Guide
Goat health calendar
A simple care plan for goats in Homa Bay County, season by season. Follow the rains rather than the dates: when the rain comes early or late, move the plan with it.
Long rains
About March to May
- Deworm at the start of the rains, when worms start to spread on wet ground. Check inside the lower eyelid first: pale pink or white means a heavy worm load.
- Trim hooves and keep the pen floor dry. Wet ground brings foot rot: limping and a bad smell between the toes.
- Check for ticks every week as the grass grows, and treat with a tick spray or dip.
- Watch kids for coughing and runny noses on cold, wet nights. Keep the house dry and out of the wind.
- Cut and dry extra fodder while it grows fast, to store for the dry months.
Long dry season
About June to September
- Give clean water every day. Goats drink more as browse dries out.
- Put out a salt or mineral lick. Dry browse is low in minerals.
- Feed the stored hay and fodder when browse runs short, and keep an eye on body condition.
- Check eyelids and deworm only the goats that need it. Dry months are when weak goats lose most condition.
- Plan breeding: goats carry their kids for about five months, so a doe served now kids around the short rains, when browse returns.
Short rains
About October to December
- Deworm again at the start of the rains, after checking eyelids.
- Trim hooves and check feet. Ticks come back with the grass.
- Give kids born now a dry, clean place to sleep, and make sure each one drinks its mother's first milk in the first hours.
- Move goats onto fresh browse slowly. A sudden change to lush green feed can cause bloat and enterotoxaemia.
- Serve does now for kids around the long rains, about five months on.
Short dry season
About January to February
- Water every day, minerals out, stored feed when browse runs short.
- Repair the goat house and fences before the long rains.
- Sell or cull goats that did not do well through the year, before the next dry season.
Every month
- Look at every goat: eyes, nose, coat, droppings and the way it walks.
- Feel body condition along the back and ribs.
- Write down births, deaths, sales, treatments and vaccines with the date and the goat's tag.
Vaccines
The main goat vaccines in Kenya protect against PPR (goat plague), CCPP (a lung disease), enterotoxaemia, and sheep and goat pox. Which ones you need, and when, depends on what is going round in your area.
Ask the county veterinary office or your local vet. Many vaccines are given in county campaigns, often for free or at low cost, so ask when the next one is.
Call a vet when
- A goat stops eating or drinking, or lies apart from the herd.
- Several goats get sick at once, or one dies suddenly.
- A goat has diarrhoea with blood, a swollen belly, or laboured breathing.
- A doe strains to kid for more than half an hour without progress.
This calendar is general guidance from a working goat farm, not a vet's prescription. Follow your vet's advice for your own goats.
Ask us anything about goats
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