Lets talk about goats!

[kbennj]

Hello,
I'm new to goats and found a farm near by that breeds Pygmies and Myotonics. I am purchasing 3 Pygmy wethers from her. One is 8 months, one is 1 1/2 months and one is 3 weeks now. I won't pick them up until the end of Feb as she was wanting to wean the little ones, castrate them, and remove the horns before I get them.
We are very excited to begin our goat journey.
I am very confused though, I have read many conflicting things about goats, wethers, and pygmies concerning food. Some say alfalfa , some say no, use grass hay like Timothy, some say corn, some say no corn, it causes yeast and can make them bloat, some say worm using safe guard, some say no it doesn't work. ???
Can anyone give their 2 cents worth?

 

[prizepete]

Hello,
I'm new to goats and found a farm near by that breeds Pygmies and Myotonics. I am purchasing 3 Pygmy wethers from her. One is 8 months, one is 1 1/2 months and one is 3 weeks now. I won't pick them up until the end of Feb as she was wanting to wean the little ones, castrate them, and remove the horns before I get them.
We are very excited to begin our goat journey.
I am very confused though, I have read many conflicting things about goats, wethers, and pygmies concerning food. Some say alfalfa , some say no, use grass hay like Timothy, some say corn, some say no corn, it causes yeast and can make them bloat, some say worm using safe guard, some say no it doesn't work. ???
Can anyone give their 2 cents worth?

DO NOT FEED STRAIT ALFALFA TO A WEATHER. At least thats what every Breeder I have talked to say, if you have access to orchard grass, thats what I would do, I feed a orchard grass alfalfa mix, that seems to be doing well, Good luck!

 

[cassie]

Hello,
I'm new to goats and found a farm near by that breeds Pygmies and Myotonics. I am purchasing 3 Pygmy wethers from her. One is 8 months, one is 1 1/2 months and one is 3 weeks now. I won't pick them up until the end of Feb as she was wanting to wean the little ones, castrate them, and remove the horns before I get them.
We are very excited to begin our goat journey.
I am very confused though, I have read many conflicting things about goats, wethers, and pygmies concerning food. Some say alfalfa , some say no, use grass hay like Timothy, some say corn, some say no corn, it causes yeast and can make them bloat, some say worm using safe guard, some say no it doesn't work. ???
Can anyone give their 2 cents worth?

What is the breeder feeding them? I would continue to feed whatever they are used to. I don't have all that much experience with wethers, but I have had many years of experience with bucks. I fed my bucks straight alfalfa because that is what we had available. They did just fine on it with no problems whatever. That said, pet wethers really don't need alfalfa. A good grass hay or grass alfalfa mix would suit them better. Hay for goats does need to be of good quality or they will pick through it and waste more than they eat. It needs to be fine stemmed and free of mold. Pet goats don't need grain either unless they are underweight. Pygmies will get too fat. There is nothing wrong with corn but you can't feed a bunch of it to animals that are not used to it without making them very sick. The same is true of any grain. I used to feed my goats primarily COB which is corn, oats, and barley. Since my hay was very high in protein I could get by with the low protein in the grain ration. However, I had milk goats and high levels of milk production requires high powered feed, something pet wethers do not need. As for what to use for worming, it depends on where you are and what the worms have become resistant to. Ask the breeders in your area what they are using. To see if your goats are carrying a heavy worm load, pull down the lower eyelid. The color of the inside of the lid should be a bright fairly dark pink. If it is pale pink or white, the goat is anemic which usually means worms. It is a good idea to have a fecal test run a couple weeks or so after worming to see what the parasite load is so you can tell if the worm medicine you used was effective. If the goats still are wormy even though you treated them you are going to have to try something else. Your vet can suggest something that will work. It is very important that wethers have plenty of clean fresh water available at all times. If the water is dirty they won't drink it. Access to plenty of fresh water goes a long way to prevent the formation of urinary calculi. Even though I fed my bucks alfalfa, in the 40 years I had goats I only had one buck that got calculi and that was because the automatic waterer in his pen malfunctioned and he was without water for quite some time before I discovered the problem. Some people put apple cider vinegar in their bucks' and wethers' water to prevent stones. I don't know if it does or not, but it can't hurt. Be sure that your goats are vaccinated for tetanus and enterotoxemia. If they are not, get a vial of CD/T (clostridium perfingens and tetanus) and a syringe from the feed store and do it yourself. If necessary you ought to be able to find some livestock owner to show you how.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hello,
I'm new to goats and found a farm near by that breeds Pygmies and Myotonics. I am purchasing 3 Pygmy wethers from her. One is 8 months, one is 1 1/2 months and one is 3 weeks now. I won't pick them up until the end of Feb as she was wanting to wean the little ones, castrate them, and remove the horns before I get them.
We are very excited to begin our goat journey.
I am very confused though, I have read many conflicting things about goats, wethers, and pygmies concerning food. Some say alfalfa , some say no, use grass hay like Timothy, some say corn, some say no corn, it causes yeast and can make them bloat, some say worm using safe guard, some say no it doesn't work. ???
Can anyone give their 2 cents worth?

