BOER GOAT NEWS - Michigan Boer Goat Association, Inc.

January 2012
Volume 2, Issue 1
B OER G OAT N EWS
Michigan Boer Goat Association
www.michiganboergoat.org
Wow!
By Karen Ibarra
th
Over a third of our membership got together January 7 & 8
for the activities at the Shepherds Weekend. It was great to
see you all and I personally thank each of you for putting
forth the effort to attend at this unpredictable time of year.
Mark & Carrie Nageotte
Mike & Kim Birsen
Justin & Carrie Pish
Terri Fryman
Matt & Melissa White
Bob & Buzzy Esham
Steve Hunt
Tina Esham & boys
Lisa & Kyle Stack
Keith, Jan & Grant Tirrell
Emily Luthringer
Crista Crawford
Beth Ryan
Frank Welling
If you were not able to attend, I urge you to give one of
these folks a call and hear about the weekend. All the
attendees have updated their contact information with
their 2012 membership.
Call and ask what they thought about the guest presenter,
Dr Ken Andries. He was sponsored by MBGA; this is an
example of your MBGA dollars at work. He has invited all of
us to participate in one of his research projects which will
help us in evaluating our breeding program; he has also
rd
invited us to Kentucky State University on the 3 Thursday
of October for an educational program and tour of his 300
head goat herd, there at the university. His contact
information and other details will be coming to the website
soon.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Wow!
1
The Inside Scoop
1
Boer Goat Pictures by Terri Fryman
2
Normal Goat Health Information
2
Featured Member – Crista Crawford
3
MBGA Wether Series
5
IMO – Internet Marketing
Editor’s Corner
5
7
In the conversations and contacts made during this event,
another opportunity has presented itself to us: MEAP
verification phase 1 class and outreach in your county. There
is interest in a meeting for the Jackson county area, and that
may happen as soon as next month, so again, keep an eye on
the website for details.
I do want you all to know that both pieces of Sydell
equipment came home with me, much to my & my hubby’s
relief. I only had a 50/50 chance to win the drawing by the
time everyone in attendance on Saturday afternoon had put
their tickets in the pot! Dr Andries did the drawing for us.
I truly enjoyed the events on Saturday and am interested in
what the other folks in attendance thought. We will want to
decide early if we should participate again next year.
Karen
The Inside Scoop
By Tina Esham
Calling all MBGA Members… If you haven’t been on the
website lately I challenge you to go there before March 10
2012. First you should go to the member directory page and
check out your listing. Is everything correct? Should
something be changed or do you have suggestions that
maybe the board should hear to help improve how you
information looks on this page or what you would like to see
available on this page in the future? If you are listed on this
page there is a very high chance that someone or many
someones have contacted you because you are listed here.
This is an awesome marketing tool for our members and it is
extremely reasonably priced. We are adding features and
improving the website on a regular basis. Your feedback is
welcome and appreciated please contact one of the board
members today and share your ideas with them.
The MBGA is working hard for you. This year you have
elected new board members Lisa and Tim Stack and Kelli
Davis who are dedicating one and a half hours per month on
Please see The Inside Scoop on page 6
Page 2
Boer Goat News
Boer Goat Pictures Submitted By Terri Fryman
Normal Goat Health Information
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Temperature = 102.5 - 104 - This varies
depending on the temperature of the goat's
surroundings.
Pulse rate = 70 - 80 beats per minute
Respiration =15 to 30 per minute
Rumen (stomach) movements = 1 - 1.5 per
minute
Puberty = 7 weeks - 8 months (separate
bucks from does at 2 month)
Estrus/Heat Cycle = 17 to 23 days
Gestation = 143 to 155 days
Life span:
o Does = 11-12 years average age,
but... usually the death in does is
kidding related. Does that are
"retired" from breeding around age
“Calling all MBGA Members… If you haven’t
been on the website lately I challenge you to
go there before March 10 2012.”
•
10 live longer: 16-18 years (and I
just recently found a doe who was
24; she was retired from kidding at
age 10).
o Wethers = 11-16 years average age
o Bucks = 8-10 average age - bucks
usually live shorter lives than does
and wethers due to the stresses of
going into rut each year.
