[langdon]

beth i persume this is the ideal weight for nannies to go the stud?
beth how do you manage to weigh a goat without scales?
interesting to read that goats show lack of calcium by not being able to sit down,
ours sit down quite alot chewing on the cud, again i persume this is a sign of a happy goat?
langdon

[ballingall]

I don't know that I would say there's an "ideal" weight to go to the billy. It depends on the size of the goat- a big goat will weigh more and might be 70kgs and be fine, and so might a 45-50kg goat- just that it isn't as tall.
I don't normally weigh all my goats- it just so happened we were at a show at Forfar market in August, and my neices and some children found if they sat up on top of the hurdles they could see into the weigh bridge hut and read what weight the scales said. So they weighed most of our goats in it. It is interesting having a definitive weight as opposed to just our guesses. I wouldn't probably have save Raker is as heavy as he is, that was a bit scary!


Sitting down chewing the cud is indeed a sign of a happy healthy goat.

Beth

[langdon]

thanks once again teacher!
forgive me when you see another question to you about weight of goats, i forgot i posted
one allready!!

[fifixx]

2 kids born this morning to the smallest goat.  Am exhausted by the emotion of it all!  The first kid is nice and strong but the second has very weak back legs - called the vet and he said to give it 24 hours as it may just need a bit of time.

Of course I completely forgot everything but of course she did it all by herself, I just gave the kids a wipe and left her to it.

2 more to go....

[jameslindsay]

Good luck but you know we like pictures.

[Anke]

Just make sure both kids are suckling properly, if weaker one can't stand up she might not get much. Milk some out and give to her by bottle, or hold her onto mum.

[Anke]

Oh, forgot, congratulations and best luck for the next ones.... Anke

[fifixx]

Just checked them and they seem fine, snoozing in the straw!  If I had to milk them, I don't think the mum would let me get near her - how do I overcome that?

[ballingall]

Tie her up, and get someone to hold her still as you milk! It can be difficult if they aren't very tame, but you may need to if you can't get the wee one to drink. Farmers sometimes have special sheep hurdles which prevent a ewe stopping a lamb from drinking, but not sure where you could get/borrow one from.

Beth

[Roxy]

The smaller one of our two kids had weak back legs, and this does sometimes happen after being folded up in the womb, being squashed by a larger one.  But after a couple of days she was as good as the other one, and no problem with her legs.  So do not worry I am sure your kid will be fine.

[fifixx]

I gave her oats, barley malt mixed in with warm water straight after kidding and she loved it!  Made her a bit more this morning for a treat and she gobbled it up!

Smaller kid still a bit wobbly but is definitely getting some milk, so I will keep an eye on her but hopefully she is getting stronger.  Both females by the way...

[fifixx]

Whew - all done.....3 sets of twins to the 3 mums.  why oh why did I wait so long to have goats?

 This is the link to the video on YouTube of them all:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B5cxJaBgGQ

[jameslindsay]

fifixx - fantastic