Goats goats goats!!!

[hearthnsoul]

I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I found my two nigerians goats!!! I put an ad on criagslist and was contacted by a breeder. She offered me a great deal on a Doe and a whether, and even offered to breed the doe for me. The Whether is only 2 weeks old,..so we are thinking to go to bottle feeding so he will be very human friendly.
I want to thank everyone on here for the great advice on goats. I swear sometimes I wouldn't know what to do without all the advice on here. Brilliant people..give yourselves a hand!!

 

[Del Cielo Chickens]

Thats so exciting! I got a goat a few weeks ago and she is so much fun. Have fun with them!

 

[username taken]

Congrats!

But a bit more advice

Bottle feeding a 2 wk old is a LOT of work, if the kid has previously been sucking off his mum. Usually by this stage they are so imprinted to the teat, it is literally world war III to get them onto a bottle. So, if you are dead set on bottle feeding, make sure this breeder removes him from his mum and establishes the kid on the bottle FIRST. You absolutely do not want her to just give you the doe and the bottle kid, taken straight from him mum.

The next thing that sticks out to me is that more often than not, does are very bossy to kids that arent their own - to the extent of head butting them, biting them, picking them up with their teeth by the ear, hair or skin, and throwing them around the pen. Which all leads me to say that a 2 wk old kid is usually not a good companion for a breeding age doe.

So honestly, if it were me, I'd try to get a weaned wether or another doe along with the doe you are getting.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Yay! That is very exciting!

I absolutely love my goats!

 

[hearthnsoul]

Quote:
Interesting thoughts,..thank you! They are already together, the baby and doe in the same housing. But I am going to ask the breeder what she thinks about them minus mom. I also think your right, I am going to email breeder tommorow morning to ask her to start the switch to bottle. Thank you thank you for your thoughts!!!

 

[ecocheapomom]

I see that you live on the Cape and I am in Southern NH. I have been thinking alot about getting a few goats for milk. Was wondering what you will be using for housing and how much space they will have. Is winter a big consideration? Thanks!

 

[Sillystunt]

I love my nigerians! Yeah and congrats!! Post some pic's darn it!


ecocheapomom
Mine sleep in a manger but will be moving to the old chicken coop. really a shed , that's why it's the OLD chicken coop. Mine are in a 22x12 pen but we let them graise in our yard as well. that way they can run around and play! Just finished my 1st bag of grains and it lasted a month (we have free choice hay always)

Winter i would think an enclosed shed, barn, structure, etc free of drafts and maybe a heat lamp. i live in florida so i don't have that set up.

Visit my BYCpage to check out pen and manger~
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[hearthnsoul]

I am picking them up on saturday if all goes as planned. Get ready for pics then I may do overload,..so excited!!!

 

[hearthnsoul]

Quote:
We started working on the lot today. We planned to have them bunk with the chicks in the coop which is 8x8 and maybe 14 feet high. I found the chicks spend all their time on the high rafters,..and the ducks piled in a corner,..all totally wasted space
But on second thought we decided to do an addition on the coop. We are thinking no flooring,..more like a barn. I have read the pee can just rot away the flooring. So I am going to do a shelf with bedding for them to sleep on. to keep them cozy and warm in the winter. We will insulate, but from what I am reading you don't want the exterior and interior to vary to extreme,..like 75 inside and 15 outside,..too shocking supposedly to the system. So I feel good with insulating but leaving the floor, well just plain old ground. I do plan to buy them doggie coats,..for the winter and keep lots of hay on their shelf and floor, maybe pine shavings for the bedding too.
So as we are figuring now we are going to add out ten foot from the coop which would make the interior maybe 7 feet by 4 feet for the goat den and we are facing it so no winter breezes will hit it.
For the yard area, we just got home I bought 100 feet altogether of fencing. I had 5 panels of wire mesh panels and I just bought 50 feet of galvanized fencing made for goats, oh all 5 feet high. I am going to start out like that and when I have some more ka'ching I am going to replace the mesh panels with more galvanized. I am really pushing my luck with my poor husband. He hasn't even finished siding and shingling the coop and I have him moving onto a goat den and pen. Thank goodness he is so patient with me. I figure now though he can shingle and side the whole lot now

 

[hearthnsoul]

Silly Stunt,
your just my hero,..Love your goats and pen!!,..any chance of getting some more indepth photos I need ideas