Cheryl K. Smith

If you're new to raising goats in your effort to live sustainably, you may not know that rumination is a good indicator of your goat's health. Because rumination is an essential part of how goats digest food, you can use cud-chewing habits as an indicator of goat health.A ruminating goat is eating and generating heat and energy.

Goats make great pets. And as more and more people look for ways to live sustainably and grow their own food, goats are a wonderful option for raising meat and milk. You can harvest their fleece, as well. Whether you want to raise goats for food or as the smart, lovable pets they can be, you need to know what questions to ask.

Goats are mammals and are similar to other mammals in some ways. But they also have unique features that indicate whether they are healthy, tell you how old they are, and even give clues about their parents. © Milya Shaykh / Shutterstock.com Parts of the body You can own goats and not know the names of parts of their bodies.

The average length of time that a person owns goats is only around five years. One reason is that they have unrealistic expectations of what owning goats requires. So what exactly do you need to understand before becoming a goat owner, and what are some of the common missteps you can avoid? © lakov Filimonov / Shutterstock.

Bringing home goats requires some forethought on your part so that you can keep your goats safe, healthy, and protected from predators. Here’s a glimpse of the projects you need to undertake before you get your goats: Build housing or get current housing ready. Goats need some kind of shelter from the elements and a safe place to bunk down.

If you're raising goats as part of a green lifestyle, you need an overall feeding program to keep your goats at maximal performance, but at times you need to make exceptions for certain goats or categories of goats. Pregnant goats, milking does, kids, and senior goats need special attention and modified diets.

A veterinarian will come out to your farm to do most kinds of tests on your goats. But you can be more sustainable and save money by drawing blood from your goats and sending the samples directly to a lab. Ask your veterinarian or another breeder who is comfortable with drawing blood to show you how they do it, or follow the steps below.

If you're going to raise goats, you need to watch out for common predators in your area, even if you are well within the city. Most of the animals that we traditionally think of as predators, such as wolves and bobcats, are rarely found in the city. But, smaller predators like dogs and birds of prey are much more common.

Part of a green lifestyle may include raising goats. As a goat owner, you need to know how to check your animal’s vital signs. Checking your goat’s temperature, pulse, and respiration can tell you a lot about its overall health. Taking a goat’s temperature Taking a goat’s temperature is easy. You need either a digital or traditional glass thermometer that you can buy from a feed store, a drug store, or a livestock supply catalog.