by RiverHouse Dairy
GoatSteward
Dairy goat herd management built by a goat farmer, for goat farmers.
I built GoatSteward because nothing existed for small dairy goat operations. The tools out there were built for cattle — wrong breeds, wrong terminology, wrong workflows. So I built my own.
536
Functions
80+
Animals tracked
2022
First animal recorded
Daily
Still in active use
The Origin
Software Built by a Steward, for Stewards
The app started as a spreadsheet. Then it became a mess of spreadsheets. Then it became a question: why doesn't something like this exist already?
Existing herd management software was built for commercial cattle operations — minimum 500 head, designed for ranch managers, priced accordingly. Nothing for the dairy goat farmer managing 30–200 animals who needs to track individual FAMACHA scores, breeding dates, milk weights by doe, and withdrawal periods all in one place.
GoatSteward is built on the same Next.js and Supabase stack as this website. I manage 80+ animals across eight breeds with it daily. It is the farm's operational backbone — not a side project that got launched, but software that gets tested in the barn every morning.
The name comes from the same place as this farm's philosophy: stewardship. Responsible care for what's in your charge. Software built by a steward, for stewards.
What It Does
536 Functions Across 5 Core Areas
Health & Care
6 features↓
- —Health record tracking — vaccinations, treatments, vet visits, injuries
- —FAMACHA scoring with herd-wide distribution and trend tracking
- —"Something's Wrong" symptom triage — select symptoms, get matched conditions
- —Follow-up due alerts and active withdrawal period tracking
- —Body condition scoring and vital sign logging
- —Medication dosing calculator with withdrawal time tracking
Herd Management
6 features↓
- —Individual animal profiles — breed, age, lineage, status, photos
- —Herd groups and pen management
- —Multi-species support — goats, sheep, cattle in one place
- —Status tracking — milking, dry, bred, kidding, sold, retired
- —Livestock guardian dog records
- —Animal certificates and registration management
Milk Records
6 features↓
- —Daily milk weight logging by doe
- —Production trends and rolling averages
- —DHI-style records for breed association reporting
- —Butterfat and component tracking
- —Withheld milk tracking during withdrawal periods
- —Seasonal production comparison
Breeding
6 features↓
- —Breeding records with sire/dam tracking
- —Gestation calculator and due date alerts
- —Breeding planner — schedule breedings by target kidding window
- —Kidding records — birth weight, sex, survival
- —Heat cycle tracking
- —Lineage and COI (coefficient of inbreeding) awareness
Feed & Finances
6 features↓
- —Feed cost tracking per animal and per group
- —Grazing rotation logging
- —Income and expense tracking by category
- —Cost per gallon of milk produced
- —Vet and medication expense history
- —Export to CSV for accounting integration
Who It's For
Small Dairy Goat Operations
Current Status
Active / Beta
GoatSteward is in active development and daily use at RiverHouse Dairy. The beta is available at goatsteward.com. Features are added based on what this farm actually needs — nothing ships that hasn't been tested in real barn conditions.
Future Steward-family products under development include SheepSteward, DairySteward (multi-species professional dairy), and MilkSteward (post-parlor processing).
Visit goatsteward.com →The Steward Family
Software That Grows With the Farm
GoatSteward
goatsteward.com
Active / BetaSheepSteward
sheepsteward.com
PlannedDairySteward
dairysteward.com
PlannedMilkSteward
milksteward.com
Concept