NEW YORK STATE 4-H Meat Goat Breeding Stock DOE KID RECORD BOOK

Name:  ________________________________________________________________

Age: ___________________________________  Birthdate:______________________

Address:_______________________________________ County: _________________

Years in 4-H:  _____ Name of 4-H Club: _____________________________________

Name of 4-H Leader: ____________________________________________________

Project start date: ___________________      Project end date:_____________________

RECORDS AT THE START OF MY PROJECT

Start date (lease or purchase date, or in the case of kids that are raised by youth, date when kid was weaned): _______________________________

Purchase price of kid (if raised by youth, use the costs accrued by its dam while raising it, for example, breeding fees, feed required  to support  the pregnancy and nurse the kids, vaccinations for the kids, etc. and divide by the number of kids she raised):_____________________________________

My kid’s name is: ______________________________________________

Registration # (if registered): _____________________________________
Breed: ___________ Horn status:__________ Markings:_______________   

Kid’s permanent id is a ___ tattoo number    ___ scrapie eartag number

The number/code is: _______________ left ear _______________ right ear

Kid’s birth date (use approximation if exact date is unknown): ___________

Birth weight if known: __________ Litter size if known: _______________

At start date, my kid’s

          Age: ______                   Weight:________          

Height (from ground to withers):__________

Length (from point of shoulder to pinbone):___________

Heart girth:_________    Belly (at deepest point):____________

Thigh circumference:___________    Loin length:____________

Picture of Kid at Start Date

GENERAL INFORMATION

My doe kid was weaned at _____ weeks old

My doe kid was ___ disbudded or ___ tipped at ___ weeks old, ___ never

I started teaching her to lead at _____ weeks old

I noticed my doe kid in heat for the first time on _____________________

My doe kid was bred to _________________________________________

on the following dates: _________________________________________

My doe kid is due to kid on approximately: _________________________ 

Some of the new goat skills I learned this year were (for example, calculating a feed ration, identifying different pasture plants, body clipping a goat, drenching a goat, what a goat’s cud looks like, taking a temperature, telling when a doe is in heat, bottle feeding a kid):

_____________________________________________________________

I have eaten goat meat ______  yes _____ no

I have cooked goat meat ______ yes ______ no

If you have tried goat meat, how did it taste to you?

MY DOE KID’S PEDIGREE

Record information about your doe kid’s parents and ancestors on the pedigree form below. You can list the names and registration numbers (if registered) of the goats above each line and any performance information you have about them below the line.  The goat’s scrapie identification number if known can be used for goats that are not registered.

 
HOW IS MY GOAT GROWING?      

( use this page to record the weight of your doe kid)

method of weighing: _____ scale _____ measuring tape

When my kid was shown at the county level, he/she weighed ______ pounds and was ______ weeks old.

RECORDS AT THE END OF MY PROJECT

Finish date: _______________________________

          Age:______          Weight:________

Height (from ground to withers):__________

Length (from point of shoulder to pinbone):___________

Heart girth:_________    Belly (at deepest point):____________

Thigh circumference:___________    Loin length:____________

Picture of Kid at Finish Date or Fair Time

KID’S PERFORMANCE RECORD

Growth results

Pounds of gain (final weight – starting weight): ________

Total pounds of feed fed: ________

Number of days fed: ________

Average daily gain ( lbs of gain divided by # of days fed): _______

Feed efficiency (lbs of feed fed divided by lbs of gain): _________

Total feed costs: _______

Feed cost per pound of gain (feed costs divided by lbs of gain): ________

Show results

Number of goats in class: _____         Place finished: ______

Color of Ribbon: _____________

Showmanship results: __________________________________________      

KID’S FINANCIAL RECORD

1)     Purchase price:           _______              

2)     Feed costs:       _______

3)  Health costs:     _______

4)  Other costs:      _______

5)  Total costs:      _______    

Sale price needed to break even: _______

Market value of kid when project finished: _______

Actual price received if sold: _______

Profit or loss (subtract all costs from either 1) the market value of the kid or 2) the price received if kid was sold) : _________

PROJECT SUMMARY

Approximately how much time did caring for your doe kid take you every day?

What took the most time?

What was the most exciting new thing you learned to do?

What was the hardest thing you learned to do?

What did you enjoy most about your project?

What did you like least about your project?

Is there anything you wish you had done differently to make your project better or more enjoyable?

 What activities did you participate in with your 4-H group?

What things would you like to see your 4-H group do next year?

How did you share your knowledge about goats this year?

