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Goats
What is it All About?
Do you want to be part of the country’s fastest-growing livestock and dairy industries? The 4-H Goat project can teach you about selection, management, health, marketing, and careers in the goat industry.
Dairy Goats | Meat Goats
Grow in Your Project
Beginner
- Learn basic knowledge about dairy goats
- Know your goat breeds
- Find out if owning and showing dairy and/or meat goats is right for you
- Learn how to select a goat that meets the criteria for its intended use
- Learn to keep records
- Discover the differences between meat and dairy goats
Intermediate
- Set goals related to your goat project
- Ramp up your judging skills
- Learn about goat reproduction and the kidding process
- Identify sick animals, treatments, and how to prevent disease
- Learn about disbudding, deworming, trimming, and tattooing
- Learn about manure management
Advanced
- Learn body condition scoring
- Debate animal welfare issues
- Learn biosecurity prevention measures
- Use records to make herd management decisions
- Formulate a balanced ration for the type of goats you have
- Learn about breeding and reproduction techniques
Member Resources
Project Leader Resources
Dairy Goat Helper’s Guide
3 levels (grades 3-12)
Meat Goat Helper’s Guide
1 level (grades 6-8)
PYD Media Collection
Many educational resources, including several skillathons and learning lab kit.
Statewide Events and Opportunities
4-H Livestock Quiz Bowl & Skillathon
Livestock Bowl is a quiz competition where all the questions are about beef, sheep, swine, and meat goat topics and students use a buzzer in order to answer the questions. Teams compete in a double elimination format by giving oral answers to questions posed by a moderator. Each match has both an individual and toss-up question round. The winning 4-H senior team will represent Wisconsin at the National 4-H Livestock Quiz Bowl competition.
Audience: Grades 3-13
Area Animal Science Days
Area Animal Science Days is a series of day-long events held around the state in June where youth in the beef, dairy, horse, sheep, and swine projects increase their decision-making skills and knowledge of animals through judging and grading experiences. Events include dairy cattle evaluation; livestock (beef, sheep, swine, & meat goats) evaluation; oral reasons contests for senior members; and dairy showmanship contests . In addition, each site may offer a variety of workshops like poster and photography contests or horse judging activities.
Audience: Grades 3-13
State Livestock Judging
Teams that placed well at Area Animal Science Days are invited to the state contest. This contest usually occurs at the end of July and is the contest that selects our State winners for National Competition. The top senior teams have an opportunity to represent WI 4-H and compete at national level 4-H contests.
Audience: Age 14-18
Take Your Project Further!
- Tour a dairy goat operation or meat goat farm
- Educate your community about the dairy goat industry
- Look at the nutritional value of goat meat
- Research dairy goat by-products
- Make your own dairy goat by-products like cheese or soap
- Research countries that use goat meat as their primary source of protein. Try making a goat meat recipe and share it with your club members
- Participate as a member of your county 4-H meat judging team
- Compare the differences in dairy cattle and dairy goat milk and cheese production
- Learn about the nutritional requirements for ruminants
- Attend a local, state, or national dairy goat show and listen to the judge give oral reasons
- Take a trip to your local feed store or feed mill to learn about goat nutrition
- Take a trip to the zoo to learn about how they use and care for goats
- Learn about goat fiber products
- Design a business card or brochure to market your farm or goat meat and by-products
Applying Project Skills to Life
Enhance Your Communication Skills
- Teach others about showmanship techniques
- Design a poster on the parts of a dairy or meat goat to share with others
- Participate in a judging contest and give oral reasons
- Give a speech on how goats are part of the dairy industry
Get Involved in Citizenship and Service
- Use goats milk to make soap and donate it to a local shelter
- Volunteer to help with a livestock weigh-in or livestock show
- Take your goats to a petting zoo, daycare, or elementary school to teach others about the goat industry
- Use your goat to host a clinic or educational event about meat goats
- Prepare meat from a meat goat to promote the industry
- Be a part of a dairy promotion event
Learn about Leadership
- Arrange for your club or project group to tour a dairy or meat goat farm, or give a tour of your goat facilities
- Mentor a younger member interested in showing goats
- Plan a workshop to inform the public about the value of goat’s milk
- Secure sponsorship for goat related awards
- Lead a goat selection and feeding clinic
Showing What You’ve Learned
- Assemble an emergency goat medical kit
- Make a poster on how to properly tattoo your goat
- Design a poster on the many dairy or meat breeds
- Create a display on proper selection and how to judge dairy or meat goats
- A display on proper feed rations for your dairy or meat goat
- Prepare a goat show kit
- Describe the proper terms when talking about dairy goats
- How to properly register and keep records on your animals
- Compare and contrast the dairy or meat breeds and their positive traits
- Make a scrapbook of your animal(s)
- Exhibit a goat by-product you made
- Make a display of plants that are poisonous to goats
- Show your goat at your county fair or the Wisconsin State Fair
- Create a booklet of proper goat terminology
- Create a display of the difference between mono-gastric and ruminant animals
- Develop a video showing how to use preventative vaccinations and deworming practices
- Build a kidding barrel
- Build a show box
- Display of different breeds
- Display of the dairy or meat goat industry over time
- Display of grooming techniques
- Consider an exhibit, notebook, or display showing what you’ve learned in a goat-related topic
Adapted with permission from Wyoming State 4-H, Project Information Sheet, Dairy Goats. Retrieved from: https://www.uwyo.edu/4-h/projects/animal-science/goats-dairy.html and https://www.uwyo.edu/4-h/projects/animal-science/goats-meat.html.
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