Published by Millie Bradshaw, MS – Animal Scientist & Rancher
Education
How To
Science
Nature
Ranked in the top 2% of podcasts globally. Are you serious about raising goats but tired of advice that doesn't hold up in real life? Are you adding goats to your ranch or homestead and realizing they require different infrastructure, nutrition, and management than other livestock? Do you want fencing, feeding, and production systems that work under pressure? You're in the right place. I'm Millie Bradshaw, Animal Scientist and rancher. I grew up in the commercial cattle world, earned a Master's Degree in Animal Science, and now run a forage-based meat goat operation integrated with cattle in the high desert. We've built the infrastructure, refined the genetics, managed the forage, and learned firsthand what works — and what fails — when you're responsible for animals in a demanding environment. On Goat Wise, we talk fencing that actually contains goats, feeding and mineral strategies that make sense for your operation, genetics that match your environment and your goals, and the kind of steady decision-making that holds up when conditions aren't ideal. Production-minded livestock management for people who are in this for real. If you're ready to build systems that last, welcome to Goat Wise.
I know this is a goat podcast. But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't tell you what we're doing with our cattle herd, because it's part of the same system, and the philosophy behind the decision is exactly the same philosophy that shaped our goat herd. Today I want to talk about why we're switching to Dexter cattle, how we got here, what we were actually evaluating when we looked at breeds, and why multispecies grazing is central to what we're building at Dry Creek. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 107 | Goats vs. Cattle: The Financial Comparison Nobody's Doing Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures More from the ranch: https://www.drycreekpastures.com This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Yesterday I was watering the goats in town, put fresh water in the trough, one of the does took a drink, and right after she drank, she did the flehmen response. That funny lip curl. No bucks around. Middle of July. Not breeding season. And I realized I didn't actually know what was going on. I thought I did. So, I looked it up. Today I want to tell you what the flehmen response actually is, because it turns out it's a lot more interesting than most of us think. Let's get to it. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures More from the ranch: https://www.drycreekpastures.com This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
A couple of weeks ago in Episode 117 I talked about how our market evolved away from the sale barn. Today I want to talk about why the auction can be a great place for meat goat producers to start selling their goats, and for a lot of producers it's the right long-term market. Today I want to talk about how to use the sale barn well, the research, the timing, the relationship building, what to do when you pull in, and what I learned over several years selling this way. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 117 | Selling Meat Goats: From Sale Barn Auctions to a Waitlist 11 | Should I Tag My Goats? What You Need to Know About Government Requirements and How to Use Tagging to Benefit Your Herd 50 | Get Ready for Kidding: Order Your Tags in 4 Easy Steps Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures More from the ranch: https://www.drycreekpastures.com This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're talking about heat management in goats, the basics that actually matter, what I learned during one brutal kidding season, some coat science that surprised me, and a practical tool I wish I'd had sooner. I’m also going to tell you about the time I dunked a kid in a water trough. Let's get to it. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures More from the ranch: https://www.drycreekpastures.com This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today I want to tell you how our goat market evolved from sale barn auctions to direct-to-consumer meat sales to something I stumbled into sort of by accident that turned out to be a much better fit for the goats we've been raising. There's a mental block I had to work through in there too, and I think a lot of producers run into the same one. Let's get to it. Mentions: Idaho Goat Grazers (Zak) VS Goat Grazing (Virgil) Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Back in Episode 46, I talked about early versus late banding of buck kids. We went through the full debate, the urinary calculi argument, the research, all of it, and I reported on a small test group we'd banded at birth. I said I'd follow up when we did it at scale. We've now done it at scale, and this is that follow-up. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 46 | Early Banding vs Late Banding in Buck Kids: Will Your Goats Be Healthy if You Band Them Early? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