The following “HOW TO” SHEETS are included to help you keep track of your expenses and various other records.  Unless your county or 4-H leader requires it, these forms do not need to be included in your project notebook for project evaluations.  However, we recommend that if at all possible you include any of these forms that you do end up using.  This is because they can help an evaluator to understand how you got at your final figures and some of the challenges you had to meet during your project.

Please note – if you keep all your hay, grain and other expenses for your market kid separate from feed and equipment for any other livestock your family owns, you can probably figure out your doe kid’s financial report without using the “how to” sheets.  Instead, take three manila envelopes. Label one each for feed, health expenses, and other expenses.  Every time you buy feed, etc. for your goat put the receipt in the correct envelope.  At the end of your project, tally up the receipts in each envelope and fill out the proper blanks in your kid’s financial report.  However, it is still a good idea to figure out approximately how much hay and grain you offer your kid daily.  Good luck!

“HOW TO” SHEET FOR HEALTH RECORDS

Was your doe kid ever sick? ______ yes            _______ no

          What was your kid sick with?

          What did you do when your kid was sick?

          What sort of medicine did your kid get?

Is there anything you can do to prevent this illness?

Dates of kid’s vaccines and injections

                       Type of shot                         Dates given            Total Cost

_______  Clostridium C & D toxoid  ________   ________   _________

_______  Tetanus toxoid                             ________   ________   _________

_______   Selenium and Vitamin E     ________   ________   _________

_______   Rabies                               ________   ________   _________

_______   ___________________   ________   ________   _________

_______   ___________________   ________   ________   _________

My goat was wormed or treated for coccidia or lice on these dates:

Type of wormer              Dose given                      Dates           Cost

_______________                  ________             _____________   ______

_______________                  ________             _____________   ______

_______________                  ________             _____________   ______

_______________                  ________             _____________   ______

_______________                  ________             _____________   ______

Other health expenses (health certificates, vet calls, vet supplies, etc):

Total health expenses:

“HOW TO” SHEET FOR FEED COSTS

Instructions –

1) Note down the date that you start on a new feed ration.

2) List all the roughages, bag feeds, and concentrates that you feed.

3) Express the amount eaten daily in pounds or tenths of a pound (i.e. ½ lb = .5 lb).

4) To figure out hay consumed, weigh an average bale and calculate how many days it takes to use up a bale. For example, if your hay bales weigh around 40 lbs and your goat goes through a bale in about 10 days, you are using around 4 lbs of hay per day.

5)      To fiqure out cost of hay, take the cost per ton (2000 lbs) and multiply it by the pounds fed daily and then divide this sum by 2000. For example, if you paid $80/ton and use 4 lbs daily, then $80   = X ?, so X = ($80 x 4) divided by 2000 = $320/2000      = $.16 or 16 cents.         2000      4

6)      Or take hay cost per bale multiplied by lbs fed and then divided by average lbs in a bale.  If you pay $1.50 for a 40 lb bale, $1.50/40 = X?/4 , so X =1.50 x 4 /40 =$.15.

7)      If you fed a group of goats together in the same pen, divide the daily feed costs for feeding that pen of animals by the number of kids in the pen.

8)      If you fed pasture, indicate here how you determined the daily cost per goat kid of grazing your pasture._________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

“HOW TO” SHEET TO RECORD OTHER EXPENSES

You can choose to leave out any equipment you buy that can be used for more than one year or else you can depreciate this equipment based on either how many years it can be used for or what it would be worth if you sold it at the end of your project. However, be sure to include on this sheet things like trace mineral salt that your goat will use up during your project.
A good exercise in animal nutrition is to find out the nutritional value of the feed ration that you fed your doe kid the longest.  You can then compare the dry matter, energy, and protein content of your kid’s ration to the NRC Nutritional Requirements for growing goat kids or to the nutrient requirements listed in NY State 4-H meat goat fact sheet # 17.  You can do the same exercise with your kid’s fiber, Ca and P requirements.

“HOW TO” SHEET FOR CALCULATING DRY MATTER (DM) FED

 “HOW TO” SHEET FOR CALCULATING ENERGY FED

What form of energy is being calculated?

            ____ net energy,  ____ digestible energy,  ____  total digestible nutrients

Figures were obtained from ____ feed labels,  ____ feed tables, ____ feed analyses ?

(check all that apply)

“HOW TO” SHEET FOR CALCULATING PROTEIN FED

What form of protein is being calculated?

            ____ digestible protein,  ____ crude protein,  ____  other (______________)

Figures were obtained from ____ feed labels,  ____ feed tables, ____ feed analyses ?

(check all that apply)