Hi, my name is Maggie. I live on my fiances' family farm with 4 rabbits, a herd of dairy cattle and obviously my fiance! =]
I don't have any goats as of yet, but I am getting a purebred NDG in a couple weeks that's in milk with no kid and a bottle fed whether. The come from a CAE-negative herd that has also tested negative for Johne's Disease and Scrapies. They'll be my first goats and probably a decent challenge since I'm 7 months pregnant!
I've been regularly perusing the forums here and am very excited to be a part of the community. =]
Also, I've been looking at a couple of unrelated bottle-fed kids and just had some general questions like is cows milk okay for kids? And if they're scouring off and on, but don't look sick, could it be because of the cows milk? I'm pretty sure the kids in question aren't getting access to hay at all, is that okay for a kid that's almost 2 months old? They're mixed breed goats and while I'm not currently into showing, I'd like for my daughter to be able to at some point, so should I just avoid them altogether right now?
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And Margaret, thank you for sharing the info about how your third child went straight to goat's milk. That's what I'm planning on doing after my daughter is done nursing, and it's good to hear from someone that it worked out well for them. =]
Thanks for all the info on cow milk. Now I will feel better if I do need to use it one day. But I know goat milk is the best bet for almost any animal as a substitute for their on mom. You know I frequently think about the fact that my 3rd child has always been the healthiest of all 7 of them. I always figured it had a lot to do with the fact that he nursed longer than the others but just now thought about the fact that he is also the only one of the 7 that went directly from nursing to our own goats milk instead of store bought cow milk. I would bet those two things combined do have something to do with his immune system apparently being stronger than his siblings. He is 18 and probably gets coughs and colds and such maybe a third or fourth as much as the rest. Just thought I'd throw that in, in case anyone else wondered about the same with their children. FREE oh yes, I would take good healthy free ones too! You have been blessed on that one girl! By the way be sure and post us some pictures too!
Now see. THAT'S the kind of free you want to get!! lol
People can argue all day long about what to feed a kid if you don't have goat milk available, and I'm not sure it makes a huge difference. Goat milk is definitely best -- and IMO, raw, because it has all of the antibodies, but you have to be confident that the milk comes from a disease-free animal. The only thing about raw cow milk is the possibility of Johnes, which can be transmitted from cows to goats, but if they're your cows, you would know that the milk is safe. If I didn't have goat colostrum, I'd probably use cow colostrum in an emergency. Every January, the first doe to freshen gets the honor of being milked out at 24 hours, and I freeze her colostrum for using in an emergency for the next year. And if I ever have a doe that has a single, I'll milk her out at about six hours. I mark the bags with the age of the colostrum (24 hr, 6 hr, etc) and the date and freeze it.
Sounds like you got a great little family milker there for free! That's a good deal!
Thank you! The two NGD's I'm getting are free, but the only reason is that the doe is "too big" and needs the whether for a companion. The woman who's giving them to me shows goats and everyone she knows also show NGD's, so she just doesn't fit in with any of the herds.
About the cow's milk, is raw cow's milk better than store bought? And if I end up with a kid but no mother (God forbid) can I give colostrum from a cow?
PS: WELCOME!!
I think Margaret's advice is good. I do know you CAN give cow's milk. Deborah has mentioned that store bought milk is better than milk replacer in her opinion. I'd tend to agree. Goat's milk is best, Cow's milk second, Milk replacer third. However, scours can mean something more serious than just upset tummy...I think you were smart to say no thanks to those kids.
I can't tell you how many people have offered me "free" goats. I paid too much money and have invested too much time and energy into healthy goats. I do have an unregistered goat though. She comes from a really great milker, who is a "fell through the cracks" kind of goat. Her papers can't be gotten easily, so she's not registered. I got her for my milking purposes, and don't plan on selling her offspring, so it doesn't matter to me. The milking potential is what I got her for. However, all of my other goats ARE registered.
Welcome and congrats!!
Welcome to the group! What a brave woman to be getting goats when you're seven months pregnant!
I agree with what Margaret said about the bottle-fed mixed breed kids. If they're not on pasture, they should definitely be eating hay.
Thank you very much for the advice and the blessings!
Basically, that was my feeling and I took your advice. I don't want to make my goats sick, plus since rabbits are ruminants too, they're susceptible to many of the same diseases as goats. I feel like it would be irresponsible to risk both my soon to arrive caprines and my growing rabbitry.
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