I think I weaned wrong.....help

[Mrs. Turbo]

I still have a lot to learn about goats , please tell me they are going to be ok.....When I Google questions or ask friends everyone has something different to say. I was told the baby boys can breed the mom at 8 weeks old and to take them away at 6 weeks, so I sold my twin boys last night to a really nice couple. They were eating grain and grass and mom wasn't letting them nurse much anymore. I hope I did not do the wrong thing.
So one person told me to let mom dry on her own and do not milk her at all and another person told me to get some medicine from TSC to dry her milk.

 

[Teach97]

let her dry up on her own...if she was kicking them away she will be fine...do keep an eye out incase there is an issue...if her bag gets large you may need to do something

 

[helmstead]

That was a couple weeks too young to wean them. Too late now - but know in the future to keep them until they're 8-12 weeks old.

You don't necessarily have to milk her dry. If she wasn't a big producer, she should dry off on her own just fine. Just check the udder daily for signs of mastitis. If it starts to get hard, milk out just a little bit to relieve some pressure and use teat dip afterward. It will take a bit longer for her to dry off if you have to do this, but can avoid mastitis.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

thanks, we kept the other babies for 4-6 months so I never had this problem before. I need to start coming here to BYC and asking you guys....

The peope that took them are going to keep us updated.

 

[lorieMN]

if you band those boys when they are born you wont have to worry about it..its very simple to do.and only takes a few seconds.

 

[helmstead]

Quote:

No, no, please don't band that young.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

we gave the GoatVac cd-t last week and wormed them.
I wouldn't want to band them at birth, but I have another goat due any day now so when do you recommend?

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
No, no, please don't band that young.

Depends on what you are selling the boys for. We sell lots of boys for meat, they are castrated at whatever age they are taken (if they are taken as bottle babies).

If you are selling for pets, then yes, you would want to wait at least until 8-12 weeks to band.

We don't wean anything we are going to keep any earlier than twelve weeks.

Six weeks is pushing it, even if they are just going to be pets.

I have *heard* that some unscrupulous mini breeders wean at four weeks b/c it stunts their growth and keeps them smaller than they would be naturally...

Warning, about to get on a soapbox about bucks:

IMO, there are FAR FAR FAR too many "average" quality buck and bucklings out there. Not banding an "average" quality buck kid is poor management (in my opinion). Only truly exceptional buck kids from truly exceptional dams should be allowed to remain intact, ever. Just b/c you CAN sell a buckling doesn't mean you should.

 

[Chatychick]

I usually wean my boys that are staying boys at 7 wks and when I do band them I do it when they are about 8wks or so. I have waited till almost 3 mths to band. When they get older its harder on them but I dont band and wean at the same time as its to stressful.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

Quote:
No, no, please don't band that young.

Depends on what you are selling the boys for. We sell lots of boys for meat, they are castrated at whatever age they are taken (if they are taken as bottle babies).

If you are selling for pets, then yes, you would want to wait at least until 8-12 weeks to band.

We don't wean anything we are going to keep any earlier than twelve weeks.

Six weeks is pushing it, even if they are just going to be pets.

I have *heard* that some unscrupulous mini breeders wean at four weeks b/c it stunts their growth and keeps them smaller than they would be naturally...

Warning, about to get on a soapbox about bucks:

IMO, there are FAR FAR FAR too many "average" quality buck and bucklings out there. Not banding an "average" quality buck kid is poor management (in my opinion). Only truly exceptional buck kids from truly exceptional dams should be allowed to remain intact, ever. Just b/c you CAN sell a buckling doesn't mean you should.

I do agree with you on banding the boys, that goes for dogs and cats too in my opinion. My husband runs the local animal shelter and they fix every animal before it is adopted. We banded the last buckling that we sold with the mother. The people that bought the twin boys were taking them to the vet to get cut. They will just be pets.
The boar goat we waited too late and had to take him in. They wouldn't fit......he was 4 months old.