by the way, I am Meagan, after moving away to college my mom got pygmy goats and I fell in love after bottlefeeding her baby, so ever since then i knew I had to have one...since we are trying to be more self sufficient though I decided upon a nigerian dwarf so I could milk her, thanks to a lovely drought in our neck of the woods hay is very scarce and so when i saw a farmer selling off her herd I jumped on the oppertunity to get 1 for a good price---I promise I am not 'irresponsible' I had research it and asked lots of questions, I just didn't realize so much went into it (I own other animals too). I am looking forward to going to the library and getting books and just any advice you can give me would be greatful--especially when it comes to goat lingo (before beginning as a unny breader I took a 4h class on husband rabbitry, now desperately searching for one on goats)
anyhow, sorry this is longer than I thought it would be, as for my girls, Cookie is momma, she is white with black patches, she is not registered, her baby is CC (short for Chocolate chip), she is a doll, she is between 4-6 weeks and just as sweet as can be, even though she hates to be held she seems to cuddle up while she cries for momma, kind of like a toddler who si being left at daycare does, it just touches my heart everytime too.
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I had no idea there was one in NE Texas, how do I get in touch with it (what is their webpage?)
Wow, talk about a walk down memory lane--I have gotten a better grasp on this whole goat thing now. Cookie had a 'surprise' baby that passed, and so we spent a lot of time fighting her to milk her and then one day it just 'took' and she was our easiest milker.
We got 2 more, a nigerian goat names Tanna and a mini-la-mancha named Mahogany they were both pregnant and delivered twins each, we kept Mahoganies daughter, Sadia, and tanna's son, he--like most mischievous bucks--broke out and got them all pregnant, when, we don't quite know, he is sneaky little devil, but we are watching closely and expect them to show up soon (right now we can see the babies moving inside their tummies so I think we have a couple of weeks but still)
Hi Meagan,
It has been a while since you posted but I ran across it and hope you found your way with the nigerians you have. I noticed you are in Lindale and so you know, we have an active dairy goat club in NE Texas and support each other quite well. Let me know how your success has been.
James
Firebrand Farms
Hi Megan! You sound like me with my first goats :-) Boy, that was an adventure! I had many times of milking kickers alone where I would just sit down on the floor and ball my eyes out in frustration. I had never milked, the udders were sub-par at best, and those goats could climb me with their hooves and hit the ceiling! And when that didn't work they would lay right down, lol! It took a few weeks, but they reached a point where anyone could milk them any time.
I really like chain-link dog kennels for moving goats around to graze. I found one used for really cheap and drag it around my yard for kids or for mom and baby when needed. I hate the thought of putting them on any kind of rope. It is amazing how quickly something bad can happen. Think of a 2-yr. old child left in the living room while you run to the mailbox. It might have only been a minute you were not watching, but they almost always find trouble :-)
A good basic home-built milk stand is on FiasCo Farms website. I used it for my nigis, I just dropped the front assembly so the bottom bar rested on the stand. It works great. I may have set the feet lower too so my girls could jump up easily.
When feeding stuff, avoid fruit trees with center pits like cherry, peach, plum, etc. and nightshade plants like tomatoes and potatoes. Goats love sunflower seed in their grain and it gives shiny coats, and mine love oats too!
that clears up so much, thankyou.
by the way, when I do tie her up we keep a close eye on her, I am home most of the day and would never leave her tied up if I left, last night we took them both for a walk though so they could munch while they were getting use to being on a leash. I though was wondering if I went and trimmed out some vines to start preparing my garden area would the goats still be interested in eating them if I threw them in the pen or would they turn their noses to them cause they weren't still a live?
If you are trying to milk the goat without a milk stand, I can certainly understand why you are having trouble. It is a rare goat that can be milked without a milk stand! So, your doe may do just fine once you have the proper equipment.
It is really inadvisable to ever tie goats and leave them unattended, as some have hanged or choked themselves. If your goats do not have free access to pasture, they should have hay available pretty much all the time.
Goat feed is made of grain -- corn, soybeans, oats, etc. Alfalfa pellets are made of alfalfa, which is basically the same as alfalfa hay, except they chopped it up and turned it into pellets. Typically, they say a doe needs 1 pound of grain for every 3 pounds of milk she is producing, so your doe probably needs only a pound a day. Too much will give her diarrhea. There is nothing "wrong" with goats eating chicken feed. The problem with chicken feed is that goats generally break into the chicken house and then eat way too much, which gives them diarrhea.
my biggest question is 'WHAT CONSTITUTES AS GRAINS?' we have goat pellets and alfalfa pellets but they are more interested in the goat feed then those pellets...which I read chicken pellets can give them diahrea...so what exactly is the grains everyone keeps talking about cause trust me when I walk into a feed store and say I want goat grains none of the people know what I am talking about
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
That clears it up! No worries -- mom is not dried up. It perfectly normal for new goat owners to have difficulty milking, which I why I always suggest dam raising. You just need more practice. Since Mom is so unhappy, and you haven't perfected milking yet, I'd suggest only separating them for 3 or 4 hours. Actually, you might want to stop trying to milk her for a couple days and just put her on the milk stand for her grain -- give her grain only on the milk stand, so she will want to get on the milk stand -- and while she is eating, you simply place your hand on her udder while she's eating. She'll kick for a bit, but then she'll get interested in the grain and forget about you. When she stops objecting to you touching her udder, then try squeezing the teats a few times. In other words, work up to actually milking her. In the meantime, the baby will keep up her supply. She won't be making ton with only one kid, but she'll be making enough for you (and her) to learn the routine.
Having a ND for your own milk is an excellent idea. However, you chose a rather challenging doe. It's not an impossible situation, just very challenging for someone new to goats.
sorry, baby is nursing from momma, we have nursed momma's good utter nightly just to get her use to being milked but haven't gotten more than a tablespoon out of her at a time, which usually has dirt in it cause she is kicking it up as we try to milk her, recently she has taken to laying down while we try and milk her. the longest we have kept her from her baby was less than 6 hours I think, we got about 2 tablespoons worth of milk from her then but my husband was litterally holding her up while I milked her from her one good utter. baby is eating and drinking but also still nursing. does that clear things up a bit--sorry, like I said I am a bit exhausted so I tend to ramble on
Welcome to the group!
I'm not clear on what's happening. If the baby is nursing, mama shouldn't be dried up, but if you're bottle feeding, the baby should be super friendly. Can you explain what you've done so far?