My First Goat!

[MrsBrooke]

It turns out they are not Pygmies... I feel like they are Nigerian Dwarfs. Can any one verify this?

I know Pygmies aren't the greatest milk goats in the world... My relief was palpable that they weren't. Even though we wanted them primarily as company for our mini-Alpine, this opens up several opportunities... If they are what I feel they are.

I got a few pictures when I went to visit them yesterday.











The cream and the brown are sisters. The tan is the cream's baby.

They were dropped off at the lady's house, the cream got pregnant that MORNING, and the person who dropped her off never answered their phone again. 45 days later, it became apparent the cream was bred (accidentally) way too soon and wasn't able to nurse the tan. The tan was raised as a bottle baby on goat formula.

The brown has never been bred and seems to be a little more goat-aggressive than the other two.

Cream and brown are three years old, the baby is almost that old.

What does everyone think?

Also, I'm considering letting the mini-Alpine come home on Sunday and get acclimated before we pick up and introduce the three others. Is this wise? Or should I bring everyone in on Sunday? I read about quarantining them, and I will do that to the best of my ability. The three goats I saw yesterday were all bright-eyed and spunky. Nothing was dripping or oozing, no sneezing or coughing. I'm not a fan of feeding them corn (especially since I saw the brown one is kinda chubby), but I'll step them down off the corn and transition them to oats, instead. They will continue to get grass hay until we breed them... I found a local supplier.

I hope I'm kinda on the right track here! All of y'all's input is MUCH appreciated. <3

MrsB

 

[MrsBrooke]

We survived our first few days with goats!

Meet Heidi. She's the sweetest little thing in the world.

And Sampson, posing with his out-of-control flock of seagulls. He's a laid-back cool guy.

We ended up with him, because MrB liked him so much, we took him home, too.

The very kind lady said she was no where near ready to be bred, so there should be no worry there. After we got them home, it appears they became fast friends, and he is quite protective of her. I've observed zero rutting behavior or signs of heat. They appear to be getting along great.

We get the other three Saturday. I believe one of the does (the dark brown) may be in heat, so we will pen Sampson and that doe together and put the other two does in with Heidi for company.

Here we go.

MrsB

 

[Loc20chick]

We survived our first few days with goats!



Meet Heidi.

She's the sweetest little thing in the world.



And Sampson, posing with his out-of-control flock of seagulls. He's a laid-back cool guy.

We ended up with him, because MrB liked him so much, we took him home, too.

The very kind lady said she was no where near ready to be bred, so there should be no worry there. After we got them home, it appears they became fast friends, and he is quite protective of her. I've observed zero rutting behavior or signs of heat. They appear to be getting along great.

We get the other three Saturday. I believe one of the does (the dark brown) may be in heat, so we will pen Sampson and that doe together and put the other two does in with Heidi for company.

Here we go.

MrsB

congrats!!! one day i hope to keep 2 goats or 3

 

[Stacykins]

We survived our first few days with goats!

Meet Heidi. She's the sweetest little thing in the world.

And Sampson, posing with his out-of-control flock of seagulls. He's a laid-back cool guy.

We ended up with him, because MrB liked him so much, we took him home, too.

The very kind lady said she was no where near ready to be bred, so there should be no worry there. After we got them home, it appears they became fast friends, and he is quite protective of her. I've observed zero rutting behavior or signs of heat. They appear to be getting along great.

We get the other three Saturday. I believe one of the does (the dark brown) may be in heat, so we will pen Sampson and that doe together and put the other two does in with Heidi for company.

Here we go.

MrsB

She will have a heat, and it will happen when she is still too young to be safely bred. Just like with humans who can get pregnant at 12, if that is easier to relate to. So definitely remove her from his presence as soon as you can. If she has a heat between now and Saturday, you'll need to have the veterinarian give you lutalyse to stop the pregnancy. The "kind lady" likely just told you what you wanted to hear in order to complete the sale, and get an extra buck off of her hands. He has urine all over his head, so he has been acting like a buck, so he'd get the job done on Heidi if the opportunity presented. He doesn't know she is too young, just that she is a doe in heat in his reach.

The other doe who appears to be in heat now will no longer be in heat on Saturday. Heats in goats are very short, and standing heat (where the doe will actually stand quietly for him to do the deed) is even shorter. You'll have to wait until her next one.

 

[MrsBrooke]

All are good points. I am disappointed to hear I was lied to, but it seems like I should just *expect* it now. I asked her, "But she can have a heat at any time, right?" .... "No, no. She's way too young. She won't be ready for a while."

Ugh.

Anyway. We will handle that part of it.

There are three does that can be bred, so we'll have to see if any of them take to our buck.

MrsB

 

[ebertschic]

Thank you for updating this thread. Please continue to do so as I am educating myself about goats and will someday soon be a goat owner as well.

I love learning through other peoples experiences and challenges.

Good luck and please keep us posted on how everything is going!

~J~

 

[MrsBrooke]

Thank you for updating this thread. Please continue to do so as I am educating myself about goats and will someday soon be a goat owner as well.

I love learning through other peoples experiences and challenges.

Good luck and please keep us posted on how everything is going!

~J~

If I can help someone stumble *less,* then I'm doing my job. We're all learning!

MrsB

 

[MrsBrooke]

And a big "THANK YOU" to all who have shared their wisdom and their time with me in this thread. I appreciate you all!

MrsB

 

[MrsBrooke]

So we've put a nice doggy diaper on Heidi. She is still able to piddle and poop, but it prevents any breeding.

I'm worried about their nutrition.

I've got the coastal grass hay, alfalfa pellets, and whole (race horse) oats. They have ZERO interest in the hay or the pellets. They gorge themselves on oats and will pick through the grain/pellet mix I bring them. They've also eaten most of the rose bushes and wild dewberry bushes in their pasture (which is great).

How on earth do I keep these goats reasonably fed if they balk at the pellets?!

MrsB

 

[Stacykins]

So we've put a nice doggy diaper on Heidi. She is still able to piddle and poop, but it prevents any breeding.

I'm worried about their nutrition.

I've got the coastal grass hay, alfalfa pellets, and whole (race horse) oats. They have ZERO interest in the hay or the pellets. They gorge themselves on oats and will pick through the grain/pellet mix I bring them. They've also eaten most of the rose bushes and wild dewberry bushes in their pasture (which is great).

How on earth do I keep these goats reasonably fed if they balk at the pellets?!

MrsB

Goats are pickier eaters than you can imagine! Do you have a loose mineral mix made for goats available to them? That is a pretty important part of their diet. Just put a pan in a place that stays dry and clean, and let them lick it up as needed. Blocks aren't good, those are mostly NaCl (table salt) to hold it together, and does not provide enough trace minerals for a healthy goatie. Loose minerals have much higher mineral amounts and very little, if any, table salt.

My goats will not eat plain goat pellets, despite my attempts. I have to mix a bag of plain goat pellet with purina goat chow (which is a sweet feed meant for goats). They'll eat that mix. Mine have learned to eat alfalfa pellets, but it took a while. Start diet changes slowly. If they snarf down the oats, maybe only offer them oats well mixed into the other stuff. And slowly decrease the oat amount while increasing the other goodies. They'll probably pick around it at first, but will learn that it too is tasty. But if they're eating hay and browsing, they should be OK, as long as they get mineral. I do provide grain to my entire herd everyday. The boys mostly get it as an incentive to go into their stalls (they RUN as soon as I open the gate), and the girls get it because usually they are pregnant or lactating, or growing if they're young.