I just got 2 Nigerian Dwarf Goats!!

[Hollywood Goats]

I got a 2 year old that is white with brown spots and blue eyes and her baby (a girl) that is black with white speckled ears and a white spot on her forehead!!!

The mother is Daffy and the baby is blossom.

She is kind of nervous, is there anyway to help her get use to us?

and she has never been milked so any tips on starting her would be very appreciated!

I am so excited to finally have goats!!!

How to I trim her horn?

 

[ksalvagno]

Congratulations on your new goats. You will enjoy having them. Just spend time with them. Offer some of their grain in your hand. Just sit in the stall with them.

As far as the horn, it looks big enough that you may have to do something like band it but some others who know more about that may have some other suggestions.

Since she is nursing her cria, I would let her get used to you first before you start milking her. The dairy goat that I'm milking was already in milk and already used to being milked so I don't have any good suggestions for you right now.

I'm sure others will come on here and give you some good advice.

 

[Its not a GOAT its a DOG]

 

[glenolam]

Welcome!

I'm with ksalvagno - I wouldn't try milking her until she's used to you and knows you aren't there to hurt her. The kid should weaning around 8 weeks, so then would be a good time to start milking.

If she's kicky, there's a few good threads here about kicky milkers and does who are hard to milk (mine included!)

I can't help on the horn, but it does look like banding might be your option.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Hollywood Goats]

I milked her a little bit today since she held still when I reached for her.

She is adjusting very nicely, she was kept in a 6' x 8' pen all day every day, so she is really happy to have the whole yard (about 1500' by 10')

Here is a better picture of her, could she be pregnant? their were 4 bucks that the lady said kept getting into her pen.

 

[cmjust0]

It's nearly impossible to judge a goat's bred status by looking at her until they're right up toward the end of pregnancy, but....well, she actually looks pretty bred to me. And if she was kept near four bucks who kept fence hopping...and given that she's a Nigerian, and that Nigerians are year-round breeders...I'd hazard a guess that the chance of her NOT being bred are pretty daggone low.

If I had to guestimate, I'd say she's going to kid in the next 6 weeks -- but that's a HUGE, GIGANTIC, purely speculative guestimate from someone who's never owned a Nigerian and doesn't really know what "normal" looks like on that type of goat.. Sooooo, take it for what it's worth.

<EDIT!>
Check that....how old is blossom?!? I was just looking at the pics again, and it looks like blossom is pretty little still.. If she's less than about 16 weeks at the very youngest, then what I *think* I'm seeing in terms of mama's girth almost couldn't possibly mean what I thought it might mean..

Soo...how old is Blossom again?!?
</EDIT>

She looks great to me, though.. Coat's good, and her condition looks to be 3+ -- but she doesn't look obese -- which is good...

If she were here, I might be inclined to go ahead and hit her with C/D-T and give her a shot of Bo-Se (I'm in a Selenium-deficient area...check local listings), just to cover the bases in case she does kid soon.. If she didn't kid in about four weeks, I'd definitely go on and do the C/D-T again, but perhaps also the Bo-Se. After that, I'd probably just wait to see what happens.

<EDIT AGAIN>
If it happens that my eyes were playing tricks on me, hold off on the above protocol...it's sorta the "pre-kidding" protocol, and you wouldn't necessarily want to do it unless you're pretty sure she's HEAVY BRED...like, close to kidding.
</EDIT AGAIN>

Is Blossom up to date on her C/D-T?

I gotta say...aside from the scur, and speaking strictly to their outward appearance, those are two of the healthier looking "Look at my new goats!" goats I've seen on here in a while.

 

[Hollywood Goats]

I think blossom is 8-10 weeks old, she is weaning now.

Her pen was right next to theirs, and the lady said that she was ready to bred if we wanted it.

How pregnant could she be?

Thank you!

 

[cmjust0]

Ok, well...if that's the case, then my eyes were tricking me.. From the picture, she looked like she might have been in her last 6 weeks or so of pregnancy. That would mean she was >100 days preggers, though.. If the kid's 8-10wks (56-70 days) old, it wouldn't be mathematically possible for her to be that far along.

Not saying she isn't bred, mind you...just saying that if she is, she's not as far along as I thought it appeared from the pic.

What's funny is that if you go back to the very first thing I wrote in my initial reply......uh, yeah......I pretty much knew better than to even speculate, but gave it a shot anyhow.

But now at least we all see what happens when you try to speculate on bred status by looking at a goat.

 

[savingdogs]

I'm new to goats so this may sound stupid, but my goats bellies seem to change size after they have been eating a lot! A couple of times it was like "Holy Cow, did you guys get enough or what?" after they had been browsing. Maybe she was just really full in the picture.

Pictures can be deceiving too......at least I sure look a lot fatter in photos than I feel!

Your goats are very cute.

 

[Hollywood Goats]

Thank you very much for your suggestions anyway! I really appreciate it.

Since her side are not evenly wide ( one part sticks out a bit more) I would guess that she is pregnant. so if she is how much protein does she need in her diet?