About the Author
Karen Kopf
Articles by Karen Kopf
Goats and Contracts
We’ve bought goats with contracts, and we’ve bought goats without. Of all of the goats we’ve sold, we’ve done well with just a basic bill of sale with a few terms … except for the times we didn’t.
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Conceiving Bucklings vs. Doelings
Have you ever wondered why some years, some sires — or even some dams — produce more of one gender than others? Can certain management practices favor one over the other — or is it random? Is one more desirable than the other in the goat world?
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Biosecurity and Goat Husbandry: What You Should Know About M. ovipneumoniae
Add to Favorites By Karen Kopf – At Kopf Canyon Ranch, just outside of Moscow, Idaho, we raise Kiko goats for meat and breeding stock. Our goat husbandry practice is to …
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Listeriosis in Goats: Dangers of Feeding Moldy Hay
Circling Disease and Silage Sickness are other names for listeriosis in goats, commonly associated with feeding moldy hay.
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Are You Feeding Straw or Hay for Goats?
If you dread choosing hay for goats, you are not alone … there is much to know about what to feed goats.
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The Fear of Fescue
Red bag, abortions, thickened placentas, founder, necrosis, failure to freshen — all are symptoms of fescue toxicity … and yet tall fescue is one of the most common forages for livestock in both pasture and baled grass hay.
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Johne’s, CAE, and CL Testing for Goats: Serology 101
The “why” of blood testing is easy. CAE and CL testing for goats allows us to control diseases. The “what” is a question unanswered for many: What do serology tests do? What don’t they do? What should we do with the results?
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The Heritability of Udder Traits
Many udder traits are hereditary. Ideally, selection occurs when choosing a buck and doe for breeding. Neither should have undesirable traits.
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Bucks with Bags!
Yes, you read that right! Bucks can have udders — and some even produce milk! While it may seem unsettling — even freakish — it isn’t new or even rare.
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Boy Bands are Back! Banding Goats 101
Banding goats … it is how we castrate males that will not be used as bucks. Using a tool called an elastrator, a thick rubber band (green Cheerio) is placed on the scrotum above the testes, eliminating blood flow, so that the testicles stop developing, shrivel, and fall off.
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