Can a 7 month old Nigerian Dwarf be bred or is this too young?

[SarahFair]

If yall have a Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin Id look there.
Craigslist..


Other than that the only place I knew to get one was this huge... petting zoo type place my SOs family runs (it has deer, buffalo, cougars, bears, donkeys, pigs, etc).
...Just make sure the animals look healthy and seem to be taken well care of.


And age doesnt really matter. I got my nanny when she was 5(ish) months old and she knew how to walk on a leash (that was from the petting zoo type place, and I know they didnt teach her that)
Then Ive gotten one the same age that would only get close enough to you to grab a treat and run.
Ive also gotten 3 month olds the same that I could never tame well.

I got my buck when he was about 3-5 months and hes 1.5 now and he still doesnt want me petting him unless hes getting access to scraps.




So Id say if the goat is a little older and you want a "dog" like goat make sure its like that before you bring it home.
Once they are older and have that "fear" in them... its pretty hard to break.


...but I will say...
When I brought my nanny home (when she was about 5 months) she was wild as a buck in her cage. She had to stay in the back yard alone for a about a week or 2 alone (with chickens)
so I dont know if that bonded her to me better or not.
..but then again.. she did come from a petting zoo type place where she is more than use to people ranging from strollers to elderly.


Just thinking outloud here.

Good luck!

 

[EM Squared Farms]

Dear Lark Rise,

I would highly recommend getting them as young as you can !

I was lucky enough to get one at 4 weeks old and bottle feed him. He loves me ! He NEVER acts aggressively towards me. Sometimes goats will push on you a little with their heads, but not headbutt you or anything. This buck never does.

The others I got at 8 weeks old (it's such a long time to wait after you pick your goat out) and I think our other buckling at 3 months.

They take a little while to "bond" to you. They definitely "know" you compared to strangers. They let "you" come up to them and pet them versus running clear away from you if you are a stranger.

I think they say at 8 weeks old, bucklings are fertile ! Surprisingly they are big enough by then to go into the 4" x 4" square goat fencing versus the no climb fence for the smaller doelings.

I'm looking so forward to our new baby goats by the new year. I want to see how tiny a newborn goat is. I hear they are only 2 lbs.

Has everyone checked out our goats on our website yet ?

My favorite one is my white one Jasmine.

 

[Lark Rise]

Quote:
Thank you all for your advice.

Yes, I did look at your website. Can I just say Nigerian Dwarves are so cute.

How much milk does an average ND doe give you?
Are parasites as a big a problem as people have been scaring me about?

 

[wsmoak]

Quote:
If you don't already get the Market Bulletin, you can read the ads online. There's a section for goats and sheep: http://www.agr.state.ga.us/mbads/

-Wendy

 

[EM Squared Farms]

Dear Lark Rise,

Well, since I don't have any babies yet, I can't really speak first hand from experience. But what I've read is that each NDG should give about 1 quart each milking and you milk twice a day. So about 1/2 gallon from each doe per day ?

I also heard the more you milk the more they produce ?

People advised me that you wait 1-3 weeks before taking any milk once the babies are born. (if she has 1 baby, wait 1 week, 2 babies, wait 2 weeks, etc.)

Then they say to start out by separating the babies overnight and milk her in the morning. Then you let the babies nurse all day. You don't separate the babies until 2 nights (so every other night).

Have you seen that other goat forum I wrote about in my blog ? If you go back to my website and look to the far right under "more..." and go to Lisa's Farm Blog, the last entry should point you to a good forum. Everyone is a goat person there and the founder usually answers all your goat questions and she's very experienced. Check it out.

Hope you find some goats in the colors you like !

 

[elevan]

Lots of goat info and even some for sale on the sister site: www.backyardherds.com

 

[jaide]

I'm so excited!!! I have gotten a to. Of information from this site about getting started with my chickens. Now I know I can come here for all my goat questions too!!! We are picking up our 2 ND goats next weekend from a friend of ours. They are about 6 months old now (we were suppose to get them a couple months ago but life has been hectic) I know almost nothing about goats (except the hours I've spent online reading) hope this all goes well. I'm sure I'll be returning to this forum to ask many goat questions