This is a question I get asked a lot, and honestly, one I've wondered about myself for a long time. Freemartinism is something every cattle producer knows about, a female born twin to a male that ends up sterile. But you almost never hear about it in goats. Today I want to get to the bottom of why that is, because the answer isn't that goats are immune to it. It comes down to anatomy, and it's actually pretty interesting once you understand what's happening. Let's get to it. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Our NoFence collars showed up on Friday, shipped all the way from Norway, and they've been sitting in boxes since they got here. Today I want to talk about why we finally pulled the trigger on virtual fence after years of waiting, what it opens up for us, including over two hundred acres of brush ground we've barely been able to touch with goats, and how it fits alongside the electric netting we've relied on for years. This isn't a replacement story. It's the next piece of the system. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 109 | Electric Netting in Freeze Country: The Afternoon Teardown Fix 13 | Using Electric Fence with Goats? What You Need to Know to Keep Your Goats Contained and Alive with Electric Netting Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
We are one week into kidding season. Forty does have kidded, seventy-eight kids on the ground, two sets of quads, four sets of triplets, and we have not assisted on a single birth. Not one. Today I want to tell you about day two, when four does kidded in a rainstorm, and the harder question that was sitting underneath all of it: how do you know where the line is between trusting your animals to do it themselves or intervening? Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 110 | Kidding Management: How Our Kidding System Evolved, PART 1 of 3 111 | Kidding Management: Selection Pressure and Behavior Reshaping, PART 2 of 3 112 | Kidding Management: Building the Right System for Your Operation, Part 3 of 3 100 | Management Flexibility: Why Helping Too Much Hurts Your Livestock Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
We've spent the last two weeks on how our kidding system evolved and what it took to reshape the herd through selection pressure. Today is Part 3, and this one is for you. We're going to walk through the factors that actually determine your kidding system, genetics, weather, business model, predator protection, and labor, so you can stop second-guessing your setup and start making decisions that fit your operation. There's no single right answer here, and that's the whole point. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 110 | Kidding Management: How Our Kidding System Evolved, PART 1 of 3 111 | Kidding Management: Selection Pressure and Behavior Reshaping, PART 2 of 3 105 | Two Reasons Why People Quit Goats: Fence and Genetics 13 | Electric Netting Fence for Goats Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Last week we started this series with the story of how our kidding system evolved — from show goats and January barn kidding through commercial Boers, and then the Spanish goats arriving and refusing to work in the system we'd been running for years. Today is Part 2, and this is where we get into what that shift actually took. How do you move a herd that's been bred for intensive management toward something completely different? What does culling look like when you're selecting for a new system? And how long before you actually see the results? Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 110 | Kidding Management: How Our Kidding System Evolved, Part 1 of 3 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're starting a three-part series on kidding management, how a system actually works, why it matters which genetics you're running, and how to build an approach that fits your operation. Part 1 is the story of how our system evolved from show goats and January barn kidding in twenty-below weather, through commercial Boers, and then the moment the Spanish goats arrived and showed me something I hadn't seen coming. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 105 | Two Reasons Why People Quit Goats: Fence and Genetics Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
This year we went out on grass almost six weeks earlier than we ever have, and right after we did, it started freezing hard again. Today I want to talk about what that actually looks like operationally, specifically what happens to electric netting stakes in a hard-freeze climate, why that matters, and what we changed to make it work. I'll also tell you what the does look like on pre-kidding green forage, which is something we've not had access to in the past with electric netting. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 13 | Using Electric Fence with Goats? What You Need to Know to Keep Your Goats Contained and Alive with Electric Netting Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Two years ago, I hit publish on the very first episode of this podcast, not really knowing if anyone was going to listen or if I'd make it past ten episodes. Today we're marking that — 50,000 downloads in 115 countries, and I still have days where that doesn't feel real. In this episode I'm going to talk about what these two years have actually looked like, what shifted and what I learned, a concept I think explains a lot about how I got here and how I know when it's time to change course, and where this podcast is headed. Let's get to it. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're talking about the financial comparison between goats and cattle, done in a way that's actually fair. Most of the comparisons I've seen don't account for feed consumption, and when you leave that out, the math just doesn't work. I'm going to walk you through the framework I put together using real numbers from our operation and this last selling season, and I'll show you how to drop your own numbers in and run it for yourself. Let's get to it. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're getting into the physical setup for watering goats, what you put water in, how deep, how many, and the specific problems that can kill kids and trap horned goats. I covered the big picture in Episode 9, water as the most important nutrient, monitoring intake, why goats are picky about water quality, and how we haul water for rotational grazing. This episode goes deeper into the actual hardware, the configurations we use, and some mistakes that were expensive enough to remember. Episode Mentions: 09 | The Most Important Nutrient for All Livestock is WATER, Time-Saving Tips for Meeting Animal Requirements, and How We Do It Off-Grid Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we’re talking about why people quit goats – and I mean the real reasons, not just “it was too hard.” There are two things that send people to the exit almost every single time, and both of them are preventable. We’re going to talk about fence, we’re going to talk about genetics, and we’re going to talk about what it actually looks like to build a system you can stay in for the long haul. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're wrapping up the four-episode series on goat health supplies, and we're finishing with medications — what's on the shelf, what's in the fridge, and the single best storage hack I've come across that costs almost nothing. I'll walk through the full list: what I actually reach for, what I keep on hand but rarely use anymore, and some things that are worth understanding before you need them — the Corid and goat polio connection, early intervention for urinary calculi, and the shift in our vaccine protocol. We'll close out the series with the thread that's run through all four episodes. Let's get to it. Episode Mentions: 101 | The Most Important Tools in Your Goat Medical Kit - PART 1 102 | What's Actually in My Goat Health Boxes — Part 2A 103 | What's Actually in My Goat Health Boxes — Part 2B 46 | Early Banding vs Late Banding in Buck Kids/ Will Your Goats Be Healthy if You Band Them Early? 82 | Internal Parasites in Goats: Monitoring, Prevention, and Treatment for Barber Pole and Other Worms Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.goatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.goatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're back in the health supply boxes for part 2B of this series: Eye care, disbudding, first aid, wound care and injury prevention, a few rarely used kidding supplies, and the storage systems that hold it all together. I've got a couple of stories in here too, a prairie dog hole, a stick coming out of a goat's chest, and a dog that made a decision it quickly regretted. Let's get to it! Episode Mentions: 43 | How to Treat Entropian or Inverted Eyelids in Baby Goats 07 | Should My Goats Have Horns or Not? Pros and Cons of Disbudding Goats Episodes in this Series: 101 | The Most Important Tools in Your Goat Medical Kit - PART 1 102 | What's Actually in My Goat Health Boxes — Part 2A 103 | What's Actually in My Goat Health Boxes — Part 2B 104 | The Medication Side of My Goat Health Kit – Part 3 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.getgoatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.getgoatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Today we're opening up the goat health boxes, the ones I actually reach into on a regular basis. Last week we talked about the philosophy behind low-intervention management and the must-have supplies. This week we're getting into the working kit, what eight years of goat management looks like accumulated in boxes, and what actually sees regular use now versus what I used back in the show goat years. We'll cover weighing equipment, marking tools, tagging and records, hoof care, blood draw supplies, kidding tools, and a few things I keep in a five-gallon bucket right by the barn door. Let's get into it. Episode Mentions: 11 | Should I tag my goats? What You Need to Know About Government Requirements and How to Use Tagging to Benefit Your Herd 52 | What’s in My Kidding Bucket and the Supplies You Should Have On Hand When Your Goats Kid Episodes in this Series: 101 | The Most Important Tools in Your Goat Medical Kit - PART 1 102 | What's Actually in My Goat Health Boxes — Part 2A 103 | What's Actually in My Goat Health Boxes — Part 2B 104 | The Medication Side of My Goat Health Kit – Part 3 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts + grab your free Kidding Due Date Chart: https://www.getgoatwise.com/kidding-chart Join the insider email list: https://www.getgoatwise.com/join Email: millie@drycreekpastures.com Instagram: @drycreekpastures This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