Full growth size: Most goats do not reach
their full size until they are about three
years of age. (They keep growing for
about three years)
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm
Page 3
Boer Goat News
Featured Member
By Crista Crawford
Big Dreams
At 20 years old I know exactly what I want from the goat industry and slowly but
surely Anitophia Acres is getting there. Growing up on a dairy farm I always knew
what I didn’t want, to milk cows. I always had a love for animals but not a
particular species until my mother purchased about 15 percentages Boer does.
We began raising market wethers for our surrounding fairs and I began to grow a
passion for these animals. Coming to college I was planning to be a vet with a
small goat farm on the side. After being at MSU for a semester and seeing the
lack of respect for the goat industry I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted
to create a positive recognizable name for the Michigan Meat goat industry.
Starting Out
Goats have always been a part of Anitophia Acres but just recently have they
been proving their importance. My entire life goats have always been around but
always as a secondary interest. As my herd size grew so did my passion, each
pushing the other to become greater and greater. As I succeeded at my local fair
many outside forces pushed our farm to grow. People wanted goats from me and
to make that happen we had to grow. Currently we are up to 50 goats. We kidded
22 does to produce 38 kids this year but I’m not stopping here.
Expansion
Farming has always been something I want to do but I don’t want to make it a
hobby I want to make it my job. Over the next 10 years I would like to greatly
expand Anitophia Acres into a large commercial operation. I would like to kid
between 500-1000 does yearly, eventually grow to become the largest
commercial herd in the Midwest. Not only do I want to make a name for the
Michigan Boer Goat Industry but also for myself.
Page 4
Boer Goat News
Protection
While expanding the need for protection for my goats will become even more
crucial than it already is. After seeing what livestock protection dogs can do I will
never raise small animals without them. Anitophia Acres has 3 protection dogs
that have accomplished some amazing feats. Not only have they chased
countless number of coyotes to the other side of the fence but they have also
killed a large number of small rodents and predators, including a bobcat! But it’s
not only the predators these dogs keep away, it is also deer. Many people may
not find deer to be a threat but when they are eating the pasture or hay they are
eating away profits. Deer also carry the meningeal worm which can cause
serious problems for goats.
Higgans, our first Great Pyrenees keeping an eye on his herd.
Knowledge
Not only would I like to expand the size of my farm but I would also like to
increase my own personal skills. I would like to learn how to artificially inseminate
goats and do breeding for other farms as a side job. I would also like to know
more about genetics and how to produce more colorful kids. Goats all have
individual personalities and I believe they should have individual looks. When I
look out into my field I do not want to see any goats that look alike, I want an
explosion of color. Anitophia Acres may be a small hobby farm now but someday
down the road it will be the largest meat goat farm in the Midwest.
Thank you to the MBGA for awarding me scholarships the past 3 years to
continue and my education and for also believing in my dreams.
Boer Goat News
Page 5
MBGA Wether Series
for the youth that look forward to it each summer. If you are
interested in sponsoring our event this year please contact one
By Tina Esham
This year’s series is a work in progress. The show committee has of the show committee members and we will get you all the
information that you need including our non for profit Tax ID
heard from almost all of the shows from last year with their
number so that your donation is 100% tax deductible. Also by
dates. We have gotten show bills already from some and are
st
April 1 2012 all the forms and show information will be
working on getting the rules updated, the entry form updated,
posted on the MBGA website; it is a great resource for all our
sponsor forms mailed out and a letter to the MBGA
members!
membership. The invention on the teleconference is greatly
improving the efficiency and ability to be able to put on a state
wide event.
Again this year we are striving to sanction eight shows for the
series. Last year we had two shows on the same day and the
committee has decided to only sanction one show per day. So
at the membership meeting in March we will be doing a
rd
drawing to see which show we sanction on June 3 2012. This
means we have room for one more show. There have been
some inquiries in the past so hopefully we will have a new show
to add to our list of shows this year.
Once again we would like to thank all of our past sponsors
because without you we cannot continue to put this event on
IMO – Internet Marketing
By Frank Welling
In My Opinion, having an internet presence is a
necessary marketing tool in today’s high-tech
environment. More and more, potential customers
are turning to the internet to search for breeding
goats and market project goats.
Advertising on such sites as BestFarmBuys,
Hoobly, and Craigslist can generate inquiries, and
often sales, but unless your ad has a link to a
website, these “for sale” sites can also generate
more work for you. Typically, you are limited as to
how much information you can list, including
photos. My experience with the three sales listings
sites is that customers will contact you wanting
more information, and especially more pictures.
