Ready or Not....... Shouldvknwnbetter- Fall

Hens and Roos

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we have no idea if she was milked before we got her and started milking. We do have hobbles that we use.....hopefully she will get better over time :idunno

our next order of business is to decided who should become a wether.
 

Hens and Roos

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Maggie's kids will be eight weeks tomorrow and there is a size difference between the 2 bucklings(the 2 biggest at birth) who stayed with her and the 1 buckling and 2 doelings who were pulled for bottle kids(they were the smallest at birth). We plan to weigh them all tomorrow to see what they weigh.

Are we in the right line of thinking that the 3 bottle kids may take a few weeks longer(maybe more) in the time it takes for them to fully develop/mature?

Does a small birth weight cause any issues for them? What factor should(if any) this play in determining who to keep as a buckling and who should become a wether?
 

OneFineAcre

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First off
You've done a great job with these kiids
When you posted she had all of those babies I was so afraid you would lose some of them
I'm so happy how well you have done with them
:bow
As to your questions I have some thoughts but too much to type on phone
Will write more tomorrow when at my compiter
 

Hens and Roos

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thanks @OneFineAcre it was kind of touch and go for the 2 doelings for sure- as we got past 48 hours I started to breath a little easier!

it sure was and still is a learning experience and if faced with the situation again(sure hope not) we will probably do things a bit differently. 1 being to set up a warming box so kids can be placed in there as the doe kids- I think the smallest ones got a little chilled even though it was warm out. We will pull the smallest one- looking back the one that didn't make it should have come in to be a bottle kid.
 

OneFineAcre

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Ok. We don't bottle raise kids as a rule. But,when we take Jrs to shows our dam raised kids are always bigger than the ones from people who bottle raise. That's just my observation, people who bottle raise may tell you differently.

I've also observed that smaller kids from multiple births stay proportionally smaller than singles or twins with a higher birth weight for the first year. But by the time they are 18 months to 2 years old catch up.

I've got a quad that weighed 2lbs when she was born that weighs 28 lbs now.
Another was a twin that weighed almost 5 lbs when born who weighs 45 lbs now.

I've got 4 doe kids from this spring that we kept. Pebbles weighs 45, Dee weighs 40, Mollasses 33, Tira weighs 28

Some of the difference is genetic too. Ginger is Pebbles dam and she is a bigger goat than Coleus who is Tira's dam.

I wouldn't factor that in on determining what to do with a buckling either.
Fortunato was a quad and was tiny when I got him.
 

Hens and Roos

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weighed Maggie's 5 kids this morning- they are 8 weeks old:

Marsh- 14 lbs- bottle kid
Monty- 15 lbs 8 oz
Moose- 10 lbs 8 oz - bottle kid
Mort- 16 lbs 8 oz
Monkey- 12 lbs- bottle kid

we also weighed a few others
Melanie (10 months old)- 42 lbs
Chaos (April 2015)- 27.5 lbs
Cosmos (April 2015)- 35 lbs
 

goatgurl

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just caught up with this thread and all i can say Hens and Roos is wow! in 35 years of goat raising i have never had a doe have 6 kids, just wow and you have done such a great job raising them. and yes your bottle kids will catch up in size. it may take them a year or so but with all things equal they will. and it is also kind of normal for a doe who has been raising her kids to resent the heck out of you milking her. be patient and consistent and she should come around. again congrats on all those babies
 

Hens and Roos

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For the last week or so we have had Maggie's doelings in a pen within the area so the rest of the herd could see and get use to them. Today we let Moose and Monkey out with the rest of the girls and so far it has been going well- they do get a head butt now and then from the others but nothing major! In fact Maggie was laying close by them for a while....of course she wont acknowledge that they are hers(we think she knows on some level that they are ;))
 

Hens and Roos

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Last 5-7 days here have been hot and humid for us and the animals too! Noticed that they drink a lot more water and hay seems to be the food of choice.

Since we are weaning the bottle kids off the bottles we now have goat milk to drink :), pasteurized enough to drink, make tapioca and chevre.

What brand of copper bolus is good to use?
 

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