Why is Midnight doing this to Chestnut?

[Carla D]

Carla, you have some great folks responding to you, they are very knowledgeable about animals., and really caring people.....my suggestion is get more goats, lol they are a great healer of the mind, body and soul. Enjoy your adventure and be kind to yourself.

I like your attitude. How can more of this NOT be therapeutic?

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I like your attitude. How can more of this NOT be therapeutic?

OMG. ..how cute is that bundle of joy !.... love , love , love goats !!!! I don't show goats, we have them because they are wonderful....when i can't find my husband....i know where to look....he is always found out with the goats, ....it is so much fun watching them and lovin them....so happy for you,

 

[Carla D]

I have no interest in showing, selling, or eating these. They really are so much fun. That’s the first place I go when I’m hurting bad. To see the goats for a bunch of fun, happy distraction. I only wish they would stay this size forever. But, I’m thinking these boys will make amazing pets when they grow up. Especially if we can get them dehorned and castrated soon.

 

[Mini Horses]

.....my suggestion is get more goats, lol they are a great healer of the mind, body and soul. Enjoy your adventure and be kind to yourself.

"get more" -- we are such enablers here!!! But the rest is so very, very true. Goats are good for the soul.

Couple suggestions....don't castrate too early, 4-5 months is good, it gives their body time to fully develop the urinary tract and helps to reduce urinary calculi issues. Next, if you buy from same source, ask if they ill disbud -- even if she charges more! It "appears" this is a diary operation, thus the selling of the bucklings instead of expense of raising. They don't want a lot of them around.

Horns. They can definitely hurt you without truly meaning to, just by a swing of the head. Also, butting is normal goat activity and dominance -- try to pet them OTHER than the forehead -- that is like a challenge to them, they butt in response.

You are not required to breed, show, register -- just hug and feed. Enjoy them. They will give you laughs, love & sometimes heartache. Mine do. It is worth it. Yes...they will get far larger! Those dairy breeds can and they do not appear to be a mini version. 150-200# at maturity. You know, pygmies stay small. Get a couple! See we are enablers!

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I love the information that mini horses gave you...my nigerian dwarfs that are not registered, all have horns. That being said, i have just recently received a accidental horn in the temple, and one in the jaw...it hurts ! But, horns also make good "grab bars" if needed. We do dehorn the registered goats., but they are kept in another herd away from the horned ones.....wishing you much happiness in your goating adventure

 

[Baymule]

@Carla D I agree with @Mini Horses in that you can control a lot of your health issues. One thing not mentioned that you might not have thought about is chemical sensitive. I cannot use any cleaning products, perfumes, candles, scented laundry products, scented shampoos, lotions, anything and everything. What I can use is original Dove soap, original Palmolive green dishwashing soap and vinegar and water to clean with. That is all.

Room fresheners are the devil....on the can it says not to get it on your skin, not in your eyes, don't ingest it.....but spray it in the air and suck it into your lungs….. Who does this make sense to?

Anyway, with your health issues, maybe try to clean up your environment by getting rid of all these things. Use unscented laundry soap, no dryer sheets, and stop using all these scented products and chemicals in your home and on your body. It might just help you.

 

[Carla D]

"get more" -- we are such enablers here!!! But the rest is so very, very true. Goats are good for the soul.

Couple suggestions....don't castrate too early, 4-5 months is good, it gives their body time to fully develop the urinary tract and helps to reduce urinary calculi issues. Next, if you buy from same source, ask if they ill disbud -- even if she charges more! It "appears" this is a diary operation, thus the selling of the bucklings instead of expense of raising. They don't want a lot of them around.

Horns. They can definitely hurt you without truly meaning to, just by a swing of the head. Also, butting is normal goat activity and dominance -- try to pet them OTHER than the forehead -- that is like a challenge to them, they butt in response.

You are not required to breed, show, register -- just hug and feed. Enjoy them. They will give you laughs, love & sometimes heartache. Mine do. It is worth it. Yes...they will get far larger! Those dairy breeds can and they do not appear to be a mini version. 150-200# at maturity. You know, pygmies stay small. Get a couple! See we are enablers!

You have made some very good points. I did discover that my vet will disbud babies for $10/per head. I love this vet. I really do. The reason I hadn’t had it done before now was due to my pure ignorance. While this vet is excellent, I definitely do pay dearly for his expertise. I had assumed without asking that disbudding would be the same way. I now know that he would have disbud all 8 for probably less than it’s going to cost me to have only one head done surgically at this point.

