I'm not in a hurry, but wondered since my doe looks longingly at her herdmates up on the hill. They have an outside pen with a "goat door" from her kidding stall and they've been loving being outside part of the time. They're 3 days old now and already nibbling hay. Just wondering how old they should be before they're out there with the rest of the herd?
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
Oh thank you Rachel! I feel so much better. My first kidding last summer was the herd queen and NOBODY messed with her OR her babies! I'm sure it will be fine and I'll just stay out with them for their first times and make sure they don't get hurt. Thanks so much for answering.
The babies will learn to get away when other goats come around. It's just part of everyone working out their order, and it's pretty normal. That would probably be my biggest stipulation for allowing kids out with the herd. They would need to be sturdy on their feet, otherwise, the big kids don't play "fair"
Thanks Rachel,
Today (day 4) I let them out together for a brief time watching them and one of my other pregnant does (Prita) slammed one baby into the wall and scared her to death! Prita is not the queen but has a bad temper already (competitive) and because she is the smallest tends to be always afraid of having to share (food, attention etc). She has always been best friends with my doe Leela who kidded. Now I'm really nervous about them being together. I'll just do a little each day and see if Prita adapts to the babies. Any suggestions for how to get her to accept them as part of her herd?
I have kept kids and mom away from the main herd for two weeks before, but I've also let them back out at three days. The one that I kept in for two weeks was a skittish mom, and I needed to be able to catch her and her kids. On top of that, she seemed to get stressed out by the rest of the herd when she was let out with her babies. I just watch them for a while, and everyone seems happy, three days is a fine time to let them back with the herd if they seem to be ready for it.