At what age do y'all sell your kids (non-bottle babies)? I am thinking 8 weeks should be ok, but I want to be sure.
Thanks.
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At what age do y'all sell your kids (non-bottle babies)? I am thinking 8 weeks should be ok, but I want to be sure.
Thanks.
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
Thanks Deborah. I didn't want to contradict anyone with more experience than me but the whole "the buckling bred the doe when he was 8 weeks old" seemed a little far-fetched. Not unheard of, probably, but as you say, not a regular event!
There are people out there who absolutely swear they know an 8-week-old buck that bred a doe. Maybe it has happened somewhere at some point, but it is really not something that happens with regularity. Personally, I think a little dude got blamed for someone that jumped a fence in most of those cases. I don't pull the bucks out until I actually see a penis. And even then, I think I'm being overly cautious. That doesn't usually happen until closer to 10 weeks. I've had 6-MONTH-old bucks who couldn't get a clue. And unless you're going to sell them as bucks, you can certainly wether them before they're a threat.
I have seen two 3-month-old does in heat in the past ten years. Otherwise, I think most of them are closer to 5-6 months before they come into heat. I have seen does on the milk test list at age 10 months when they freshened, but it doesn't say how many days, so they could be 10 months and 29 day, but basically that puts them at the 5-6 months point when they got pregnant.
They are being dam raised. 8 weeks does make me a little nervous, so if I can push these buyers back to 10 weeks I will. Any does that do not sell will stay with mama. But I do need to wean the boys and get them out of there at 8 weeks, right? Or is it really not true that they can breed that young? I know they have the behavior already! And on that topic, when do young does actually start cycling? Thanks!
I will sell wethers at 8 weeks, but doe kids I won't sell until they are at least 10 weeks old. Doe kids that I keep for myself are never weaned before 12 weeks and most are allowed to continue on with their dam until they are 4-5 months old. (I separate at night- milk in the am).
I wouldn't want a puppy that was taken from its mom at 6 weeks, 8 weeks is pushing it as it is. They are so much easier to potty train if they have been with their mom long enough for her to have started the job.
Eight weeks seems to be pretty common, and I really think that's the youngest dam-raised kids should be sold. At the ADGA conference a vet was saying that some people sell them at six weeks because that's when a lot of people sell puppies, but it's not a good idea for goats. I'm happy to keep kids until 3 months, if the buyer wants me to, but most are excited about getting them ASAP.