I am saleing a dam raised doe. Is it best just to wean her cold turkey or does it need to be gradually? She will be 10 weeks old. I looked at all the other post and could not find an answer to this so please forgive me if this has already been discussed.
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There are, of course, many different practices when it comes to weaning. Personally, I leave does on their dam "forever." That means either until they are sold or until the mother stops letting them nurse. I wean bucks somewhere between two and three months when they start showing too much interest in the does. We separate kids overnight to milk the does in the morning, so in that respect, we are doing a type of pre-weaning, because the kids are living without their mother for 12 hours every day. If a doe is being sold, she stays with her mother until she is picked up, so she is technically "weaned" when she leaves. My philosophy and practice is based upon the fact that any change in a goat's life creates stress, which can result in weight loss and/or internal parasites getting out of control. I don't want to put a kid through two stresses (weaning one week and selling the next) because I think that would results in a less healthy kid physically. Also, goat milk is the best thing in the world for a kid, which is why I never wean the does I keep. Does that stay on mom grow faster and have better parasite resistance that those that get weaned, which I do see because sometimes I sell a milker and keep a doeling from her.
I think a lot of people assume a kid will make less of a fuss in its new home if they wean it a week or two before selling. (A lot of people also assume a bottle baby will be quieter when sold.) However, in my experience, there are goats who make a fuss, and there are goats who are quiet, and it doesn't really matter whether they were dam-raised or bottle fed or weaned last week or today or what type of stress you throw at them. In fact, I have adults who make a fuss when we move them to new pasture, which I am actually seeing today as we moved the milkers to a pasture where they have never been before, and some of them are a little freaked out. The only complaint I have ever received about a kid that wouldn't shut up was a bottle baby. It was returned 24 hours later because the family got no sleep. The goat never stopped screaming all night long. The dam raised kid that was sold with her was as quiet as could be.
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There are, of course, many different practices when it comes to weaning. Personally, I leave does on their dam "forever." That means either until they are sold or until the mother stops letting them nurse. I wean bucks somewhere between two and three months when they start showing too much interest in the does. We separate kids overnight to milk the does in the morning, so in that respect, we are doing a type of pre-weaning, because the kids are living without their mother for 12 hours every day. If a doe is being sold, she stays with her mother until she is picked up, so she is technically "weaned" when she leaves. My philosophy and practice is based upon the fact that any change in a goat's life creates stress, which can result in weight loss and/or internal parasites getting out of control. I don't want to put a kid through two stresses (weaning one week and selling the next) because I think that would results in a less healthy kid physically. Also, goat milk is the best thing in the world for a kid, which is why I never wean the does I keep. Does that stay on mom grow faster and have better parasite resistance that those that get weaned, which I do see because sometimes I sell a milker and keep a doeling from her.
I think a lot of people assume a kid will make less of a fuss in its new home if they wean it a week or two before selling. (A lot of people also assume a bottle baby will be quieter when sold.) However, in my experience, there are goats who make a fuss, and there are goats who are quiet, and it doesn't really matter whether they were dam-raised or bottle fed or weaned last week or today or what type of stress you throw at them. In fact, I have adults who make a fuss when we move them to new pasture, which I am actually seeing today as we moved the milkers to a pasture where they have never been before, and some of them are a little freaked out. The only complaint I have ever received about a kid that wouldn't shut up was a bottle baby. It was returned 24 hours later because the family got no sleep. The goat never stopped screaming all night long. The dam raised kid that was sold with her was as quiet as could be.