Here's my two cents, I keep mostly wethers now, I have 13 right now. They get a good grass hay mix, 2nd or 3rd cutting is best because it's softer and there's more grass blade and less stems, they won't eat the stems unless they are starving so expect waste. Never have I fed Alfalfa to my goats, I personally believe it's too rich, especially for wethers or nonbreeding ones. Goats are browsers not grazers, weeds, twig, and brambles are a more natural diet, mine love willow branches and twigs.

Wethers should eat very little or even no grain. I feed a bit during winter if they are looking thin, otherwise it's a bad idea, causes digestive upsets and causes stones, so certainly I wouldn't feed grain on a regular basis. Your wethers should be fine on pasture and hay and browse and an occasional treat or garden leftovers.

Your younger ones may need a bit of feed for a few months until they grow, though I've raised them on none. Otherwise my ration of choice is either one made and formulated for goats, or I mix sweet 16 with cracked corn and feed small amounts. Always have a loose goat mineral and baking soda, free choice on both.

 

[rosti]

It is not alfalfa itself that causes urinary calculi in males. It is a imbalance of calcium to phosphorus. Goats (and lots of other animals) need to have a ratio of 2 part calcium to 1 phosphorus. Because alfalfa is very high in calcium, it will destabilize the ratio and cause problems. Alfalfa is fine for males as long as you supplement with something else to be sure the ratio stays level.

 

[GitaBooks]

Our goats.

These are the goats we use to have a few years ago. We had to get rid of them because of the economy but some day I hope to get goats again and never have to find them a new home. They are all Nigerian Dwarfs.

Ethel with her son, Buckeye


Ethel playing on a ramp. I believe that is Daisy at the edge of the picture (she was from a litter of quadruplets and we owned her smaller sister)


Daisy and Ethel playing (they were still young in this photo)


Ethel, Daisy and Lilly investigating the front door


Lilly (the smallest), Daisy and Ethel eating a hens nest out from under her.

Lydia and Bonita (Bonnie for short) being introduced. Bonnie was very, very bossy and was busy showing Lydia who was boss. However, they did bond eventually. Bonnie had to be one of my favorites (my goat was Ethel but Bonnie had the most personality of almost any animal we've owned). She would stick her tongue out and make the weirdest noises and loved to rub her head on the grass until it turned green.



Ethel after her C-section. She was reintroduced to her son (Buckeye) the next day and they bonded and she was a wonderful mother. Buckeye was awesome also, but he must have nut been castrated properly because boy did he stink when he began to mature. You touched him even just a little bit and you smelled like goat for the rest of the day.

 

[lizardbrains]

Hi, I'm also new to the goat world! Have horses though. I rescued my 3 two weeks ago from my neighbours in a bad state of neglect. Got them just in time, as one kidded the following night. It was so cold out that night I'm sure they baby would have died. Lucky for her she was in the warm barn. The two females are bro

[/IMG]wn and white and the buck bkack and white

 

[lizardbrains]

Poor girl! She's looking a bit better since this pic.

This is mum

And this is the ladies after 2 weeks

 

[GitaBooks]

Oh wow! Poor things!

They are so lucky to have you. It is a wonderful thing you did giving them a new home.

The little kid is so adorable!

 

[Stacykins]

Poor girl! She's looking a bit better since this pic.

This is mum

And this is the ladies after 2 weeks

Wow, I am certainly glad you took them in. If you haven't already, definitely have a vet look at a fecal sample from each goat, looking for worms and coccidia (two different things!). They might be skinny from strait up malnutrition, but you want to be certain they also don't have parasites contributing to the low weight, which would hinder their progress towards health. If you've already wormed them, a fecal test will confirm that it was effective.

Their hooves definitely look like they need a good trim. There are plenty of youtube videos that demonstrate trimming techniques. Though if someone who keeps goats locally shows you, that would be best.