Goats&moregoats: KickinUpDust Farm Journal

Aww!! Congratulations!!

I got to see them! Of course i didn't want to say anything before she posted that they arrived

Sold my first bottle babies of the year. All three to the same home. An experienced goatie! Makes my heart happy. Now to wait for more babies because this year I have a waiting list for 4 doelings and 1 buckling and others showing interest. I have never had a waiting list.

I have to share:

This is an ad I posted:

Bottle fed bucklings. DOB. 2-10-16. Being raised in apartment. pack & Play for sleeping and safety when not out to play or being fed. All three doing very well on the bottle. Currently goat milk mixed with store whole milk. 100.00 each.

This is a response I got: are they all males may reaction:

I realize not all know a lot about goats but you should know what the male and females are called. So if you know a male is a buck, the you can surmise that buckling is a baby buck right?

Am I the only one

This is obviously not the person I sold them too.

On another note had to scold Jethro & Grub...goat chasing....when I was done they knew I was very upset with them. Didn't touch them at all. If it happens again they will be separated from the females and placed with Izzy who doesn't take no crap from any one. When Poppit can return to the fold it will be better because she doesn't take any crap either. Don't want to put her back with pups because of discharge from birthing. No sense in inviting trouble.

Told my ram the other day that he is looking to become dog food! He decided to make two half attempts at charging me. Changed his mind both times mid attempt. I don't like mutton, but I am sure all four dogs would love it. This is what I say to Rhett.

I'm glad you found a home for them! You are lucky because if you couldn't sell them....well....lets say Jonathan would be building a fence sooner than he thought lol. They are so freaking adorable! I cannot wait to have goats, and to see more of your babies to come!

Awwwwwwwwwwww... They are adorable! they're so tiny and cute! Glad you got to see them 1st hand @MendonOrchards Always nice when you're within driving distance. Glad the births went well. Now we wait on the next set. Hope you get what you want.

And just as an aside, there's no telling what you're gonna get with CL... Some times you just gotta scratch your head and wonder...

I'm so glad she is. Its hard to know how much work, or what it will be like owning animals you've never even really seen being cared for in action. I like to make sure i have everything planned out first, and its been wonderful learning about them and especially seeing the babies, thats the fun part lol

Glad you were able to sell them! In future - you definitely can leave them with momma overnight if you are bottle feeding. She will protect and clean them even if they are bottle fed as long as she recognizes them as hers. When we raised our dairy goats we removed them at birth completely from the does. We fed only heat treated colostrum and then pasteurized the milk. (We drank the milk unpasteurized but pasteurized to avoid CAE) We fed every 4 hours during the day for the first week but never fed at night. Then after the first 1-2 weeks we fed am, noon, and pm until 2-3 weeks old. After that we only fed am and pm feedings. We had standard size dairy goats but minis shouldn't be any different except in the amount you feed. We fed max 1 quart per goat am and again in the pm. When we trained them to the bucket feeder we did the same amount and added 1 extra quart "for the bucket" since some of the kids drank a little faster. Only feeding am and pm encourages the kids to investigate hay sooner. You can try just leaving all the kids with their mom and checking their bellies to see if they figure out they have to crouch reeeeeally low to nurse! I should caution you that once the kids learn that the bottle is easier some of them won't go back to momma. Either way, don't stress over it, 2x daily bottle feeding is all they need - so hard on you not to live on the property with your animals, don't make it any harder by stressing too much!

Congrats on the sale! Gosh they are adorable!

We had a kiko whose udder was so LOW, she had no udder attachment and forgot her MSL. As someone who raises dairy goats, it would be my nightmare! Anyway...the kids would go down on their knees to find the teat. It took them awhile but they found it eventually! I know I would have brought those kid in too

I disagree with feeding a 2-3 week old Nigerian Dwarf 2x a day. The large breeds may be fine with it but no way would I do that with a dwarf. I am bottle feeding ND, Lamancha, and Mini Mancha kids right now (3 1/2 weeks). They all get fed 3x/day. Personally, I don't like the ND's taking large amounts of milk x2/day. They are much smaller and I feel they do much better when they get a bottle 3x/day.

I see a lot of people who DON'T raise this breed tell folks its okay to feed twice daily, but the folks who actually breed them say otherwise

I have no experience with mini breeds so you should probably do what Goat Whisperer says. Overloading a kid's stomach can cause entero so listen to her.

Well I have full sized and minis. The full sized nub had such overly long teats that the kids punched the udder & couldn't find the teats end. I milked and fed colostrum 1X, then held kid & teat....they learned where the milk bar was! My mini nub had trips (FF) and she was so low, they had issues with finding teats.
Same deal -- be sure they get colostrum. She found that in her stall she could step her front legs onto a board and the kids could nurse!! GREAT mom!! They will find a way, normally. Check bellies for fullness and leave with mom as much as possible if they are to be dam raised. Mother Nature normally works.