Hi everyone,
This is Adele from California.
I bought 3 bred ND does 2 1/2 months ago...have never had them before.
They are all due to kid the end of this month, possibly into the first week of Nov.
My question is: I feed them each 1/3 cup of Noble Goat Dairy 16% pellets in the morning and a flake of 3-way (which is Oat, Wheat and Barley combo hay). I give about 3/4 of the flake in the morning and the rest at night when I put them in their stalls for the night.....have to lock them up as we have nasty preditors around here. Am I feeding them enough to ensure healthy moms and kids or do I need to step it up?
Also, I know after they kid Molasses should be added to their water....how much should I add? They each have 8 quart buckets.
I must say, that I REALLY enjoy this web site and THANK all of you that have enough experience to offer advice.
Replies
Each one of the does have their own stall...I had the same concern that you had. Would not want to be unsure of who is who's. I also bought collars the same color as their mom's....that way there isn't any mistakes.
I really love Bonnie, I feel so sorry for her, when I pet and scratch the twins....she has such a sad look in her eyes. I know she wants me to pet her too..she's just to unsure. I go out to her pen and sit on the ground and talk to her and feed her snacks...hopefully soon I wil be able to pet her. She's so beautiful! I not one to give up easily.
Thank you Margaret, I will be talking to you soon.
I am curious about if these 2 does are in separate kidding pens or what? I have a fear (especially with my FFs,of course) of going out to find more than one kidding and having a kid that I am not sure which doe gave birth to it, therefore not being able to try to encourage them to care for it or how to register without DNA test. I just figure it might happen with twins easily if they bred at the same time.
Don't give up on Bonnie to soon!
OMG....with the prices all of you are paying for feed, I guess we should think of relocating!!! Just kidding...most of our grandchildren are here, I wouldn't leave.
Here is the receipt from the feed store on Saturday. Bermuda hay, $17.95... 3-way, $15.95....straw, $7.95. Oh, and Timothy hay is $26.99 a bale. Needless to say, I didn't buy Timothy. Alfalfa is $17.95 a bale and we grow it here!
I want to Thank all of you for posting replies to my questions, you are great!
Cinnamon has started to make a bag...I don't know how soon they do that in relationship to kidding, so the baby monitor is on at night. My "birthing kit" is ready...here's what in it: Iodine, surgical gloves, nose bulb, plenty of clean air dried towels, bag balm (just in case), baby bottles (just in case) , cotton balls and molasses. Have I missed anything? Let me know.
Spice and her kid or kids will go to my partner, Mary Lou after she kids. We didn't want to separate her and Cinnamon because they have been together since birth. We figure after they kid, they won't miss each other so much.
Next is Bonnie, she has either never been touched by a human or was really mistreated, I don't know which. I'm hoping that once she goes into labor, I will be able to pet her and build her trust in me. She has started to come all of the way up to me and take the carrots and apple slices out of my hand, but I still can't touch her. I think she is the best looking out of the 3 and believe her kids will have the best confirmation and color. I haven't decided if I will keep her or not....depends on how the trust issue goes. Any suggestions?
Well, need to get off of here for now.....I'll check back this afternoon. Have a baaaaautiful day!
Well, I am paying $7 minimum (and that is at a feed store), up to $8 for burmuda grass, mostly. Unfortunately I do not have a place to stock up enough to buy from a farm, even if I can find one to buy from. I am going to start looking and hopefully I will be able to find a farm that will let me get a pickup truck load and store it in an old camper trailer that I use as a feed room.
I couldn't find anyone who had alfalfa at all in the spring because we don't grow it here so hardly anyone uses it at all. It has been many years since I have bought any from a feed store and it was about $12-$15 back then. This is why I use alfalfa pellets regularly and was using cubes 'til they all got so fat I quit buying them. I don't think I have ever seen an actual bale of anything else like timothy, or oat or even the peanut hay, but now that the kids have gone back to Tn. and Will has gotten off to basic I am going to get some peanut hay from Maureen and check that out on them. Hubby does have an old boss who is suppose to have some round bales of peanut hay for $45 I think, so I will probably get me one of those.
I will use hay all year round at the rate of about 4or5 bales a week on average. But I will have to pretty much buy it as I go since I don't have a big old barn, yet!
Seriously? That's crazy...Even at feed stores, it's not too much more than this. It's been two years since I've gotten hay from a feed store, but when I did I paid $12.00 for alfalfa and $5.00 for timothy. I guess I should be very thankful!
I'm sure that here we need a lot more hay than many places though, so I'm glad we don't have to pay a lot higher prices. We need hay from basically now until June. Everything is beginning to freeze and/or turn brown, so not much nutrition in what little is left, and it could be covered in snow any day. It has already snowed some. That only leaves about a 4 month grazing/browsing season. Of course, we also need some hay through the summer months, but can cut down if we have space for grazing/browsing.
WOW! Patty, I would love those prices. I was beginning to feel that I was really blessed with great prices 'til now. Those must be the best prices anyone has. I haven't seen prices like that in about 12 or 15 years at least!
$18! Wow! I wonder if that's drought related, or normal for your area? We definitely didn't have a drought here in MN. I just purchased the rest of my winters hay. Paid $8.50/bale for alfalfa and $4.50 for grass hay. If I'd have had to pay more than that this year, I'd be having a hard time getting through the winter.
I can't wait to hear about your babies! I just bred my first doe today, so should get some new kids around March 2! :)
Good Monday morning....lol,
Thank you Rachel, Marin, Margaret and Patty, for your replies. They were very helpful.
I had computer problems, but my husband got it fixed last night...so I am a happy camper now.
I went to the feed store and bought a bale of grassy hay....couldn't believe it was $18.00! Anyway, I have put that in for the girls to eat during the day. The twins (Cinnamon and Spice) like it, but Bonnie doesn't really. I hope she will start to eat it, as the 3-way is to rich for them to free feed on.
Cinnamon has started to make her bag.....so the baby monitor is on! I don't know how soon they would start making their bag before they kid. She looks like she may have twins. I'm so very excited and nervous at the same time. Praying that nothing will go wrong. Thank goodness our vet lives 10 minutes from me, should I need her.
My partner Mary Lou, has her cell phone by her bed at night so I can call her and she can be here for the events.
If any of you can think of anything else, please let me know.
Thank all of you again, for your assistance.
Adele
Yeah, that's what I was saying... I offered it to her, and she didn't want it. I didn't want the water (with molasses in it) to sit, and spoil, so I dosed her. It wasn't very hard. My goats LOVE a syringe with molasses in it! They'll like that puppy like crazy!!
I guess it wasn't as clear as I meant it to be... lol It's been a crazy week. Taking over a site with a HUGE amount of clean up work to be done to get it back up and running... my brain is fried.
Marin Waddell said:
Rachel, I've had some refuse to drink the molasses water but most like it so if you don't feel like dosing you could try the water thing again if you feel like it the next time a goat kids. Although dosing might be less messy than sticky bowls that seem to always collect hay and dust no matter how quickly you get them out of there.
Rachel Whetzel said:
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