Oh boy...

GrassFarmerGalloway

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I got goats.

:th

And I fell in love.

Just today, we picked up a pair of two month old kids. One is a saanen wether, the other is a saanen/Arapawa cross. The saanen is named Marshall (we may be changing his name). The cross is Milly. They are both ADORABLE, sweet, and completely into anything and everything. Milly rode home on my lap, all through the two-hour drive, she was a darling.

I'm so happy! :celebrate :weee :love :bun :D :clap :lol: :) :thumbsup

I will post pictures soon!

Couple issues: They aren't drinking. I gave them impeccably clean water in a properly-sized bucket, and they still won't drink. The water itself is free of heavy metals and foreign bodies. What am I doing wrong? How can I get them to drink? They need it.

Also, I need ideas for a play jungle gym for them. Throw all your best ideas at me!
 

sunnygoats

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Hooray!!! :weee
Congrats and can't wait to see the pics!

You might want to add just a little molasses to the water to encourage them to drink. They may just be nervous in their new home.

My goats love to jump on and off the goat house! They have a game and the rules are that whoever is on the highest end wins! It's funny to watch them jockying for position and trying to knock the others off (but they never do!). Mine also love climbing our wood piles.
I've seen some really nice goat "playgrounds". They all have someplace nice and high for them to climb on.
 

GrassFarmerGalloway

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sunnygoats said:
Hooray!!! :weee
Congrats and can't wait to see the pics!

You might want to add just a little molasses to the water to encourage them to drink. They may just be nervous in their new home.

My goats love to jump on and off the goat house! They have a game and the rules are that whoever is on the highest end wins! It's funny to watch them jockying for position and trying to knock the others off (but they never do!). Mine also love climbing our wood piles.
I've seen some really nice goat "playgrounds". They all have someplace nice and high for them to climb on.
Molasses... I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

There are a lot of piles of wood and rocks around my place. We have a giant pile of stones behind the garage. It's wonderful, I haven't met a single animal that hasn't enjoyed playing on that pile. I'll lead the goats over there and see what they do. :)

They're currently in a stall. I put four cinderblocks in pairs, one on top of the other, and they thought it interesting. Not too interested in playing now, but VERY interested in love, attention and food. They screamed at me when I turned the lights off and left, poor little kids. I'm going out first thing tomorrow morning to spend time with them, maybe lead them out on a walk...
 

ksalvagno

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I just got 2 goats myself. While I look for "cooler" looking playgrounds, I'm using my extra large plastic dog kennel, a plastic dog house which I took apart and turned the bottom half upside down, and a couple of benches. The goats are still enjoying jumping up and down on these items.

558_nigeriangoats2.jpg
 

lilhill

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I've added Kool-Aid to water to encourage them to start drinking. Mine loved it. Congratulations on the new babies!
 

Bonnie_Brook_Mom

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Hey, Congrats, Galloway!! We knew you'd break down sooner or later! We made a "dance floor" for our babies out of wooden pallets for a ramp & a piece of plywood. They would climb up there & spin around each other, it looked like they were dancing. Palets are good if the slats aren't too far apart. You can make all sorts of configurations out of them, stack them, make stairs... As for the other question, when, or were they weaned? They might miss mother's milk. Maybe try some instant milk mixed in the water. Never tried it, but might help. Pics, we want pics! (Farmer Mack's wife, but don't tell anybody!) LOL
 

GrassFarmerGalloway

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Bonnie_Brook_Mom said:
Hey, Congrats, Galloway!! We knew you'd break down sooner or later! We made a "dance floor" for our babies out of wooden pallets for a ramp & a piece of plywood. They would climb up there & spin around each other, it looked like they were dancing. Palets are good if the slats aren't too far apart. You can make all sorts of configurations out of them, stack them, make stairs... As for the other question, when, or were they weaned? They might miss mother's milk. Maybe try some instant milk mixed in the water. Never tried it, but might help. Pics, we want pics! (Farmer Mack's wife, but don't tell anybody!) LOL
Thank you! And please call me GFG. :)

Pallets? Good idea!

They are recently weaned, and yes, they were fully weaned. It might be detrimental to their weaning process to give them another taste of milk, but thanks for the idea!
 

Chirpy

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Congrats on your new babies! It will take them a little while to settle in but they will and they'll just love you and be all over you before you know it. ;)

Goats love anything safe that they can climb on... some ideas: picnic tables, rabbit hutches, dog houses, wooden spools, large rocks, large tree stumps or logs, anything made with wood. Here's a picture of one of my goat areas (for my ND's):

IMG_3151.jpg


IMG_3152.jpg


Oh, they also climb on cars :D:

IMG_3962.jpg
 
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