I do not wish to keep my doe in milk thru this summer and would like to breed her back. How do you go about the weaning process and then when can I breed her back? Her kids were born mid April.
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It crushes the cord that goes to the testicles. There is no broken skin, so there is no risk of tetanus. The testicles just atrophy and shrink, because they have no blood flow. The little guys still have a scrotum, but the testicles just keep shrinking until they're gone.
Thank you. I will give it more thought. The boys are 7 wks today. When should I band them? I've heard at 8 wks.
Jane Wagman said:
If the kids are still on her until they are 12 weeks old would that be past the time you will be gone? If so it is quite possible to start in milking her at that point. You won't get quite as much but you will get some and you can continue to milk her until you are certain she is bred.
Even though Nigerians can be bred year round, it is hard to catch spring or summer heats. Fall & winter heats are usually much stronger and more easily recognized.
While I can understand you disappointment I think breeding a doe to kid twice in a year just really pushes their bodies too hard.
If the kids are still on her until they are 12 weeks old would that be past the time you will be gone? If so it is quite possible to start in milking her at that point. You won't get quite as much but you will get some and you can continue to milk her until you are certain she is bred.
Even though Nigerians can be bred year round, it is hard to catch spring or summer heats. Fall & winter heats are usually much stronger and more easily recognized.
While I can understand you disappointment I think breeding a doe to kid twice in a year just really pushes their bodies too hard.
You could breed her to kid in January and get her on a January kidding schedule. You could move it back a month or two at a time, although in the end you get more milk if you can get your goats on extended lactations. I have some that I milk for more than a year, so every year they freshen about three months later than last year, because we want to milk them as long as possible.
The kids don't have to be weaned for you to breed her. In fact, the "standard" lactation is 10 months, so for example, the goat is bred in August, kids in January, bred again in August, dried up in November, kids in January, etc.
I used to think that some goat mamas didn't like one kid, especially when they'd refuse to let a kid nurse at all, and I'd have to bottle feed one. Then my "mother of the year" goat had triplets and wouldn't let one nurse for more than about three sucks. I KNEW she was an outstanding mother, so something had to be wrong. That's when I sat down in the stall and watched exactly what was happening, and I discovered that the little kid was nursing incorrectly. When I checked the doe's teat, the tip was raw from the way the kid was nursing -- she was just sucking on the tip. So, it could be that the one little guy is doing something to hurt his mama. I explained the whole thing here: http://antiquityoaks.blogspot.com/2008/06/sucking-disorder-in-goat-...
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
I will be milking the next time. I am very involved with our last year of showing at the fair. My son has lots of Animals and I am the Grange small animal leader. I do not have anyone that can milk for me while we are at the fair. We usually stay there for the week. Hence why I would have liked to have her have more babies this fall. Next time I want to milk her and try drinking the milk. I did not bother to train her to the milking stand this time because she is dam raising the kids. I would like to see what it is like milking thru winter. Summers are soooo hot here in the desert. We live about 40 miles from the Mojave Desert in the high Desert Area of the Antelope Valley. Glad to hear she is not doing too badly as a mom. Still think she favors one baby over the other. She does let one nurse but pushes the other away from her or bites him. It was the first one born in which she gave birth and cleaned up all by herself. The second one that I had to help her get out is the one she favors.
Thanks for the info.
I will be milking the next time. I am very involved with our last year of showing at the fair. My son has lots of Animals and I am the Grange small animal leader. I do not have anyone that can milk for me while we are at the fair. We usually stay there for the week. Hence why I would have liked to have her have more babies this fall. Next time I want to milk her and try drinking the milk. I did not bother to train her to the milking stand this time because she is dam raising the kids.
I would like to see what it is like milking thru winter. Summers are soooo hot here in the desert. We live about 40 miles from the Mojave Desert in the high Desert Area of the Antelope Valley.
Glad to hear she is not doing too badly as a mom. Still think she favors one baby over the other. She does let one nurse but pushes the other away from her or bites him. It was the first one born in which she gave birth and cleaned up all by herself. The second one that I had to help her get out is the one she favors.
Thanks for the info.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
What you describe doesn't sound that unusual. At this age, goat kids only nurse for about 10-15 seconds before mom starts to walk away. That's why they nurse so frequently. I have not seen a Nigerian yet that was not a good mother. Some are definitely better than others though. The best mothers are the ones who wake up their babies frequently in the first week to nurse. It looks like they're being mean, as they go over to the sleeping babies and try to lift them up with their noses, but they're doing that so that the babies get enough to eat that first week. And the first few days is when they'll stand there for a few minutes to let kids nurse. The only mamas I worry about are the ones that have quads and find something to climb on so that the kids can't get to them. No doubt it is HARD work to raise four babies. But I try to understand, because I'm not so sure I'd be happy with four kids hanging on me all the time. I just make sure to keep an eye on the babies so that they are getting enough. Dam-raised kids also start eating solids around a week old, but that doesn't mean that they don't still need plenty of mama's milk. What you describe does not sound like she is trying to wean them; it sounds like a normal goat mama. When they're ready to wean, they won't stand still at all for the kids.
