OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Looks great 
New to Goats, New to farms... New to it all! From NC
- Thread starter Ericka
- Start date
babsbag
Herd Master
That looks really good, those goats are going to be might spoiled. 
Southern by choice
Herd Master
There are so many Nigie farms you will have no problem finding what you want. There are quite a few people I know that will also have kids on the ground after the new year... good goats, tested herds, registered and unregistered, pets too include wethers. Most do not bottle feed though. I know of one farm that may do bottle feeding this year... you will have a lots of options.
As far as the class it is an hour and a half -two hours... depending on how many are in the family that will be participating sometimes 3 hours.
We close our farm from end of October- sometime in March (usually early March) ... except for visits for our Livestock Guardian Dogs. Over the years we learned it never worked out... we would schedule... it would pour down rain then we would need to cancel and over and over it just became too much. As well as the bitter cold come Jan/Feb... I hate being in the rain and cold...so do the goats. January we generally start our kidding so there are no visits - too risky and we are bottle feeding and milking 2x day.
As far as the class it is an hour and a half -two hours... depending on how many are in the family that will be participating sometimes 3 hours.
We close our farm from end of October- sometime in March (usually early March) ... except for visits for our Livestock Guardian Dogs. Over the years we learned it never worked out... we would schedule... it would pour down rain then we would need to cancel and over and over it just became too much. As well as the bitter cold come Jan/Feb... I hate being in the rain and cold...so do the goats. January we generally start our kidding so there are no visits - too risky and we are bottle feeding and milking 2x day.
- Thread starter
- #54
Ericka
Overrun with beasties
Oh my gosh - bottle feeding all those babies! nope momma can do it for me. i'm thinking there is good stuff they get from the milk and less work for me to jump into. I was only thinking of bottle feeding IF they meant i could have a dis-budded lil one, but turns out people will be happy to dis-bud and let momma keep em for 6 weeks til they are eating food! who knew?! so awesome.
Southern by choice
Herd Master
We do feed the dam's milk... each kid gets their dam's colostrum and milk. We milk for 10+ months of the year and it is the best way to not only build production but as far as breeding for dairy goats there are many that can't make it for 6 months... our goal is milk. 
We won't ever tax any doe but we have dairy goats to be dairy goats. 
We do't sell our BB to anyone... we rear them on the bottle and sell them either weaned or just about (like down to one bottle but it is more for comfort than need).
For us- unless someone already has experience in bottle feeding it would have to take special circumstance for us to let one go early.
I don't think I could let a BB go to anyone without experience.
These kids are our babies I would be traumatized if something happened and a kid died because an inexperienced owner didn't know what to watch or look for. Things like that happen and of course the new owner is mortified but as a breeder I feel responsible to make decisions for those kids ... I would have a hard time getting over that...
We do thinks a little different from year to year... i might let kids stay on mom for 3 weeks if I have a doe that has all bucks... I don't want to get "too attached" to the future "food". I am not keeping a bunch of standard bucks around so if I dam raise for 3 weeks and then separate at night I can milk in the am... they can be with mom in the day... I get milk 1x day kids grow til wethered and weaned... then they will go on the big land and grow out for food.
Some goats I simply get too attached too... usually bucks so I have to be careful. I keep tooooooo many bucks.
This is one I love so much.... I may wether him just to keep him. He is my smoochie baby. I hug him and kiss on him. He is my boy!
We won't ever tax any doe but we have dairy goats to be dairy goats. We do't sell our BB to anyone... we rear them on the bottle and sell them either weaned or just about (like down to one bottle but it is more for comfort than need).
For us- unless someone already has experience in bottle feeding it would have to take special circumstance for us to let one go early.
I don't think I could let a BB go to anyone without experience.
These kids are our babies I would be traumatized if something happened and a kid died because an inexperienced owner didn't know what to watch or look for. Things like that happen and of course the new owner is mortified but as a breeder I feel responsible to make decisions for those kids ... I would have a hard time getting over that...
We do thinks a little different from year to year... i might let kids stay on mom for 3 weeks if I have a doe that has all bucks... I don't want to get "too attached" to the future "food". I am not keeping a bunch of standard bucks around so if I dam raise for 3 weeks and then separate at night I can milk in the am... they can be with mom in the day... I get milk 1x day kids grow til wethered and weaned... then they will go on the big land and grow out for food.
Some goats I simply get too attached too... usually bucks so I have to be careful. I keep tooooooo many bucks.
This is one I love so much.... I may wether him just to keep him. He is my smoochie baby. I hug him and kiss on him. He is my boy!
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Most folks that disbud will disbud all of their goats wether they are leaving or staying
babsbag
Herd Master
@Southern by choice ...you are a goof with all those bucks, BUT HE IS ADORABLE. I love his color. Does he have blue eyes?
@Ericka When you get ready to get the goats make sure they are friendly. Some kids that are dam raised never come around to being friendly. On the other hand some will be friendly, just depends on how much time the breeder spends with them when they are small. That is one big advantage of buying kids that have been raised on bottles, they think that the people are their "herd".
@Ericka When you get ready to get the goats make sure they are friendly. Some kids that are dam raised never come around to being friendly. On the other hand some will be friendly, just depends on how much time the breeder spends with them when they are small. That is one big advantage of buying kids that have been raised on bottles, they think that the people are their "herd".
Southern by choice
Herd Master
Yes.
- Thread starter
- #59
babsbag
Herd Master
Forget the goats for now and buy the boots No rancher/farmer's wardrobe is complete without a good pair of boots, MUCK is the brand to drool over. I have a low pair for just the wet damp days and a high pair for mucking.
No rancher/farmer's wardrobe is complete without a good pair of boots, MUCK is the brand to drool over. I have a low pair for just the wet damp days and a high pair for mucking.