I have been petting them on their forehead pretty much to keep track of where their horns are. Especially when my daughter is feeding them. She already took a shorter horn to the corner of her eye. We got really lucky that day that it wasn’t any worse of an outcome. She only cried a little bit. I think it was more out of shock than pain. But as a safety measure that’s how I’ve been managing that problem. When it’s just me feeding them I usully wrap my arm around their backside and hug them or pet their sides. They seem just as pleased with a snuggle as they do a scratch on their head. I’ll have to decide if I can put up with a few tears, crying, and screaming from her because I don’t really want her in their area much less feeding them right now. She’s a pretty small 4 year old, 26# to be exact. I think a couple of my babies likely weigh every bit as much as that. I discovered that I’ve had them a bit longer than I realized. Some of them may actually be six weeks old now. My little girl absolutely loves them, even more than our brand new baby pigs. But, her safety is the most important thing on my mind. Yesterday I decided to drop one of their 20oz feedings. Most haven’t been drinking their full alotted amount anyways. They are growing so fast. But, they are eating much better than I realized they were and expecting them to be at this point.

You aren’t the first person that told me I shouldn’t be in such a rush to get them fixed. I would much rather wait right now as we have so much going on with our pigs right now. I’d rather wait now, than having to pay my vet to look at them because they are having stones to pass. We do most definitely need to get them outside in the morning until it gets dark and colder at the end of the day. My husband now realizes that and is putting in a lot more effort to get them an outdoor space now. They will still probably be housed indoors at night due to their age. But, maybe they will surprise us and be just fine outdoors now and only bring them indoors on the much colder nights. Their indoor space is already getting tight and winter hasn’t really begun yet.

I definitely don’t mind raising solely males/wethers. I might prefer that. I’ve always appreciated male humans and animals over female versions. I may be odd on that point. I personally feel males especially neutered ones make better pets/companions anyways. I have no interest in milking my goats. At this point I don’t even care if I lose money on them versus selling them and possibly breaking even. I have never raised animals for breeding or making money purpusess to this age in my life. I don’t feel a need to start now. I’d rather provide a good life for them than eating my animals anyways.

So thank you for confirming to me that I don’t need to breed them, be registered, or show them. I’m finding them to be so much more therapeutic and enjoyable than I knew was possible. I’ll leave making a profit/losing our hide to my husband and his pigs. I’m going to simply enjoy my goats and give them the best life possible. Thank you again. I needed to hear that. Yes, the people I bought them from raise them for dairy. They even have a milk truck that’s constantly parked on their farm.

 

[misfitmorgan]

A little late to the party, just wanted to say your pigs are fine and normal. The pen is more then roomy for two. Even heritage breeds can cycle at 5-6months and they can have false heats when actually pregnant. Females riding on each other is not anything that will hurt them so long as they are not causing bleeding or biting. The bottom pig always carries on and they will work it out. Separating them would probly make them sad, pigs do like to be with other pigs. Unless i read wrong you did say you put them in a pen where a boar was?? That could account for the change as well, the boar has that pen all scented up with hormones. Also if you moved them closer to the boar that can affect them.

Another odd fact with pigs is if you move them it can throw them into heat, its an old pig farmer trick. If you wanted to time litters together when it would be off-cycle you just load up them pigs in a trailer and go around the "block" come back and unload and they will go into heat within 3 days typically.

Welcome to BYH!

 

[Carla D]

A little late to the party, just wanted to say your pigs are fine and normal. The pen is more then roomy for two. Even heritage breeds can cycle at 5-6months and they can have false heats when actually pregnant. Females riding on each other is not anything that will hurt them so long as they are not causing bleeding or biting. The bottom pig always carries on and they will work it out. Separating them would probly make them sad, pigs do like to be with other pigs. Unless i read wrong you did say you put them in a pen where a boar was?? That could account for the change as well, the boar has that pen all scented up with hormones. Also if you moved them closer to the boar that can affect them.

Another odd fact with pigs is if you move them it can throw them into heat, its an old pig farmer trick. If you wanted to time litters together when it would be off-cycle you just load up them pigs in a trailer and go around the "block" come back and unload and they will go into heat within 3 days typically.

Welcome to BYH!

Wow! You know a lot about pigs. Yes they are where a young boar had called home for 2-3 months. That is a pretty cool farmer trick to know about. They are now in where a young boar was. And before the move, we housed them right next to our quite huge older boar. Midnight definitely did go into heat just a couple of days after being moved next to our big boy, Spot. Quite interesting. Thank you for that insite.

 

[Latestarter]

I haven't had to deal with this with my goats so much (nowhere near what you'll deal with) as I live in NE TX, but we DO have a "few" pretty cold (sub freezing) nights here in the winter. If you have the goats in a temperature controlled (read heated) environment, they'll not have the chance to "adapt over time" or acclimate to the colder outside weather. The result could be sick goats over the winter, or goats living full time in the house with you. As long as they have full time access to a dry/enclosed (non heated) place that gets them out of the wind/wet/weather, they should be mostly fine outdoors. They'll grow in a thicker winter coat, like most animals do, and then shed it out come spring. They may need a few more calories added to their diets to provide that extra energy to burn. They'll need some bedding material that they can snuggle down into such as hay/straw/wood chips-flakes/etc. Don't know if you've ever laid down in a pile of dried leaves or the like... You'll heat up and get mighty warm pretty quick.