When we first got started in NDs, we had five bucks and two does the first year. It was disappointing, because we really wanted the milk from more goats. We wound up buying more does in milk. If you're not milking, I guess I'm confused about why you want more does.
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
I was hoping for more doelings and she gave me two bucks. Just thought that I might get another chance before winter sets in. But if it is best to wait, then I will wait and then breed her this fall. I am anxious to see if she might be a better mom the next time around. She hasn't been a good mother to one of the babies. She is mean to the one and pushes, head butts and sometimes bites him. She is trying to wean them both. She doesn't stand still to nurse them very often. They are 6 weeks and eating hay, pellets and a little grain.
What you describe doesn't sound that unusual. At this age, goat kids only nurse for about 10-15 seconds before mom starts to walk away. That's why they nurse so frequently. I have not seen a Nigerian yet that was not a good mother. Some are definitely better than others though. The best mothers are the ones who wake up their babies frequently in the first week to nurse. It looks like they're being mean, as they go over to the sleeping babies and try to lift them up with their noses, but they're doing that so that the babies get enough to eat that first week. And the first few days is when they'll stand there for a few minutes to let kids nurse. The only mamas I worry about are the ones that have quads and find something to climb on so that the kids can't get to them. No doubt it is HARD work to raise four babies. But I try to understand, because I'm not so sure I'd be happy with four kids hanging on me all the time. I just make sure to keep an eye on the babies so that they are getting enough. Dam-raised kids also start eating solids around a week old, but that doesn't mean that they don't still need plenty of mama's milk. What you describe does not sound like she is trying to wean them; it sounds like a normal goat mama. When they're ready to wean, they won't stand still at all for the kids.
When we first got started in NDs, we had five bucks and two does the first year. It was disappointing, because we really wanted the milk from more goats. We wound up buying more does in milk. If you're not milking, I guess I'm confused about why you want more does.
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
I was hoping for more doelings and she gave me two bucks. Just thought that I might get another chance before winter sets in. But if it is best to wait, then I will wait and then breed her this fall. I am anxious to see if she might be a better mom the next time around. She hasn't been a good mother to one of the babies. She is mean to the one and pushes, head butts and sometimes bites him. She is trying to wean them both. She doesn't stand still to nurse them very often. They are 6 weeks and eating hay, pellets and a little grain.
I was hoping for more doelings and she gave me two bucks. Just thought that I might get another chance before winter sets in. But if it is best to wait, then I will wait and then breed her this fall. I am anxious to see if she might be a better mom the next time around. She hasn't been a good mother to one of the babies. She is mean to the one and pushes, head butts and sometimes bites him. She is trying to wean them both. She doesn't stand still to nurse them very often. They are 6 weeks and eating hay, pellets and a little grain.
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http://hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=4020&c...
It crushes the cord that goes to the testicles. There is no broken skin, so there is no risk of tetanus. The testicles just atrophy and shrink, because they have no blood flow. The little guys still have a scrotum, but the testicles just keep shrinking until they're gone.
The Fiasco Farm site has good info on castrating:
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/buck-wether-info.htm#neutering
Like Molly, I used to band my goats, but now that I've been using the Burdizzo, I'm not going back.
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
Jane Wagman said:
Even though Nigerians can be bred year round, it is hard to catch spring or summer heats. Fall & winter heats are usually much stronger and more easily recognized.
While I can understand you disappointment I think breeding a doe to kid twice in a year just really pushes their bodies too hard.
The kids don't have to be weaned for you to breed her. In fact, the "standard" lactation is 10 months, so for example, the goat is bred in August, kids in January, bred again in August, dried up in November, kids in January, etc.
I used to think that some goat mamas didn't like one kid, especially when they'd refuse to let a kid nurse at all, and I'd have to bottle feed one. Then my "mother of the year" goat had triplets and wouldn't let one nurse for more than about three sucks. I KNEW she was an outstanding mother, so something had to be wrong. That's when I sat down in the stall and watched exactly what was happening, and I discovered that the little kid was nursing incorrectly. When I checked the doe's teat, the tip was raw from the way the kid was nursing -- she was just sucking on the tip. So, it could be that the one little guy is doing something to hurt his mama. I explained the whole thing here: http://antiquityoaks.blogspot.com/2008/06/sucking-disorder-in-goat-...
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
I would like to see what it is like milking thru winter. Summers are soooo hot here in the desert. We live about 40 miles from the Mojave Desert in the high Desert Area of the Antelope Valley.
Glad to hear she is not doing too badly as a mom. Still think she favors one baby over the other. She does let one nurse but pushes the other away from her or bites him. It was the first one born in which she gave birth and cleaned up all by herself. The second one that I had to help her get out is the one she favors.
Thanks for the info.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
When we first got started in NDs, we had five bucks and two does the first year. It was disappointing, because we really wanted the milk from more goats. We wound up buying more does in milk. If you're not milking, I guess I'm confused about why you want more does.
Tammy Lee Birrer said:
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