About the Author

Karen Kopf

Karen Kopf and her husband Dale own Kopf Canyon Ranch in Troy, Idaho. They enjoy "goating" together and helping others goat. They raise Kikos primarily, but are experimenting with crosses for their new favorite goating experience: pack goats! You can learn more about them at Kopf Canyon Ranch on Facebook or kikogoats.org
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Articles by Karen Kopf

Goat Care During Fire Season
October 4, 2022 · · Health

When raising goats, prepare for many seasons: breeding season, kidding season, show season, winter — and for many in the western states, FIRE season.

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Goat Lice: Are Your Goats Lousy?
September 14, 2022 · · Health

The thought of goat lice may make your skin crawl but they’re common in the winter months. Learn how to identify and treat these pests.

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What to Do for a Goat Horn Injury
July 17, 2022 · · Health

Horns crack, chip, and break. Depending on where in the horn this occurs, a goat horn injury can range from unremarkable to life-threatening.

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Are You Feeding Straw or Hay for Goats?
July 13, 2022 · · Feed & Housing

If you dread choosing hay for goats, you are not alone … there is much to know about what to feed goats.

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Listeriosis in Goats: Dangers of Feeding Moldy Hay
June 10, 2022 · · Feed & Housing

Circling Disease and Silage Sickness are other names for listeriosis in goats, commonly associated with feeding moldy hay.

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The Fear of Fescue Hay
June 7, 2022 · · Feed & Housing

Red bag, abortions, thickened placentas, founder, necrosis, failure to freshen — all are symptoms of fescue toxicity … and yet tall fescue is one of the most common forages for livestock in both pasture and baled grass hay.

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The Dangers of Imprinting
April 13, 2022 · · Members Only, Ownership

Sometimes, circumstances make artificially raising a kid goat best for the kid or the dam. It is essential that when we raise a baby of another species, we consider the risk of imprinting.

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Goat Prolapses and Placentas
April 4, 2022 · · Health

There are things we expect to come out of a doe at kidding — and things we expect to stay in. Sometimes the unexpected occurs. Like a goat prolapse.

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Boy Bands are Back! Banding Goats 101
March 29, 2022 · · Health

Banding goats is how to castrate males that will not be used as bucks. Timely banding can be the safest, least intrusive way to accomplish castration.

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Kidding Oddities
March 21, 2022 · · Health, Members Only

Why do goat birth defects happen? Unexpected outcomes range from unusual to unsustainable deformities in rare cases.

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