Held at Onion Creek Ranch during the week of October 23 through 28, 2006, GoatCamp2006™ teemed with valuable information for goat producers. Students came from 13 different states and ranged from people who were investigating whether to begin to raise goats to folks who were old hands in the goat business.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, owner of Onion Creek Ranch and GoatCamp™, and Pat Cotten of Bending Tree Ranch in Arkansas, taught classes on goat behavior and management; fencing, pens, and shelters; goat diseases and how to treat them; and why it is so important to learn to "think like a goat."

Suzanne and Pat also covered breeding issues, including reproductive problems in does and bucks, the all important matter of adaptability, and mating decisions from a producer point of view.

For those wishing to attend, a slaughter demonstration was provided by David Shirley of 100 Oaks Farm in Georgia and Stephanie Wiesen of the Onion Creek Ranch staff. Instructions on how to trim hooves and tattoo were provided by Pat Cotten, and registered nurse, Brenda Shirley, taught students how to give injections properly.

Kent Mills, Livestock Nutritionist with HiPro Feeds, covered in great detail the nutritional needs of goats. Mineral interactions are extremely complex, and Kent gave examples along with the health consequences of mineral, vitamin, protein, energy, and roughage imbalances.

Bill Scott of Ft. Dodge Animal Health discussed his company's products, particularly those relating to internal parasite control. Ft. Dodge is a major manufacturer of livestock medications.

Dan Byfield, President of the American Land Foundation, explained the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and pointed out that it is not about animal health and food safety but rather is about putting small ranchers and farmers out of business while using them to fund big agriculture's attempt to prove to international markets that their products are safe to buy and consume. Dan further discussed the importance of property rights to goat producers and how conservation easements are a huge vehicle for taking these rights away.

Dr. Jim Miller (right), Parasitologist from Louisiana State University, gave an in-depth presentation on internal parasites and taught the FAMACHA method of field-identifying goats with wormloads.

Colorado Serum's Vice President of Marketing, Ed Lehigh, spoke of his firm's long history of developing and manufacturing livestock health products. Ed's company is working towards having a Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL) vaccine for goats available in late 2007.

Dr. Mark Swening of the Coleman Texas Veterinary Clinic (Gasparotto's vet) spoke about goat behavior and how it relates to goat health. Dr. Swening euthanized a terminally-ill goat and did a necropsy for all students to view; he explained the various organs and issues related to this buckling's illness.

Dr. Ken McMillin of Louisiana State University covered goat marketing, including the history of the market and the directions it seems to be going, based upon his in-depth research into this topic as it affects American goat producers. Ken performed body score evaluations of live animals from the Onion Creek Ranch herd. He rated OCR Vinnie, a six-month old Tennessee Meat Goat™ buck, a 1.65 out of a possible score of 1.99 in the top class -- a score which Ken said is extremely high and which he seldom gives to any goat.

Bob Glass of Pan American Vet Lab near Austin, Texas discussed the availability and importance of blood testing for various goat diseases. His lab provides inexpensive tests to producers.

A new feature was added to GoatCamp™ this year. At the request of Louisiana State University, GoatCamp™ provided an Academic GoatCamp™ for three senior-year veterinary students. Eighty percent of vet students nation-wide are women, so three of these ladies attended the last two days of regular GoatCamp™ and stayed over for a full day of individual attention on Saturday, October 28, 2006. Kent Mills of HiPro Feeds returned to provide a class tailored to linking the importance of good nutrition to goat health. On Saturday afternoon, the three vet students and their faculty advisor, Dr. Bruce Olcott, were taken on a pasture tour during which time something like 30 different plants that goats will eat were identified by Kent Mills in one of Onion Creek Ranch's unoccupied pastures.

GoatCamp2007™ will expand individual educational experiences for students. Five to seven students will be taken from classes for a couple of hours each day and will go to the working pen and pastures for more hands-on experiences with goats. See you there!

The Thursday night banquet was once again emcee'd by Texas historian and storyteller Tumbleweed Smith. Tumbleweed handed out certificates of completion to students and entertained students and guests in his own unique Texas style.

Bliss is the magic behind the superb breakfasts, lunches and banquet food she prepared at GoatCamp™ 2006

[GoatCamp™] [Tennessee Meat Goats™] [Myotonic Goats] [TexMaster™ Goats] [Which Breed is Right for You?]
[Ranch History] [The Present & Future] [Registry of Myotonics, Tennessee Meat Goats™ and TexMasters™]
[News & Events] [Articles] [Links] [ChevonTalk Discussion List] [E-Mail] [Home]

All information and photos copyright © Onion Creek Ranch and may not be used without express written permission of Onion Creek Ranch. TENNESSEE MEAT GOAT ™ and TEXMASTER™ are Trademarks of Onion Creek Ranch . All artwork and graphics © DTP, Ink and Onion Creek Ranch.

Site Hosted by Khimaira Web Hosting