Weather update

Western Maryland finally received some rainfall this past weekend, but it was spotty and the storms were hard. While some parts of the county reported 3 to 4 inches of rain, we received only 0.6 inches at the research center.

Despite the dryness, the goats still have some green feed to graze. Goats tend to do better than other livestock during drought conditions, probably due to their selective grazing and diverse diet.

Internal parasites tend to be less of a problem during a drought, as the barber pole worm requires warmth and moisture to complete its life cycle. More worm eggs and infective 3rd stage larvae will die off and the life cycle of the worms will lengthen during dry periods.

We should be able to continue the test past this Friday, when we are scheduled to work the goats again. How long after that depends upon pasture growth and rainfall. We had some lambs grazing adjacent to the goats and we have taken them to market. Their pasture was depleted.