The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: ScotsGirl on March 08, 2013, 07:44:12 pm
-
After a shaky start I now have 6 gorgeous kids, 5 girls 1 boy and just one doe left to kid in April. Real time wasters and I just love sitting I the shed with them.
It is going to be hard to part with some of them but can't keep them all.
-
:love: :love: :love:
-
That's really great - well done :thumbsup:
Ps don't know how many hours I "waste" in the goat shed - I'm certainly not telling
-
Love the pic of it standing on top of mum
are any of them 100% ers ? we are thinking of adding one or 2 more ::) but want registered 100% and disbudded
-
No they are 87% and 2 are 50%. I am not disbudding these ones as I don't like seeing horn spurs growing. Also if god intended them to be hornless they wouldn't have them. Useful to hold onto. If I find it a problem then next year will disbud.
The lady I bought them from has some 100% and disbuds. She has had a lot of girls so may have some for sale.
-
Thanks, definatly wanting 100% s and would not consider horns under any circumstances but thats just me an anti horn through and through
where is the breeder located ?
-
She is near Petersfield. Jane Green, Hansus Cottage. If you google her it should throw up her number.
These are my first goats and I couldn't decide about horns. Of the 5 only one was successfully disbudded and the rest have bad re-growths. I can't bring myself to do that to such a small creature so partner decided we should see how we get on. My little AN x has horns and it doesn't pose a problem.
-
If there is a lot of bad horn regrowth, then whoever disbudded them didn't do a good job! Out of 5 (especially 5females) I would maybe expect 1 to have any horn regrowth. We have 7 kids from last year between us and my sister goats. 5 females and 2 males, one of the females has a tiny regrowth, and that's all.
Beth
-
we had 4 done in 2011, we kept 2 and a friend has the other 2 and not one of them has any regrowth
I will google her
-
Does anyone know of a good goat vet in Wiltshire? I'm not sure my vet has much experience of this and there seems to be mixed views about where full anaesthetic or sedation is safest.
-
The law requires full anaesthetic for goat kids. The RCVS published a very good article about disbudding a short while ago which Vets MUST adhere to.
-
Scotsgirl,
Nice kids and yes is will be hard to let some go but they say the trick is not get too close to them! ( easier said than done )
We hope to have Boer goat kids this year for the first time ever and not going to dis-bud any as we say if any animal is born with horns they should be left with them! Extra care should be taken when around horns.......
How many nannies are you kidding this year?
Have you had any problems with the nannies when kidding? We have been involved in lambing for many years but this will be our first time kidding!
Regards,
Ian.
-
This is my first year with goats too but quite a few years with lambs also. I found them more difficult to assist as kids are more gangly and flimsy than lambs. All nannies have been great mums though and much more amenable to being milked if needed.
Kids are real wimps though and scream the place down! Only one male and he didn't take kindly to being castrated!
I bought 5 in kid, one being a dairy, 1 lost her kid at two days, 1 due to kid in April if others haven't butted her too much and other 3 all went fairly well.