That often means snapping more photos, and
attaching them to emails as replies to many kinds
of questions those potential customers like to ask.
And doing it over and over again. Sound familiar?
Can you blame them? You may be a 3 or 4 hour
drive away, and no one wants to spend 6 to 8 hours
round trip to end up finding out that what you have
for sale is not what they want. If a potential
customer cannot glean a lot of information from a
For Sale ad and are some distance away, they may
look elsewhere. You and I have probably done the
same thing.
A website can be set up in a very short time, and is
one of the best marketing tools you can have (in
addition to quality brood stock). And the cost
ranges from free to $10/month. Go to your
internet search engine, such as Internet Explorer,
Google, or others, and type in free web hosting or
website design. Homestead.com, Ipage, Intuit, and
others offer free website design and set-up with a
low monthly fee thereafter. Freewebs.com, as its
name implies, does not require monthly fees.
Or you may have a techy friend who can help you
set up a website.
I chose to go with Yahoo Small Business web
hosting, because I liked the choice of backgrounds
and the ease of up-loading photos. I can also
Please see IMO Internet Marketing on page 6
Page 6
Boer Goat News
The Inside Scoop - from page 1
a scheduled conference call. They and the previously elected
board members Karen Ibarra, Mike Birsen, Terri Fryman,
Tammy Spicer and myself have dedicated and marked our
calendars to be on the phone the third Thursday of each
month to grow and improve this association on a monthly
basis. We have tons of great information to bring to you on
March 10 2012 at 1:30pm at MSU during the goat days.
Please mark your calendar and plan to be there as this is
your opportunity as a member to get involved in the great
things we are doing!
Some things that are happening are the newsletter (I am
doing my best to stay on track with that… but I need your
help- pictures articles information – please send to me). The
Cass County Goat Expo, Terri is working extremely hard to
bring an educational and fun two days to our youth and to
our membership. It will kick off with the showmanship and
market goat show followed by MBGA’s Spring Goat Sale,
followed by a dinner and Membership meeting all on
Saturday. Sunday will be a day full of education for the
membership and youth with demo’s booths and vendors.
We need volunteers to help with putting on this big event so if
you plan to be there please contact Terri and let her know you are
willing to help! Please see the website for forms and additional
information. 2012 Membership Calendars if you are a new or
renewed member for 2012 you should have your calendar to help
keep you organized with all your goat related events! 2012 MBGA
Wether Series the show committee this year has stepped up to
the plate to offer a series that is going to keep our youths striving
for improvement. Michele Klingaman, Wendy Walters, Lindsay
Harmon, Terri Fryman and I are working hard on getting the series
organize and energized with shows and awards our youth will look
forward to all summer long. 2012 Goat Roast and Annual Meeting
will be hosted by Bob and Beverly Esham (ESS Boer Goats) and us
(Esham Family Farm) we are working on getting the agenda
published a speaker/demo and all the details to have a great
celebration of our association and what brings us all together –
goats! And last but not least Goat Days at MSU. MEAEP will be
there upon MBGA request to educate our membership on how to
get recognized for what you are already doing. Please feel free to
visit their website to learn more and be there with us from 9:00
am to 11:30 to start your Phase 1 training. Their website is on our
links page or www.MEAEP.org.
MarketingIMO Internet Marketing
- from page 5
update as often as I like, and there is no other
advertising on my website (other than my own!)
The free websites contain advertising which may or
may not be good. I can change the format of each
web page, add & delete pages, and am not limited
by how big the website can be.
Most web site hosts will publish your website to
the major search engine providers, such as MSN,
Google, and Yahoo, so that when potential
customers type in Boer Goats for Sale, your
website link pops up. I don’t mean to plug Yahoo,
because there are other providers that are as good
or better.
A picture is truly worth a thousand words. I rarely
get requests for photos anymore, because visitors
can visit my website and see what is for sale, as
well as to view photos of the sire and dam. Many
Boer breeders will also have pedigrees on their
website to look at. The more photos you have, the
better.
The disadvantages of a website? That includes
teaching yourself a little photography with a digital
camera and purchasing the software to run it. There is
also the need to update your website pages at reasonable
intervals. And the risk of attracting unwanted emails.
Many breeders like Facebook to advertise, but again, you
are limited in what you can list on your Facebook page.
These “social media” sites also require very frequent updating and responding to inquiries. A good website and
email link is much better, in my opinion, unless you like to
spend hours and hours every week “chatting.” You have
worked hard to build a quality meat goat herd. Get a
website going and showcase it to the world. And improve
your bottom line.
