Welcome to the Penn State Cooperative Extension Meat Goat Home Study Course! Lesson materials are available any time, although the course is run during the winter. Simply click on the topic title under each lesson and you will go directly to the material to read. You may read the material on screen or print it out for future reference.

The next course is scheduled to begin on February 4, 2009. Click here for more information about the course. To sign up for the course, complete the registration form and mail to the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office in Bedford County. Registration deadline is January 26, 2009.

Lesson 1: Basic Production Information

• General Overview of Meat Goat Production
• Selecting Meat Goats
• Determining The Age of an Animal
• Tattooing Goat

Lesson 4: Health

• The Normal Goat
• Foot Rot
• Internal Parasites
• Scrapie
• Castration
• Miscellaneous Health Issues
• Disbudding Young Kids
• Producer Responsibilities for Scrapie Eradication

Lesson 2: Reproduction

• Body Condition Scoring
• Billy Soundness
• Flushing Nannies
• Breeding and Kidding Management
• The Process of Kidding

Lesson 5: Marketing

• What Is A Marketing Plan and How Do I Develop One?
• Marketing Meat Animals Directly to Consumers
• Goat and Lamb Holidays

Lesson 3: Nutrition

• Basic Ration Balancing
• Feeding the Doe
• Feeding the Market Kid
• Feeding the Billy
• Grazing Alfalfa
• Strategies for Extending the Grazing Season
• Four Steps to Rotational Grazing

Lesson 6: Financial Information

• Farm Business Analysis
• Enterprise Budget Analysis
• Meat Goat Production