Goat Wise | Meat Goats, Feeding Goats, Goat Fencing, Livestock Management
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.
Episodes
5 hours ago
5 hours ago
15 min
Back in Episode 114, I told you our NoFence collars had arrived and what we were hoping they'd open up. Today I want to give you the first real field report: What's working, what we had to work through, what the sagebrush looks like after the goats have been in it, and why this tool is changing what's possible on this ranch. This is a progress report, not a verdict. But so far, it's better than we imagined. Let's get to it.
Mentions:
114 | Drought, Hay Prices, and Why We Bought Virtual Fence
NoFence affiliate code: BradshawGraze10 (capitalization matters) for 10% off your NoFence order. Here’s the link.*
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.
*Some links and codes in these notes are affiliate — I earn a small commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting Goat Wise.
Aug 17, 2026
Aug 17, 2026
15 min
Last week in Episode 122 I gave you the framework: The two phases every goat herd goes through and the three strategies for building toward what you actually want. Today is the story behind why that framework matters. The show goat era, the Montana doe kids that survived a brutal winter, and the contrast that finally made everything clear. And I’ll also tell you what our replacement criteria look like today, because that might help you set your replacement criteria and help you reach your herd goals faster. Let's get to it.
Episode Mentions:
122 | Building a Goat Herd Strategically: Two Phases, Three Strategies, and Why Herd Growth Projections Are Almost Always Wrong
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
More from the ranch: https://www.drycreekpastures.com
This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary advice.
Aug 10, 2026
Aug 10, 2026
15 min
Back in Episode 105 I talked about why people quit goats, and genetics was one of the two big reasons. Today is the follow-up: not why genetics matter, but what to actually do about it. I want to walk through the two phases nearly every goat herd goes through, three different strategies depending on your situation and goals, and why the math people use to project herd growth is almost never realistic. Let's get to it.
Episode Mentions:
105 | Two Reasons Why People Quit Goats: Fence and Genetics
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.
Aug 3, 2026
Aug 3, 2026
18 min
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.
Jul 27, 2026
Jul 27, 2026
13 min
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.
Jul 20, 2026
Jul 20, 2026
16 min
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 Waitlist11 | Should I Tag My Goats? What You Need to Know About Government Requirements and How to Use Tagging to Benefit Your Herd50 | Get Ready for Kidding: Order Your Tags in 4 Easy StepsLeave 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.
Jul 13, 2026
Jul 13, 2026
12 min
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.
Jul 6, 2026
Jul 6, 2026
12 min
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.
Jun 29, 2026
Jun 29, 2026
12 min
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.
Jun 22, 2026
Jun 22, 2026
13 min
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.