My website gets a lot of “hits” because of my listing as a
member of the MBGA - often 20-30 per day. If you are an
MBGA member, get your website going and generate a
good customer base for repeat sales. If you don’t have a
website, you are losing sales to the breeders who do!
Page 7
Boer Goat News
****MBGA Members – There are WAY too many
articles by me Tina Esham this quarter – PLEASE
send me articles so you don’t have to listen to my
ramblings in the next Boer Goat News!
**** IMO – Internet Marketing - is an article
created for feedback and we need YOURS please
send you responses to Frank Welling
Welling at:
countryboy777@frontier.com
Thank you to all the members who
participated in this month’s
Newsletter!
I couldn’t have done it with out you!
Please send me emails or drop a note
in the snail mail to me anytime!
Membership Dues:
Membership with the MBGA run
Jan 1st to December 31st
Re-Enrolling members need to have their
membership renewed by January 31st in
order to continue their member listing on
the MBGA website – the Website will be
updated the 1st of February
Membership benefits
*** Member listing on website
*** Quarterly Newsletter
*** Advertising on website
*** Youth scholarships
*** Youth wether series
*** Opportunities and events to mingle with
fellow goat lovers
Newsletter@boergoat.org
Or
eshamfamilyfarm@live.com
The Editor’s Corner
By Tina Esham
I hope this quarter’s newsletter finds you
gazing at your kid crop anticipating what
they will look like when the weigh 70 to 90
pounds. I have so many thoughts to share I
don’t know where to start. Most of you
know that we have been kidding since
October and we are complete now as of
th
February 12 until October of this year. We
had a total of 35 kids hit the ground during
this time.
We were very fortunate to be able to attend
the 2012 Shepherd’s Weekend in Lansing
MI. Of course it was not without kids being
born while we were there. Denny my
husband was home due to his work schedule
and was there just in time to catch a pair of
twins being born at our place and then a pair
of twins being born at our mom and dad’s
farm. I apologize to those of you who were
in the session when I was checking my phone for
texts and pictures of my newborns… It’s hard to
be mom away from her herd in such a time, but it
was worlds of benefit. We all hear many things
over and over but for most of us it’s that one time
when the light bulb goes on.
Record keeping was one of Dr. Andries topics and
it hit home with me. I have had an awesome
software program that I have been playing with
since I purchased it in 2010. It is by Lions Edge
Technologies, it may not be what everyone is
looking for but for my herd and me it works. It is
very affordable and once you get to using it, your
potential in your herd comes right in front of your
face.
“My website gets a lot of
“hits” because of my
listing as a member of
the MBGA - often 20-30
per day. If you are an
MBGA member, get your
website going and
generate a good
customer base for repeat
sales.”
If you are anything like me you start to worry
about one thing and it starts to consume you and
Please see The Editor’s Corner on page 8
Editor’s Corner from page 5
MBGA Newsletter
58 N Concord Rd
Albion, MI 49224
Phone:
517-795-5386
Fax:
888-432-9191
E-Mail:
newsletter@michiganboergoat.org
Getting News & Events
to you!
We’re on the Web!
Visit us at:
www.michiganboergoat.org
get you down but there are so many aspects of our herds that with this
software you can reference what is in your mind. For example this year
it seemed like we had tons of single born kids and that it was affecting
our goal of production numbers. But when I took a moment to sit down
at my computer and study my information it hit me in the face. We are
no worse off than last year; we produced 4 single born kids last year as
we did again this year. And then I was able to see that my doe kids are
actually producing twins on their first freshening this year so I am
actually making progress. So record keeping is essential and if you are
just starting to build your herd don’t do it blind make a small investment
that is going to get you closer to profitability faster. If you have done this
for years…. On paper; you know who you are, you can tie all the good
information together and make yourself smile when you think you have
a problem. I highly recommend their Goat Ranch Management software
and if you are interested visit their website and learn more and let them
know I recommended it!
This association is growing stronger every day and I just want to thank
those who are making it happen and invite you to get involved. You have
experiences that will benefit this association. Please visit the website to
see all that is going on and mark your calendar to be at Goat Days for
th
our membership meeting March 10 @ 1:30 pm. Can’t wait to see you
there!
MBGA Newsletter
58 N Concord Rd
Albion, MI 49224
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