Building a herd for the real world

An Peischel aimed high when she began breeding goats back in 1985. “My goals were to produce the highest-quality breeding stock that I could sell to producers and sleep at night, and also to hang the best carcass on the rail off of native vegetation,” the University of Tennessee extension agent said at the recent

Electric fencing tips to keep your goats from roaming

Expert recommends five strands of heavy-gauge, high-tensile wire with proper 
grounding for containing a herd of climbers, leapers and stubborn old billies

Good goats love to roam and you need a fence that’s up to the job. Characteristics that make goats effective at grazing rough pastures — such as aggressive feeding habits and the ability to stand on their hind legs — also means they like to explore new areas and will jump and climb and otherwise


Minto goat dairy hit by brazen theft

Owner seeks public’s help in locating 48, all-white, weanling Saanen does stolen in July This time, nobody is pointing the finger at coyotes. Sometime between July 14 and 22, 48 white Saanen kids out of a herd of 600 owned by Oak Island Acres goat dairy in Minto went missing in what owner Diane Rourke

Herds get paid to graze

Eric Weisbeck had one big problem on the 17,000-acre community pasture he manages — brush was taking over. Brian Payne had a simple solution — 700 of his goats. “And then when he told me that I wouldn’t have to do a whole bunch of fencing, I was even more in favour of that,” said



Coyotes no excuse for staying out of the booming sheep and goat sectors

Gord Schroeder says predation losses can’t be 
totally eliminated, but good management 
can keep them to a minimum

Demand for sheep and goats is sky high and growing — so why aren’t more farmers raising them? The most common reason is fear of coyotes, said Gord Schroeder, executive director of the Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board. “I’m tired of people saying that coyotes are a problem and that’s why we can’t go ahead,” said


Post-Easter prices lower for most classifications

There were 150 sheep and goats delivered to the Winnipeg Livestock Auction April 19. The temperature of the day was cool, a reflection of the day’s bidding style by the buyers. Although, some classifications remained as strong as the pre-Easter season, some classifications dropped. The Easter season has peaked and is returning to the normal

Easter sale brings in the numbers

There were 360 sheep and goats delivered to the Winnipeg Livestock Auction on April 5 for the Easter season. Individual or small group of animals were purchased by various local individual buyers, for the two Easter celebrations. The meat industry buyers were preparing and restocking their supplies, as well. There appeared to be a strong