I disagree. On the contrary, there's pretty much no evidence that goat vaccines are of any use. CL: There's already a vaccine on the market (has been for years) and even the manufacturer admits it's pretty much useless, because CL is a disease much like the flu with different strains. You CAN get an autogenous vaccine made (I think the company is PL labs or something like that) but it costs $300. That is actually very effective. But CL isn't a disease that really kills goats very often, anyway, it's more of a nuisance. I know of no effective pneumonia vaccine either because pneumonia is frequently an opportunistic infection of the lungs caused by numerous organisms. I've never had a case of pneumonia in my goats in five years, despite all kinds of crazy buying, selling and trading of goats.... that's because my goats are healthy. There's no vaccine for Johnnes. There's no vaccine for CAE. There's no vaccine for listeriosis (I don't think?) or for goat polio. Those are all the big killers of goats, except , of course, for the clostidium (sp?) caused by overeating. The CDT vaccine is ineffective, with only minimal protection offered, and that particular vaccine DOES have a history of causing adverse reactions in goats. Way smarter to have the C&D anti-toxin on hand in the event your goat breaks into the grain bin (along with baking soda, etc). Really, I know of two big breeders, with herds over 200 , who do not vaccinate their goats for anything. I know of one large 70-goat dairy that doesn't vaccinate as well. Human vaccines are far safer and more effective (and some of those are really iffy, too).

Try this Here is a link that might be useful: nigerian dwarf goat

I would recommend you take that gun class before you buy the BB gun. You will get lots of information and you may change your mind about what to get. In my opinion, I would never shoot a dog with a BB gun. It's not enough to kill it quickly and humanly, but it is enough to wound it and make it dangerous and it may suffer a long time and finally die. BB guns are fun for plinking, but I would not shoot at anything living with one. I would consider that cruel. If you want to scare them perhapses a pain ball gun. Then if you hit the culprit, you can catch him "red handed" or red painted in this case. The owner would be liable for damages in our state. Not sure what your laws are. A pain ball at close range can leave bruises, so it can hurt them but not permanent injury. I'm sure someone will have an anecdotal story about someone who suffered a permanent injury from a paint ball, but not normally, it's very rare and especially at a range of more than 5 feet. If the dog is closer than 5 feet, you are probably being attacked yourself and you have a bigger problem. The other option is a shot gun. This has been the home protection choice of country folk for more than a century. You can choose a shell that is appropriate to the problem including less than lethal or lethal ammunition. and the shot will not travel far. Even a bb will travel quite a ways and could hit something past your target you didn't mean to hit. You still have to think about what is past your target, but shot will not travel far and does a job at close range. Anni Oakley get your gun. Yeehaaaa Be sure it is LEGAL to use lethal force on dogs to protect your livestock. In the city limits where I live, it is NOT legal to discharge a firearm of any sort, except in self defense.

I got this from another posting on this forum. RE: cheapest land per acre in the U.S.A. clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by argamonius (My Page) on Thu, Sep 4, 08 at 14:12 In response to Farmfreedom, boargoats (meat goats) free range mostly with just enough grain so they come running when i ring the bell for feedtime, otherwise I'd have to use the dog. I'm still working out the details for venture capital into an expanded operation of freerange chevon(7-12mon old) and cabrito(3-6mon old) satelite farm. Mexico border land may have poeple cutting through to get to the US or worse Mexico. Drugs, coyotes, immigrants, criminals, minutemen :P I presumme you want solidtude with little oversite, and loose permit building. In Fl they only check on permits for building in the county if a neighbors calls it in. Saw a site billyland.com that offers pretty loose financing. I believe it falls in the reverse auction cat. which may be another option for you. You bid the downpayment for the land you want. I haven't waded through my email yet, so i don't know your parameters for the min land requirements. Other then cheapest possible. o RE: cheapest land per acre in the U.S.A. clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by farmfreedom (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 08 at 12:29 My requirements for land are pretty much "NO LIABILITES" and I want as much as I can get in acreage as possible for the money . Minimum size would be 10 acres . I have no problem with the U.S. LAND along the Mexican border . An Ibex can jump 40 feet in a single bound perhaps this will give the coyotes something to deal with maybe you should breed some in to your stock . I was glad to hear that there are no land taxes in Texas do they tax buildings? How about other property ? o RE: cheapest land per acre in the U.S.A. clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by argamonius (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 08 at 18:11 well theres 10-20 acres in az and nm for about 1500.00 -2500.00. that cheap enough? I don't think you can raise animals there for lack of forage land, goats can survive on weeds and brush if needed. Haven't looked into Ibex, but i'm sure I wouldn't want my goats jumping 40ft lol. depending on your needs (crops,livestock,ect) you want to spend a bit more for passable forageland or grazing land and start some goats, which will fertilize the area pretty well, thier excrement is small round pellets and melt well enough in regular rainfalls, keep your numbers to about 3 to an acre so the children (ave of 2-3 per fem) will have edible forage. after about 4-5mon sell the kids and bank the money for better or larger lands, keep moving up until you reach your max (what you can handle solo) the billyland site has easy terms, just bid the downpayment, then pay the monthly until you sell the first round of kids, and then pay off the balance. then use the land to trade up after the second round of kids are sold. Its good enough for Abraham :P Locate a sattelitte farming company and when you find your land ask them if they are willing to pick up animals, if your first round is small enough you could even go into town with them and sell them to an ethnic meats butcher/processor theres one in just about every big city in america, you'd be surprised to learn that about 25% of americans have ethnic dishes and/or religious feasts where the central component is a goat/kid (usually kids). Use the 3 goats to an acre model, and continually sell the kids, males first keep females if you lose any or wish to increase a bit, but don't let them eat too much of the forage and grass, for a couple months you may need to feed them quality hay (winter) and grains with minerals. If they start showing signs of getting worms or diarea,(easy enough to spot since they sorta quarintine themselves) give them a dewormer and feed them dannon yogurt with the immunitas stuff in it. In a year or so you'll be unpgrading land and stock, so by an RV and a livestock trailer on the cheap. If theres no river/creek/well on the land, rent a back hoe and make a manmade lake/canal and some live catfish, go fishing for the rest. give the goats a tiny bit of feed when you ring a bell as they grow, then later when you load the goats onto a trailer just ring a bell and walk in with the feed and theyll follow. Of course all this only matters if your interested in goats. As an independant/hermit like person, they are ideal, and the meat is ultra lean. Some parts of 3-4mon yr old kids sell in the market for about 24.00/lb though if you raise them you'll only get about 100-130.oo live wieght per kid or 1.10/lb live wieght depending on who you sell to. During religous feast the right kind of kid can sell for 200.00 each, selling direct to the person. chew on that :P p.s Greek,Jamaican,Muslim,Jewish,Mexican,Asian,are just a few nationalities and ethnic groups with a need for kid meat, or big smelly bucks in the case of Jamaican and South Pacific groups. p.s.s I got a 25,000.00 slot for venture capitalists if anyone is interested. Five year balloon payment is 50,000. 25k in 50k out, simple