Dairy Goat Health
Prevention is Better than Cure
Any successful dairy goat operation needs to focus on preventative health care. It is part of a goat's natural survival instinct to not show signs of weakness such as illness or physical discomfort, so once a goat is displaying these signs, you can be sure the situation is fairly severe.
Body Condition
Monitoring Your Goats' Health
Focusing on preventative measures and monitoring your herd are vital to ensuring your goats stay in prime condition.
Signs that your goat may be unwell include:
Not getting up to feed when fresh food is offered
Coming into the milking bales last (or later in the milking than usual for that particular doe)
Physical symptoms such as having a rough coat, limping or walking with an unusual gait, loosing weight or dropping milk production
Ears down, eyes sunken, moving slowly
Additional details of symptoms specific to common ailments can be found on the Common Diseases page or the Physical Health page.
Monitor your goats frequently and watch for goats not coming up to feed or separating themselves from the main mob, or standing hunched, such as the goat in the back of this photo.
Body Condition Scoring
It is normal for dairy goats to 'look thin'. They have been selectively bred over years for their milk production, not for meat. Whilst a dairy goat may not look 'meaty', it will be carrying fat around its organs. This being said, monitoring the body condition of your herd and checking for rumen fill should be done regularly.
The body condition of your herd will fluctuate during the year but must always be monitored, and ideally recorded at key stages of the season (such as pre-mating, pre-kidding, early lactation). Changes in the herd due to diet, stage of lactation and gestation need to stay within the recommended guidelines, as indicated below. If your herd is falling outside these parameters, changes to their diet, such as increasing or decreasing the overall level of feed offered or by re-balancing the protein and carbohydrate proportions would be one of the first factors to look at. If dietary changes are not needed (or not possible due to feed availability constraints.) changing the energy demands on the animal may be required. Typically this involves reducing the energy requirement in a low BCS animal by dropping it to once-a-day milking or drying it off completely, or by delaying mating until its body condition has increased.
Changes within an individual animal that is not consistent with the rest of the herd is an indicator that something is not right with that particular animal. An individual goat with a low body score may simply be due to age. If this is not the case, she may be a high producer not getting enough dietary intake to meet her needs, or she may be unwell. Other factors affecting the goat's health should also be considered, particularly sore feet or mouth issues.
The body condition scoring rating system for goats ranges from 1.0 to 5.0. Healthy dairy goats should have a body condition score between 2.5 and 3.5. Goats with a body condition score less than 2 are too thin and require health and/or nutrient management changegs. Dairy goats with a BCS of higher than 4 are considered overweight and need nutrient or physical demand changes in order to eliminte health problems developing.
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A dairy goat will be at lowest body score at the end of the peak lactaction period and should have only moved by 1 condition score point since its highest point which should have been recorded at dry off. The dry off score should be the goat's optimum condition and they should maintain this throughout the remainder of their gestation until kidding time.
Does going into kidding with a low condition score are at risk of metabolic issues and energy imbalances as they need to draw heavily on body reserves to support the demands of early lactation. Going into kidding with too high a body score can lead to kidding difficulties.
The notes below gives an overview of the goat Body Condition scoring system. For more details regarding the process of assessing body condition, we recommend consulting your vet or refering to other online resources such as the Michigan State University Body Condition Scoring in Goats webpage,
Body Score 1 – totally emaciated
Body Score 2 – thin, ribs defined, loin and rump area bones are clearly defined
Body Score 3 – ribs, loin and rump bones are visible but coated with some tissue (definition of bones is visible but a layer of tissue is evident)
Body Score 4 – ribs are palpable but no longer visible, loin appears level from side to side
Body Score 5 – neck appears short due to volume of flesh on the brisket, visible bulging around the neck, shoulder, loin and rump areas
