We Rent Goats

 

Bred for a purpose, bred to work!

Mission of our breeding program…
  Our mission of our breeding goats is to produce top quality genetics. Our goal is to breed female goats (does) that:

 

  • Are good mothers and give birth to high quality kids.
  • Can endure travel and tough climatic conditions.
  • Give birth to high-quality kids even when they don’t always have the highest quality feed.

Our business is not about keeping the goats on a ranch where they have everything they need in life. These goats have to earn their keep, just like the rest of us.

Their job is to travel around the Pacific Northwest eliminating various kinds of noxious weeds and brush. So we need our goats to be able to handle all those changes and still be highly productive.

Our goal is to raise goats that do their work, have good kids, and don’t have to be spoiled. Probably just like your parents raised you.

Doeling Program
The young does (doelings) we use to breed more goats are a cross between Boer, Spanish, and Kiko goats. We have three basic requirement for all doelings:

  1. Each doeling must be maternal. They must love their babies from the minute they’re born.This is so important to us that we sell any of our doelings that don’t have this maternal instinct. Kidding season is very busy we do not have time to mess with a doeling that doesn’t want to take care of her babies.
  2. Each doeling must kid twins after their first year.
  3. Each doeling must wean off at least 2 babies that weigh 50 pounds each. This can be tough to meet because:
  • We are continually moving our goats around
  • The goats usually feed on whatever plants our customers have hired us to clear. (We do give our doelings a good opportunity by selecting good quality jobs during the months that they are lactating. And, if the weeds they’re clearing don’t provide enough nutrition, we give them nutritional supplements.)

Johne’s Disease
We Rent Goats® tests our does for Johne’s (pronounces “Yoh-nees”) disease, a potentially fatal bacterial infection of the intestinal tract[1]. Our goal is to continually test our goats to make sure they are Johne’s disease-free.

“Psycho Genetics”
Our Number One doe (she’s a few years past doeling age) is named Psycho. When she has babies, she’s known for butting or even ramming people who aren’t careful around her newborns. Once her kids are weaned, she mellows out considerably. Her protective nature can, for a short time, be hazardous to our dogs. But, to us, it just shows what a great mother she is.

We consider her temporary insanity an occupational hazard-and a great trait. That’s why, in Psycho’s honor, we named our genetics program after her: “Psycho Genetics.” In 2010 Psycho gave birth to and successfully weaned a set of big healthy triplets. That’s why she’s our Number One doe.

What makes a great goat mama?
When our doelings give birth, the babies are tagged, weighed, and have their mom’s number painted on their side. We like it when the doeling stands right in front of us as we tag and weigh their kids. In fact, if a doeling doesn’t do this, she gets a strike against her.

The kids are weighed again when we come home for the summer to wean them. That information is tracked back to the mother. We select the doelings and bucks (see below) we sell for breeding based on these weight measurements and other considerations. The doelings that don’t meet our standards are culled out the herd and sold as meat.

Buck Requirements
Our bucks (male goats that will be sold as breeders) are mostly pure-bred Boer, with some Kiko thrown in. We really like the growth and muscle of the Boer breed. We add some Kiko genetics because of this breed’s high marks for survivability and hardiness.

Kiko goats tend to have low birth weights, but by the time they’re weaned, they’ve filled out. Kikos also tend to have more bone and less muscle, which some people don’t like. But their hardiness tends to outweigh this concern.

In our experience, too many bucks are fed grain and nutritional supplement to get them as big as possible as fast as possible. Yes, these bucks bring a nice premium at the sales and off the ranch. And they look very nice, with lots of muscle at a young age. But when you turn them out on the range or they have to travel to breed or feed themselves, their survival rate is very poor.

We Rent Goat® bucks have proven over the years to survive in some of the toughest conditions. Our bucks might not wean off at 90 pounds like some purebreds. But they’ll be there for you year after year. We only raise a few bucks each year. We want them to be range ready for demanding goat ranchers.

Want to know if goats are right for you? Want a price quote? Or just want to talk goats? Email us at matt@werentgoats.com. Or visit the Contact Us section of our site.

 

[1] Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Johne’s Information Center, University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, March 2010. Available online at http://www.johnes.org/goats/faqs.html#1.
     

Q&A

Are your goats treated humanely?
Yes, of course. In fact, we treat our does like queens. They’re our bread and butter so we work hard to keep them happy. We Rent Goats® is also a member of Animal Welfare Approved. AWA is a third-party auditing organization that comes on farms and checks to make sure animals are treated well.

Want to know if goats are right for you? Want a price quote? Or just want to talk goats? Email us at matt@werentgoats.com. Or visit the Contact Us section of our site.