Getting your meat kid ready for a show

Take the time to brush your goat several times a week. This will help keep his coat shiny and also help to tame him down. Trim his hooves regularly and time one trimming to be about 7 to 10 days before the show. Check the clipping rules for the show you are showing him at. Usually you want to give your market kid a hair cut (clip him) about two weeks before the show. This way it will be easy for the judge to observe how well he is put together (his conformation) and how well muscled he is. If you wait and do him too close to the show, the clipper marks will show and he will look less smooth and be more susceptible to chilling if the weather turns cold. Also if he going to be slaughtered immediately after the fair, most buyers prefer a goat that has a neat short hair coat rather than one that looks shaved and half naked.

Make sure your goat is clean before you clip him. You can give him a bath with mild detergent first if he is really dirty. Otherwise, brushing should be enough. Use a pair of well oiled, large animal clippers with a blade that will leave his hair about ¼ to ½ “ long (usually a 83AU top blade and a 84AU bottom blade). Run the clippers in the direction his hair grows rather than against it. This means you will usually be running them parallel to his body rather than vertical. Hair below the hocks and knees is usually not shorn (especially with your big clippers!) and you will want to bob the long hairs at the end of his tail. You can use small animal clippers around his eyes, ears, pasterns, and any other sensitive areas.

In contrast, doe kids and mature breeding stock rarely get a complete body clip unless you are doing them many weeks before the show. Instead, they are “cleaned up” along their pasterns, fetlocks, tail area, and brisket. The tail is slicked down and lightly bobbed for a more natural look than for a dairy goat and unsightly hairs along the belly may also be trimmed. The ridge of hair running along the neck of bucks may also be trimmed as well. Small to moderate sized clippers are used fitted with #10 to #30 blades. Some people clip only certain areas and lightly blend the clipped areas into the main body of the goat while others lightly clip the entire goat using various blade sizes and guards.

Once your goat is washed and ready for the show, be sure to bed his stall well so he does not get manure stains.

Keep good records on how your kid is growing to make sure that your kid is getting the right amount of food for his age and build. Make sure your kid gets plenty of exercise to help develop his muscles. It also helps to keep track of his body condition score so you can tell how ready he is for slaughtering for the various goat meat markets. You need to keep in mind that the judge is going to evaluate your goat on how ready for slaughter he appears on show day. Your kid may still be growing rapidly and not quite ready for slaughter on show day. Or you may have a kid that has finished a growth spurt and has started getting too fat or over-finished at show time. If your goat does not show well, try to evaluate what you might want to do differently next time. Remember that there is a lot more to a market kid project than just showing so try not to over emphasize the importance of the show.

Check the show requirements to see what health papers are needed and when your veterinarian has to view the goat to fill out the papers. If you show breeding stock, make sure to get your goat registered with the proper breed association in time to get the registration papers back before the show if the show requires registration papers. Registered goats need to be properly identified by their tattoos while market wethers and unregistered goats need official scrapie eartags or tattoos for identification.