Goat Words

If you are going to be reading about goats, you should learn the lingo! Here are the meanings of the most common words used by goat owners:

Goat terms:

Buck/Billy - Mature male goat
Doe/Nanny - Mature female goat
Kid - Baby goat
Buckling - Young or baby male goat
Doeling - Young female goat
Yearling - A one year old goat
Wether - A male goat that has been "fixed" or castrated
Sire - A goat's father
Dam - A goat's mother
Freshener - Female goat that has given birth

Events:

Kidding Season - The time of the year that kids are born, usually from February to June
Kidding/Freshening - This is what it is called when a doe gives birth
Disbudding - The removal of horn buds on a kid
Lactation - The time during which a doe is producing milk

Parts of a goat:

Udder - The main part of a doe's mammary system. It is like a "bag" with two separate sides and two teats
Teat - The part of the udder that the milk is squeezed out of
Wattles - Small lobes of skin on a goats neck. If a goat has wattles there will usually have two, one on each side, but they can appear anywhere on a goats body.