NEW YORK STATE 4-H MARKET 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 : _________________________________

Kid’s sex: _______ breed:_________ horn status:_________

Kid’s  permanent id is a ____ tattoo #    ____ eartag #

The number 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 kid was weaned at _____ weeks old 

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

My kid was castrated at about ____ weeks old, ____ never 

          method used? ___ rubber band ___ knife ___ burdizzo

I started teaching my goat kid to lead at _____ weeks old: 

Some of the new goat skills I learned this year were (for example, how to calculate a feed ration, how to identify different pasture plants, how to body clip a goat, how to drench a goat, what a goat’s cud looks like, how to take a temperature): 

Some of the goat skills I taught to other people this year were: 

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?  

HOW IS MY GOAT GROWING?        

(use this page to record the weight of your market kid or breeding stock kid or to weigh your breeding doe’s kids) 

method of weighing: _____ scale  _____ measuring tape 

When my kid was sold or slaughtered, he/she weighed ______ pounds and was ______ weeks old.

RECORDS AT THE END OF MY PROJECT 

  Finish date: ____________

  At finish 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 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 market price received: __________

Profit or loss of market kid: _________ 

PROJECT SUMMARY

Approximately how much time did caring for your market 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 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 goat ever sick? ______ yes              _______ no

What was your goat sick with?

          What did you do when your goat was sick?

          What sort of medicine did your goat get?

          Is there anything you can do to prevent this illness?

Dates of kid's vaccines and injections

         Type of shot                        Dates given            Cost

Clostridium C & D toxoid   _________  ________    ______

Tetanus toxoid                    _________  ________    ______

Selenium and Vitamin E       _________  ________    ______

Rabies                                _________  ________    ______

___________________    _________  ________    ______

___________________    _________  ________    ______

___________________    _________  ________    ______

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

  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 $80/2000 = X /4 , so X = ($80 x 4) divided by 2000 
= $320/2000   = $.16 or 16 cents.

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, for example did you use the property tax cost per acre per year prorated for the number of months your goats actually used the fields, or did you also include fencing costs etc. depreciated over a series of years, or did you use the cost you would have had to pay to lease a comprable pasture from someone else, or????.

“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 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 

What type of "other"? (______________) 

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

(check all that apply)   

Return to: 4-H meat goat project page

Return to: Animal Science Youth Extension Page

Home page: Animal Science at Cornell University