Recent content by BellaM

Good morning all ☀️. First up, humblest apologies if I don't get back to you with feedback or a thank you. I'm in South Africa so very different time zone - it usually takes at least 12 hours, but often more for me to receive your answers/suggestions, and then implement them or do further...

Hello everyone, does anyone know why a doe's milk would start tasting goaty fresh from the udder? I thought she might be pregnant (our buck escaped a few months ago) but she's definitely not because she's just been in heat. Her milk has been goaty for about two weeks or so.

Hello everyone, I'm looking for suggestions to prevent/minimise feed (pellets) going to waste? I have NDG and Saanen (polled and horned). The NDG especially are naughty - they flip their "troughs" upside down and drag them around, so the feed ends up on the floor or wet if it rains or overnight...

Hi everyone ☀️ ... Just some background info - I currently treat (chemically) twice a year - beginning of summer, after the first good rains, and 6 months later - (the goat keepers around me deworm every 3-4 months - excessive I feel), and I rotate through the 3 different dewormers available to...

Lady Mae has a "bit of a spread" but who wouldn't after 4 pregnancies 😅 ... Thanks for the feedback. I think I just needed reassurance 😊

Thank you! I had a feel and she doesn't have any extra padding... I didn't think she was overweight and yes, after 4 pregnancies I'd expect her to have lost her figure 😏

Rams get crazy when does are in heat. We have Nigerian dwarf goats - so, not big goats. The fence around our ram's enclosure is six feet high and angles in so that he can't jump over. And we learnt that the hard way! And make sure there's absolutely nothing he can climb on to jump over the...

Hello everyone... My NDG is 5y.o (those aren't her babies - she's their granny 😊) and has kidded 4 times. They all free-range and have goat pellets twice a day. (I don't like giving them all their food at once because it attracts birds). They generally don't finish ALL their pellets so I don't...

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Hello everyone, please excuse the long delays between my replies - I'm in South Africa, so different time zone and also I'm crazy busy 🙄 but I do appreciate your help. I have followed everyone's advice and mommy is doing much better with her babies - I still have to take her to them but she's...

Apologies! 😅 ... I've had a busy morning! I managed to get hold of a friend/mentor and she assisted me ... Mommy is not interested in her babies at all so it looks like I'll be bottle feeding 😒 but I am milking her and babies are doing great! They are a bit underweight but strong and active...

Hello all, my one NDG mommy has just kidded for the first time. She cleaned the babies (sort of so I've dried them off with towels) but she is now lying in the other pen leaving her babies alone, not nursing or responding to their calls - how long can I "wait 'n see" before intervening? She's...

Excellent advise ... Pigs love water and not just for drinking! I read somewhere that pigs don't like mud but mine certainly did and they frequently made their own by dragging their water buckets to the dirt.

If she's 8 times her birth weight and a year old you can breed her. Having said that, I prefer to wait until they're 18 months old. They're hardy little creatures and in my experience, excellent mamas so complications are rare.

One of my does miscarried 3 months ago. First time it's happened on my farm and I won't lie, it's made me nervous to breed her again even though she's back to her old self. So my questions are: How long should I wait and what signs am I looking for before deciding to breed her again? TIA