Hello there. We are preparing to sell our ND wether. He is 3 mo. old and is separated from his mom at night, but still nurses during the day. My question is: is their a weening process, or does he stop nursing cold turkey when he is sold.
Also, for those of you who have sold goats in the past, what are the "norms" or routines of selling a goat? He's tattooed, had his shots, and hooves have been trimmed. What else is there? Do you give a "goodie" basket? Should I send some grain? Thanks for your help!
Replies
Thanks again for all the great info!
When I said "tattoo" I meant "tag." We register and tattoo our dairy goats, but only tag (scrapie) our wethers. By law, if they are going to leave the farm (fair, sell, etc.) they need to be tagged so they can be tracked back to our farm if need be.
Not for ADGA, but to be in compliance with mandatory scrapie eradication laws, you technically do. ADGA tattoo numbers are acceptable for that (IN Minnesota at least), so long as they can trace back to your own farm and the goat in question. I'm not saying I agree with this or it's a good idea. In fact, I don't. Just, it's technically the "rules". I just learned this after selling many unregistered goats without tattooing.
It doesn't really come into play unless you want to sell a goat to someone out of state, and need a health certificate for them. There has to be an official number, either an official scrapie ID tag or your tattoo sequence, for the vet to ID the goat and put on the health certificate.
Here are two links that talk about it for anyone who cares to know. The first talks about the ID tags, the second about all the other options (at least in MN) for ID, including breed registry (like ADGA) tattoos.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/area_offices/downloads/FAQ%...
http://mn.gov/bah/official-id.html
Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres said:
Also, for future reference: You don't need to tattoo goats that cannot be registered. At least not for ADGA. :)
Ditto to everything Deborah said. I would have said exactly the same things. I also make sure they know about goat minerals, and give them a small amount of mine, and give them a link to this site and make sure they know about Deborah's goat book. :)
I don't wean does or wethers until the day they are sold. I see no point in putting them the stress of weaning and then the stress of going to a new home. I don't think any of my goats have ever had any problems because of this. Actually the only two complaints I've ever had were about bottle babies that would not stop screaming when the humans left the barn or pasture. Dam-raised kids seem to do fine going to a new home and being weaned the same day.
I usually trim hooves in front of the new owners so that they can see how to do it, especially if they are new. Sending some grain with the kid is a good idea so they can gradually transition him to whatever they can buy in their area.
I don't sell a single goat to a new owner who has no other goats though, so that may present an issue for you. Lone goats are lonely goats and can cause a lot of problems for their owners.