Robyn8
Loving the herd life
I have 2 bottle fed Nigerian Dwarfs. They are just over 9 weeks now. We've had them 2 weeks. They came from a local dairy and are both doing great but I have few questions.
#1: I'm having trouble weaning them. They were getting 3 bottles a day of about 10-12 oz when we brought them home at a little over 7 weeks. I'm trying to get rid of the middle of the day bottle but they cry terribly around that time of day. I have tried making the am bottles a little bigger...more like 14 oz, which they easily finish, and I have tried adding new hay around that time (even if they still have plenty as they seem to not want to eat the old hay). They do eat the hay, but I don't know if it's enough to keep them full. Should I try adding some grain? We have 18% lamb feed that we are giving our 4H lambs, so can I use that? Or do I just need to "toughen up" and deal with the crying? they don't drink much water but I have seen both drink water at least once so I think they kind of get it.
#2: Minerals. When do I need to offer minerals? We intend to keep them with Shetland lambs we are getting in August, so eventually we will need to bolus them with minerals or at least copper, I think. I have heard from some people that keep goats and sheep together that they offer everyone sheep minerals and bolus their goats with copper, so that's what I was planning to do. Does anyone on here do that? If so where do you get just copper? and how much do you give the goats?
Thanks for your help!
#1: I'm having trouble weaning them. They were getting 3 bottles a day of about 10-12 oz when we brought them home at a little over 7 weeks. I'm trying to get rid of the middle of the day bottle but they cry terribly around that time of day. I have tried making the am bottles a little bigger...more like 14 oz, which they easily finish, and I have tried adding new hay around that time (even if they still have plenty as they seem to not want to eat the old hay). They do eat the hay, but I don't know if it's enough to keep them full. Should I try adding some grain? We have 18% lamb feed that we are giving our 4H lambs, so can I use that? Or do I just need to "toughen up" and deal with the crying? they don't drink much water but I have seen both drink water at least once so I think they kind of get it.
#2: Minerals. When do I need to offer minerals? We intend to keep them with Shetland lambs we are getting in August, so eventually we will need to bolus them with minerals or at least copper, I think. I have heard from some people that keep goats and sheep together that they offer everyone sheep minerals and bolus their goats with copper, so that's what I was planning to do. Does anyone on here do that? If so where do you get just copper? and how much do you give the goats?
Thanks for your help!
