[plumseverywhere]

Or do you tend to take them off the mums after a few hours/days?

my last nanny Avocet arrived with 2 boys still feeding from her. They grew up into the tamest most gorgeous friendly goats but I'm just thinking logistics.
I've heard a few arguments for taking them off but just wondered if anyone ever does leave them on?

[Sylvia]

It depends on how much milk you need. I used to separate the kids from mother in the evening, give them a bottle last thing of milk replacement and take most of mother's milk a.m. The kids then fed from her all day and were within sight/smell/comfort at night.
If you need all the milk you will have to remove the kids and bottle feed but, hopefully, still in sight etc. of mother. I used hurdles to contain the kids.

[jaykay]

Yes, I keep the kids with their mums!
I  leave my kids with their mums full-time til they're 3 months old. Then I separate them at night and milk first thing in the morning. The kids then spend all day with mum, meaning I don't have to milk at night (my job involves 10-14 hour days, variably) and the kids get to socialise with their mums and are looked after by them.

I want more milk, I have more goats 

[plumseverywhere]

Will have more milk than we know what to do with if Savannah decides to produce maiden milk again this year so was hoping to keep kid(s) on Puffin at least for a bit (I like the idea of 12 weeks like you Jaykay)
Does mum protect well from predators (am thinking fox here) - just trying to work out how and when to keep them shut in (Puffin doesn't like being shut in but I can't risk the fox getting to the kids - will have to devise a hurdle arrangement to keep them in the shed but so Puffin can still get shelter too)

[katie]

I think the keeping together till 12 weeks idea is good. I don't need that much milk and I don't want to do all that bottle-feeding. Thanks for that!

[plumseverywhere]

   its reassuring isn't it? to know that it works.  Of course if I have boys they'll be going at 3 days    but need to be prepared (in hopefullness) for girls

[countrywoman]

I have been wondering about how to keep Mum and kids happy and also get milk.  I intend to leave them together and then, eventually, separate with a hurdle at night and milk in the morning - so it is helpful to hear that others find this works out okay.  My kids are not due until end April but tonight I am sure I could see movement when she was eating her feed.  Can't wait to see the new arrivals - hoping for at least one girl so fingers crossed!

[jaykay]

Well, I reared my boys to 9 months and just got them back from the butcher today - they killed out at 20kg so that was perfectly respectable.

Back to the little kids - yes, mum does protect them against allcomers. When they are extremely tiny (first week or so) I made an 8" barrier to mum's pen so the kids have to stay there and she can come and go. After that, depending on the weather and their escape-artistness, I put them outside, one family per paddock, with a field shelter, during the day. To begin with I walk mum out and carry the kids. Quite soon though they'll follow mum, with much skipping about - the cuteness is nearly unbearable 

[fifixx]

Plumseverywhere - why do the boys go at 3 days?  Can't you keep them for meat?

[plumseverywhere]

no I can't fifixx. it just doesn't work for us. Hubby vegetarian, me not able and 4 children who see the goats as pets more than meat. but we know a really nice man who rears them for meat so he'll take the boys and we at least know they are in a good home.
AM looking forward to kids skipping out with mum jaykay!

[Anke]

However if you have only boys - you have to milk twice daily after they are gone. Even if you have a mixed double/triple you will be better milking out and bottling any females, otherwise nanny could get mastitis from sudden loss of one of her kids and/or the milk yield drops really quickly (and won't go back up necessarily again).

And of course you will want to feed your lambs too, they will need a good litre and a bit for a while too.

PS.: What's the new hairdo your avatar??? I like it!

[Penninehillbilly]

Last year I left the kids with mums, from about 3 months I'd let mums out and give kids some concentrates, leaving it longer each day, about 4 months I separated them at night.
I've been told, and I keep reading that the done thing is to separate at 4 days, then in a few weeks they can run out together again. But I'd prefer to just milk once a day, leaving kids on doesn't do the udders much good, I'd really like somewhere in between, maybe separate at about a month, but then they would have bonded and everyone would be upset, I'll have to decide soon!

Has anyone tried rearing the boys (castrated of course) and training them to pull carts? a good excuse for keeping those little favourites?

[little blue]

Has anyone tried rearing the boys (castrated of course) and training them to pull carts? a good excuse for keeping those little favourites?

Well ... when our we had our first kid, we kept him (castrate) for about 9 months. I tried to train him, but he was an awkward little chap, and his mum freaked out when he went out on his lead, calling him etc.
She absolutely will not wear a collar & lead, although her foster-mum was lead into the house every day for milking & for walks round the garden etc... she just waited quietly til she returned!

As for kids - we've had the following experience:
foster-mum arrived with day-old Geraldine who had some bottled & some "direct" milk once they'd settled. She self-weaned, and we milked Margo a little bit twice a day.

Geraldine's first kid (Max) was self-weaned, Margo had died so we knew we would have to keep him until there was another companion for Gera. We milked her twice a day ... and she hates it! She prefers a once-a-day evening milking, with a bucket of food & veggie treats.  (Aren't they funny!)

Her second kidding was twins, we left them & just "eased" a once-a-day milking until they were about 8-10 weeks ... then we rehomed one & Max the first-born.  We then got loads of milk, and the other self weaned.

This time round, triplets! the two boys were rehomed very early, and are bottled.
We are getting about 1.5 to 2 litres of milk a day ourselves & she is feeding Heidi the little girl.
There have been a couple of days when we left it all for Heidi, she is growing into a giant!!

It will depend for you Plums on whether you get hims or hers...
and how Puffin reacts.  Do you have her in a "milk" routine? and is she comfortable with you touching her "quarters" (or nipples, as they are called here!)  just so you're both really prepared!

  I have to say, personally & imho, I don't feel comfortable separating kids from mums unless they leave the premises altogether. And I make no decisions until I know what we've got (i.e we said with this kidding, the boys would go asap, but a girl or two could stay longer! And I don't like them going off on their own either!  But until they arrived, we didn't know even how many were coming)

hope that made sense ... I'm abit too tired for coherent typing

[Lesley Silvester]

I leave kids with mum but still milk once a day.  They self weaned at about six months and now all live together, Gran,Mum and Curry.  I'm now on twice a day milking.

[jaykay]

Yes, mine self-wean and all live together too. It's the nicest, simplest way for me to keep goats