[Roxy]

I know some of you may be waiting for the arrival of your first kids soon.

Just wanted to make a couple of points, which you may not think about.

When my goats are due to kid, I never leave a water bucket on the floor in the pen with the due goat.  The reason being, having watched my goats poo in their water bucket, I reasoned that it was a distinct possibility they would stand up when kidding and drop the kid in the water, and it drown!!!  Also, kids are very inquisitive, so could drown in a bucket too, when they are walking round the pen.

Goats which are feeding kids, do get very thirsty, so its important they have plenty of fresh water readily available.  While the kids are really small, I put in two galvanised basins with water in.  They hold enough for the mother goat, but are shallow enough for the kids to get out if they do accidentally stand in the water (one of mine has already done this, and got itself out)

You may think you have part of your shed cordoned off for the mum and kids, but the kids get up to mischief very quickly, and if there is a gap, they will get through it.  Caught Jasmines two girls trying to do a runner, through a tiny gap, today.

Also make sure there are no sharp edges, or hanging bits of baler twine holding gates up etc.....its surprising what kids can get hold of, and if they swallow something like baler twine they will choke.

[ballingall]

If you get your kids disbudded as well, try and make sure they don't scratch their scurls (where their horns were burnt). Also try and make sure there isn't anything too hard or sticking out that they could hit their head on. I know this is really hard, but kids can die if they hit their heads in the aftermath of being disbudded. It can cause a bleed on the brain, which you can't do much for. The first two or three days afterwards are the worst. After that the risk gets smaller all the time.

I know some people who never have a hayrack in with kids (even up until they are several months old) due to the fact that they can hang themselves on hayracks. However, we've never had a problem with this, and I do give our kids a hayrack from quite a young age, though I hang it lower for them.

Beth

[ballingall]

Oh and we also take out mum's waterbuckets at night for the 10 days or so when they are imminent. As we hand rear our kids, the mum's get their buckets back again after kidding, but I agree with Roxy, if you leave the kids on the mum, it is a risk for the first few days.



Beth

[langdon]

if you dont mind me asking beth why do you hand rear the kids?
is it not best to leave them on mum naturally,
the only adv i can see in that is the owner having more milk for self use?
please im not being smart or funny as you well know im at the beggining with all of this
langdon   

[ballingall]

No worries about asking Langdon. We take away the kids for a few reasons. 1- we want the kids to bond with us, 2- we want to know how much milk mum is giving, 3- we want to know how much milk the kid is taking so if they are off their milk for any reason we would know about it, 4- we want to show mum's and kid's, and they can't be suckling from their mum's when we show, as how much milk mum gives is part of the competition, so we want as much milk as possible. 5- it also mean's that if a goat doesn't have enough milk to feed her triplets, thats ok, because we will get the milk from somewhere (another goat, shepherdess milk, frozen milk) else and feed them the amount they should be getting.

And besides that, goats are like human's, not all of them are as maternal as others! I have seen goats scared by their own kids, I've seen goats who have liked their kids, but are so careless with them that they stand or sit on them. Then you get times when the mum isn't well enough to look after them, and even times when they deliberatly hurt their babies.

It is a fair bit of work to hand rear, and the worst bit I guess is you have to be there for the feeds- 4 a day to begin with. But we are fortunate in that our living situation means we can accomodate that.


Beth

[Roxy]

I can vouch for it being hard work to hand rear the kids, having done it in the past.  Unfortunately, nowadays my working life means I could not be there to feed during the day, so its easier for me to leave them with mum.

[langdon]

 thanks once again beth for excellent reply
what advice would you give to a novice like me when the day comes that our
nannies have beautifull kids
do we do the same or leave with mom?
langdon

[ballingall]

That Langdon, is something I can't tell you. You have to decide what method is best for you. Will someone be at home in the daytime to feed the kids? Do you have somewhere seperate that you could keep them? You have to consider up all the options and decide what you think will work for you best, try it, then if it doesn't work as well as you thought, you can always try a different way.

Its a bit similar to what Wizard said- what works for me doesn't work for Roxy for example- we hand rear our kids because my mum and my partner are at home most of the time and because it suits us, Roxy leaves the kids on the mum which suits her because she's not always there during the day. You have to find what suits you.

It is hard work hand rearing kids, but it can be very satisfying because you develop a very close relationship with them.

Beth

[langdon]

thanks for reply beth,
mmmm its exciting to see how it is going to work out, i myself am here all day everyday,
i guess it will just come together.
p.s. beth how can i know the weight of milly and molly without scales, i noticed you said
in a previous post that an adult nannie weighs in at 60-70kgs

[ballingall]

Normally yes, but they can be a little less. If you have any farmer friends they may have a set of sheep scales (I'm sure they have a name, but I can think what!) they could probably be weighed in those as well. It's not essential to weigh them though- I would never normally bother.

Beth

[langdon]

thanks beth maybe the scales are called sheep scales!

[ballingall]

Going back to things about if you are expecting goat kids for the first time, I would recommend not cutting your goat's feet while she is very heavily pregnant- ie the last 3 weeks or so. She will be bigger than usual, and will enjoy standing on only three legs even less than normal! If you do cut her feet it could upset her enough to bring on early labour, or even just to risk her being unwell. Remember, equally I wouldn't try and trim her feet too soon after kidding either, they should be left for 5- 6 weeks over the time of their due date when you shouldn't cut her feet. It can take a few days for their plevis to tighten back up fully and them to be more comfortable in order for their feet to be trimmed.

Beth

[langdon]

wow beth you are just filled with such goat knowledge, its wonderfull to have people like yourself
and roxy and of the others to learn from.
thanks about the foot trimming thing, interesting