removing the horns of a goat
Drenching – Oral administration of medication
Banding/Banded – The use of castration rings to remove the testacles
Browsing – Natural movement of goats from one place to another to forage on various foliage
Coccidiosis/Cocci – Oxycyt that destroys the lining of the small intestine resulting in diarrhea or even death
Scours – Diarrhea that is usually caused from incorrect milk feeding
Sire – Father
Dam – Mother
The list of goat terms is large, these are just the basics terms that you may come across when researching goats, or issues that you may come across with your new goats. Finding the perfect goat can be difficult, but researching and knowing your basic goat terms can help ease the process.
Be sure to check out our YouTube channel for more information on raising goat, and other fun things that we do around our homestead!
Here is a short video I did for Home and Garden for Mere Mortals about some of the basic goat terms you may come across.