[ScotsGirl]

Just wondering if goats need to be separated at kidding time or can they all stay together? My ewes are penned separately with lambs until ok to go out.

[Anke]

I normally put my mum-to-be into her own pen (freshly cleaned out) about a week before the due date, so she can get used to it. It is in the main shed, so she can see and talk to her mates still. Once the kid(s) are there, they stay in the pen with her for the first 4 days (they have an upturned box for their cave to sleep in!), then - after disbudding - I put a hurdle across the corner of the pen and separate the kids - mum can still sniff them and talk tot hem, but I put the kids onto the bottle and milk the nanny out. After a couple of weeks (depending who else is kidding and when) kids go into the kiddie pen and mum goes back to her mates.
 
One of my first kidders this last spring went absolutely mad when I put a box into the pen and her baby went into it to sleep.... she couldn't work out where the little one had gone... box was swiftly removed, and she was very relieved that baby had turned up again...

[Lesley Silvester]

I only have a garden shed so there was no option.  When Pom had Curry last year, her mum was in there with her.  I had tried to shut her outside but it started to rain so I had to let her in but it all worked out well.

[ScotsGirl]

I presume because mine are not millers I don't take kids away? I have one which I can milk but planned on leaving kids to take most of the milk in first week then part them at night and milk her before putting kids back. I wasn't sure however if other mums will knock seven bells out of the others' kids and would have to keep all mums apart for a while.


I have 5 in kid and one young AN not in kid who is already being bullied by others. I feel sorry for her but assume it is something to do with mixing breeds?

[jaykay]

I pen mine separately when they give birth. The other goats are about, but the other side of a metal partition/gate.

I let mum out on her own a couple of times a day dor a leg stretch. Once the kids are about a week old, they all come out for supervised playtime, inside or out depending on the weather. When I leave them alone, I pen them separately again.

I leave my kids on my goats all the time til they're 3 months old, then I pen the kids separately at night and milk mum first thing in the morning. Then the kids are with her all day.

I find that the other mums do knock the other kids about.

Eventually during the day, I pen my two adults in the two adjoining paddocks. The kids nip under the gate to play with each other and can escape back under it when not-their-mum comes waving her horns too close 

[ballingall]

What breed are the rest Scotsgirl? Goats are racist (seems weird I know, but we have definitely had cases of racism here), so it could be the breed, but also just that she is bottom of the heap as it were.


If you are leaving the kids on the mums, I would separate out the mums in advance by a week or so if possible, before they kid, and if not, when they do kid, I would separate them with their kids for 2-3 days at least to let her and the kids bond. Same as you might do with sheep really. The other mums shouldn't beat up another goats kids, not if mum is around !


Beth

[ScotsGirl]

I have 3 50% boers, a white one(?) quite stocky who might be boer x judging by ears and a reject milker (would it be a tog ?). The milker doesn't seem to like AN or white one much but accepts boers. They all lie down happily and graze together, mainly arguments come over food.

[Anke]

I presume because mine are not millers I don't take kids away? I have one which I can milk but planned on leaving kids to take most of the milk in first week then part them at night and milk her before putting kids back. I wasn't sure however if other mums will knock seven bells out of the others' kids and would have to keep all mums apart for a while.


I have 5 in kid and one young AN not in kid who is already being bullied by others. I feel sorry for her but assume it is something to do with mixing breeds?

The bullying is probably more to do with new/in-comer, different ages and different sizes, I found mine separated out a bit more by breed once we had a larger group. Might all change if/when you get another AN!
 
I can't advise on how to separate (or not) if you leave the kids on the dam, I never do that now. All my kids grow up together, and go out with the rest of the herd when they are at least 2 months old or even older, depending on weather.

[ballingall]

I have 3 50% boers, a white one(?) quite stocky who might be boer x judging by ears and a reject milker (would it be a tog ?). The milker doesn't seem to like AN or white one much but accepts boers. They all lie down happily and graze together, mainly arguments come over food.

You'd think the Boers would be ok with a AN, they don't look very different... We had issues when we brought in a white goat when we had only had BT types and AN's for years before. I think it's more likely she's just bottom of the pecking order (as it were) and they aren't letting her at the food.


Beth

[Lesley Silvester]

I had problems with my Sanaans not liking a BA and know someone whose BAs picked on a Tog cross, so they are real racists.

[Brucklay]

My pygmy's are 'heightest' they pick on my wee Feebee now and again - the other blue and white doesn't take any prisoners!!!

[Dogwalker]

I've had a hired in Angora buck push a ginger GG away when she was very in season and very keen, so much for randy bucks.

[Lesley Silvester]

Maybe he was gay.

[Dogwalker]

Just had the goats scanned expecting 4 x twins, 2 x singles and one x 'not sure, too early to see' but she hasn't come back in season so assume pregnant.
 
So no, not gay, just young and inexperienced, didn't know he was supposed to serve 'foreign'  ones too.

[sokel]

we keep mums seperate with new babies then after a few days the kids go onto bottles
 we have 4 Boer . 6 toggs and 1 white sannen xtogg   5 of the toggs get on great with the white one but her togg mum and togg looking sister is in there
1 togg hates all of the other dairys but loves the boers and all of the dairy hate the 1 togg and the boerss

 think I have that about right