About to start my herd, what are your thoughts?

[srawl]

I have done a lot of research and here is what I have so far. Please feel free to give any advice or make suggestions.

I have just over 1/3 of an acre area with a 7’ privacy fence.

I am looking to get two bottle baby Nigerian Dwarf does. The goal is to have them just as pets for now and later decide whether we would like to breed them to use the milk.

Here is what I know I will need:

Shelter
Bottles/nipples
Goat milk/substitute
Hay feeder
Pellet feeder

Am I missing anything?

If you have any recommendations on specific brands of any of those items please let me know.

I am in the Austin Tx area, if you know of a particular breeder feel free to suggest one.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE TX! So glad you joined us. You may want a much smaller area adjacent to their shelter until they become comfortable in their new environment. Not an immediate concern, but they will eat anything and everything and pay particular attention to your favorite landscaping plants. They love bark and tree branches, leaves, buds, etc. If you have younger trees, they can and will girdle them which will kill them. As they grow, they'll need access to goat (specific) minerals. Most here recommend the loose granulated vice the blocks. Nigies have spring loaded legs and can jump. Make sure there's nothing they can climb on to clear their containment fencing. They love to climb and jump so having things they can "play on" is great. They are also very inquisitive and WILL get themselves into trouble so "kid proof" their area much as you would for a 2-3 year old child.

There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. You'll get to "meet" folks at the same time. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Oh, and we all love pics, so post them anytime you feel the need! Please make yourself at home!

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[MiniSilkys]

I bought my milk replacer from walmart. My 2-week old took it and thrived. In 2010, I bought milk replacer from my local farm store and my doeling only survived for one month on it. One piece of advice for you. If they have not already been started on milk replacer, it will be best to either use the prichard nipples or regular baby bottles. I use baby bottles. They do not like the standard goat nipples. They are too hard and too big. Plus the bottles mix up too much at once.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Greetings from florida I have ND...love my goats... be sure to get them from a decent breeder...and that they have had their CDT shots, have had moms colostrum. ..If this is your first time having goats, do yourself and the kids a favor and don't get them under two weeks old...please. I have gotten one that was three days old, (long story), and almost lost her three times... you will find a wealth of information here and the nicest people ever...always willing to answer questions. Enjoy BYH and when you get your kids, post a picture

 

[MiniSilkys]

Greetings from florida I have ND...love my goats... be sure to get them from a decent breeder...and that they have had their CDT shots, have had moms colostrum. ..If this is your first time having goats, do yourself and the kids a favor and don't get them under two weeks old...please. I have gotten one that was three days old, (long story), and almost lost her three times... you will find a wealth of information here and the nicest people ever...always willing to answer questions. Enjoy BYH and when you get your kids, post a picture

B&B, How are your goats doing by the way?

 

[B&B Happy goats]

B&B, How are your goats doing by the way?

Every one of them is happy and healthy and have two prego for sure, one maby and next month breeding two more.oh , lol and the high class girls are all prego... everybody's doing greatthank you for asking

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I bought my milk replacer from walmart. My 2-week old took it and thrived. In 2010, I bought milk replacer from my local farm store and my doeling only survived for one month on it. One piece of advice for you. If they have not already been started on milk replacer, it will be best to either use the prichard nipples or regular baby bottles. I use baby bottles. They do not like the standard goat nipples. They are too hard and too big. Plus the bottles mix up too much at once.

Agree 100 percent on baby bottles, I put a kabob skewer through the nipple so they can suck easier, and my choice of formula is mana pro. Have tried several and have made recipe with buttermilk and cows milk ...sticking with mana pro..... I also keep durvet lamb & kid with omega 3-6-9 plus...that has been a life saver, ...and I keep on hand kaeeo brand fortified vitamin B complex oral gel, jeffers is a great place to order from on line....

 

[Southern by choice]

First if you have no experience in bottle feeding newborn Nigerians then you either need a really good breeder that is holding your hand and can monitor OR buy bottle babies that have been raised on the bottle til about 6weeks then you can just feed them the last few weeks 2x day. MUCH better transition.
We don't sell bottle newborn babies to anyone without experience. We will do the last part- sending them off at 6 weeks on bottle to new family because it is not critical at that point, it is still fun and a good transition to new home without the stress and worry. As breeders we worry.
If you browse through this site you will see so many threads on issues with bottle feeding from inexperienced people.
It is sad to tell someone their goat is dying because it's starving. Or watch a kid with FKS from overfeeding.

I say this NOT to discourage you but just share the issues that can happen.

Goats milk is best IMO. If not possible I prefer Whole cows milk to any replacer. Not seen great results from replacers.
When we sell a bottle goat (the ones that leave at 6 weeks or so) we start changing them over to whole milk gradually for the clients ease.
We have had great success with this and zero scour issues.

We find the baby Nigerians do well on the pritchard but often will change out to the silicone clear nipple (looks like human baby nipple) as they grow. Best to snip the very tip off for the nipple and you can snip lower to make the hole larger. You can also slice the nipple center into the length (the long part). These all screw on or slip over a soda bottle.
We bottle fed & lambar fed 40+ kids last year. Will be the same this year lol

When teeny tiny we put hay in a bin as most hay feeders kids can get caught in.
There are all kinds of feeders for goat feed/minerals. Just what you like really.

Make sure shelter isn't tightly closed, IOW it must have excellent ventilation.

And lastly I do recommend buying from those that test their herds WITH documentation of testing. Regardless of registered or unregistered.
As well as looking into a coccidia prevention program that will work for your goats.

 

[srawl]

First if you have no experience in bottle feeding newborn Nigerians then you either need a really good breeder that is holding your hand and can monitor OR buy bottle babies that have been raised on the bottle til about 6weeks then you can just feed them the last few weeks 2x day. MUCH better transition.
We don't sell bottle newborn babies to anyone without experience. We will do the last part- sending them off at 6 weeks on bottle to new family because it is not critical at that point, it is still fun and a good transition to new home without the stress and worry. As breeders we worry.
If you browse through this site you will see so many threads on issues with bottle feeding from inexperienced people.
It is sad to tell someone their goat is dying because it's starving. Or watch a kid with FKS from overfeeding.

I say this NOT to discourage you but just share the issues that can happen.

Goats milk is best IMO. If not possible I prefer Whole cows milk to any replacer. Not seen great results from replacers.
When we sell a bottle goat (the ones that leave at 6 weeks or so) we start changing them over to whole milk gradually for the clients ease.
We have had great success with this and zero scour issues.

We find the baby Nigerians do well on the pritchard but often will change out to the silicone clear nipple (looks like human baby nipple) as they grow. Best to snip the very tip off for the nipple and you can snip lower to make the hole larger. You can also slice the nipple center into the length (the long part). These all screw on or slip over a soda bottle.
We bottle fed & lambar fed 40+ kids last year. Will be the same this year lol

When teeny tiny we put hay in a bin as most hay feeders kids can get caught in.
There are all kinds of feeders for goat feed/minerals. Just what you like really.

Make sure shelter isn't tightly closed, IOW it must have excellent ventilation.

And lastly I do recommend buying from those that test their herds WITH documentation of testing. Regardless of registered or unregistered.
As well as looking into a coccidia prevention program that will work for your goats.

Thanks that is good to know.

 

[srawl]

So it seems finding a good breeder is harder than I thought, does anyone know of one in the central Texas/Austin area or know of someone who might?