Cheryl K. Smith

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.

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.

Grooming a goat is pretty basic, and keeping a goat's hooves trimmed is one of the easiest, least expensive, and most important parts of goat care. Regular trimming takes very little time and cuts down on health care expenses in the long term. How often you trim depends on each goat and the conditions it lives in.

Goats will eat almost anything, but you must guard against your goats eating poisonous plants. Goats ignore poisonous plants most of the time, but because of their need to browse, they may try them just for variety.Whether a goat that eats a poisonous plant shows signs of poisoning depends on how much of the plant it eats, what part of the plant it eats, the condition of the plant (fresh or dried), the time of year, and the size and health of the goat.

Removing the horns from a baby goat is called disbudding, or dehorning. The process of disbudding a kid (baby goat) burns through the skin and horn bud, stopping the blood supply to the horn buds and causing them to eventually fall off, if all goes well. If they do grow back, the partial horns are called scurs.

Although you probably are excited to buy goats and bring them home, taking some precautions to make sure that you get healthy goats is an important first step. After you have determined what kind of goats you want and how you intend to use them, you can eliminate goats from consideration by asking the following questions: Are your goats registered?

Your goats will let you know when something’s wrong, but you need to recognize the signs. You need to investigate further or begin taking action if you see the following signs of illness: Not chewing cud Not getting up Pressing her head against wall or fence Not eating Feces aren’t pelleted Not