'The Goat Man' is no kid for wise advice

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Dr. Frank Pinkerton shares his knowledge, and humorous stories, about goat production. -- Staff photo by Poehl

August 26, 2004 - Dr. Frank Pinkerton, a retired Extension goat specialist and humorous speaker, has studied goats since the late seventies. Being an expert on everything from meat goat production and marketing, to goat history to goat feed, his nickname is The Goat Man.

Dr. Pinkerton spoke about goat management at the Goat Works Seminar at Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield, Aug. 18. He began by talking about the most common mistakes people make when raising goats. First, they tend to start too big or try to get too big too fast, he said. People also tend to begin goat operations too early. "They will get the goats on-site before they have sufficient fencing, facilities, supplemental feed and parasite programs," Pinkerton said.

When speaking about getting rid of parasites (worming), Pinkerton suggests using more than what is recommended.

"If I have a kid, I will give him two times the recommendation. If I have a nanny, I will give her about two and a half times what is needed. I'll probably give an adult male five times as much as he needs," Pinkerton said. "I may poison them, but I need to drown that stuff."

Beyond establishing basic animal health, Pinkerton said determining the purpose of the goat herd was an important element of starting up a goat operation. Among the different herd options, a potential goat rancher will need to deal with each element on the basis of variable levels of financial commitments, different physical resources and diverse management strategies, he said.

Depending on what type of goat is being raised, the goat's diet will vary. However, Pinkerton said that all goats require the same basic nutrients- protein, energy, minerals, vitamins and water.

Meat goats, he said, typically depend on forages to meet their nutritional needs. Meat goats usually prefer to browse on brush 60 percent of the time and eat grass for the other 40 percent of their diets.

"You've got to ask yourself, 'How did the goat make it the many years before Purina came along?'" Pinkerton said. "A goat needs a minimal amount of protein, because they mostly grow up eating brush."

If goats eat more protein than what is needed, it will be turned into energy and ammonia.

". . . and ammonia means every time he pees, there goes your money," Pinkerton laughed. "So, feeding your goat 20 percent protein won't make it grow any faster."

He suggests buying the cheapest goat feed you can find, when buying food for goats.

"Don't you believe that when you're buying the feed that you are getting the same stuff every day. They'll mix the food at the cheapest rations they have," Pinkerton explained. "Feed factories read a little card before mixing the food. It used to take a minute and a half to read the card for each mixture, but now it takes seven seconds to read the card that determines the mixture of the food. It ends up being the cheapest blend they've got in their warehouse that day."

The carbohydrates that a goat needs can come from starches, fiber, fats or excess proteins. Pinkerton said if the fiber content in goat feed is over 17 percent, then "there is something else in there."

Most people use block salts for their trace minerals.

Pinkerton said, "Your goat doesn't need it, but he sure does like it. We don't even know what mineral requirements goats need."

In conclusion, Pinkerton said, "The only thing I know of that costs more than feed and wormer - is penicillin. And the bottle and the shipping is more expensive than the medicine itself."