DellaMyDarling
Ridin' The Range
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2019
- Messages
- 58
- Reaction score
- 58
- Points
- 68
I've got a doe with triplets, born 6 days ago.
The plan is to sell the doe and her 2 bucklings together (as wethers). There is an interested buyer for the trio, hoping it doesn't fall through.
Her doeling is a bottle baby in my house. Doeling was not as thrifty at birth. Several things happened, long story short the doe is just not going to raise her but she's doing very well inside and we intend to retain for now.
So I need input on several things here.
I have no intention of dehorning goats that stay on my farm, but buyer may feel differently. I need to investigate further. If she wants disbudding done, the articles I read state it should be done before 2wks and ideally at 1. I can't fathom how these teeny things would be big enough to get an iron over not that there's horn buds yet anyway. The bucklings are currently 2# squirts. My lady hand can swallow their whole head. Huh?
Wethering. I know theres some debate here. Looks like most agree it can safely be done at 8wks. I want them sold long before 8 wks. One also reads that Nigerians can breed their mother as early as 7wks. Hmm. Thoughts?
The bottle baby in my house...i worry how much she is losing out on doing normal goat things with her siblings and mom. Mom is not aggressive to her, so I feel she should spend time out there with them and time with brothers while mom takes her breaks with the big herd. (They're substantially separated from herd right now, those pipsqueaks will fit right through fence, but I bring mom outside periodically.)
How do I take a house acclimated baby outside? Her first few days of life she would have died out there, she absolutely needed to be inside. I will NOT use a lamp in the barn (please don't tell me how you haven't burned your barn down yet.)
Ideally I could transition her to be out in barn all day. I'll figure something out for feeding needs, its the temp change I'm worried about. She's a whopping 1#.
Mom has very low milk production and not in perfect health (example, the hair loss around eyes despite supplementation), hence part of the reason I'm culling from herd. She'd be moving to a nonbreeding home where she can live her days without demand. I feel that those 2 bucklings on her are going to deteriorate her further. She's a good mom, so it's a shame to think this, but would you pull those little buggers NOW while it's still easy to get them on bottle? This gets me 3 kids to bottle feed frequently, but puts me in a better position to prep the three of them for sale...yea?
The plan is to sell the doe and her 2 bucklings together (as wethers). There is an interested buyer for the trio, hoping it doesn't fall through.
Her doeling is a bottle baby in my house. Doeling was not as thrifty at birth. Several things happened, long story short the doe is just not going to raise her but she's doing very well inside and we intend to retain for now.
So I need input on several things here.
I have no intention of dehorning goats that stay on my farm, but buyer may feel differently. I need to investigate further. If she wants disbudding done, the articles I read state it should be done before 2wks and ideally at 1. I can't fathom how these teeny things would be big enough to get an iron over not that there's horn buds yet anyway. The bucklings are currently 2# squirts. My lady hand can swallow their whole head. Huh?
Wethering. I know theres some debate here. Looks like most agree it can safely be done at 8wks. I want them sold long before 8 wks. One also reads that Nigerians can breed their mother as early as 7wks. Hmm. Thoughts?
The bottle baby in my house...i worry how much she is losing out on doing normal goat things with her siblings and mom. Mom is not aggressive to her, so I feel she should spend time out there with them and time with brothers while mom takes her breaks with the big herd. (They're substantially separated from herd right now, those pipsqueaks will fit right through fence, but I bring mom outside periodically.)
How do I take a house acclimated baby outside? Her first few days of life she would have died out there, she absolutely needed to be inside. I will NOT use a lamp in the barn (please don't tell me how you haven't burned your barn down yet.)
Ideally I could transition her to be out in barn all day. I'll figure something out for feeding needs, its the temp change I'm worried about. She's a whopping 1#.
Mom has very low milk production and not in perfect health (example, the hair loss around eyes despite supplementation), hence part of the reason I'm culling from herd. She'd be moving to a nonbreeding home where she can live her days without demand. I feel that those 2 bucklings on her are going to deteriorate her further. She's a good mom, so it's a shame to think this, but would you pull those little buggers NOW while it's still easy to get them on bottle? This gets me 3 kids to bottle feed frequently, but puts me in a better position to prep the three of them for sale...yea?
