Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats Blog - Triplets born - New baby pics

[ruth]

They were all so cute but I decided on four of the herd. One is 18 months old and has already kidded once. The other three are little does (one set of twin sisters) and are four and five months old. The breeder will be delivering them next Sunday so she has time to tattoo them, worm them, and trim their hooves and I have time to get their pen ready.

Now I just have to figure out what I just got myself into?

Any and all suggestions are welcomed.

 

[Chatychick]

Well all I can say is CONGRATS!!!! and you will love them...also make their pen if you can with cattle panels as it will save you money in the long run. and make sure they cant get to chicken feed or layer mash...

 

[penelope77]

woohoo!!! nothing better than getting your first goats. i have nigerians. you are gonna have a great time. if you dig through here there have been alot of great goat posts. if you haven't gone to www.fiascofarm.com then go there. if you've already been then you know what i'm talking about. i'm sure we will all be expecting pictures when they make it to your home so don't forget!!

 

[dixygirl]

Yippee !! I want to see them!
Congratulations
dixy

PS Let me know how much you end up feeding them daily. This is one of the breeds i am considering.
How tall are yours?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Do the dwarf goats produce enough milk to justify their feed?

I know just their cuteness makes them worth it.

Uhhh, Pics please. You pulled me into this post without a pic to gawk over. Jeesh

 

[momma's chickens]

OH, you are going to love them! I got our two goats about three weeks ago and I love them. They are the funniest things in the world to watch, they are hilarious and keeps us entertain for hours. They are extremely friendly and ours are even becoming loving toward us.

Enjoy your new babies next week-end!

 

[Their Other Mother]

Yea! another goat mother! Have fun, they are great pets!

 

[Chirpy]

Hurray! I'm guessing you will just love them! I got my first Nigerian Dwarfs just over a month ago and they are hilarious. It took me a few days to win the heart of one and almost two weeks to win the other one. Now, they are all over me (it's gonna be a problem when they are bigger - they both try to get into my lap at the same time now and don't really fit!

), and love all the attention we will give them.

If they can get up onto something they will. They love to "help" me do chores but have this tendency to be directly under my feet ... makes it hard to walk!

Mine are in with my chickens right now and it was a huge challenge to figure out how to keep them out of the chicken coop so they couldn't get into the chicken feed. We have finally done it so if you ever need help in that area I can show with a picture what we did. It was goats: 4 vs. people: 1 before we finally stopped them. Fortunately my husband and son both took it as a doable challenge instead of getting upset that they kept getting beat by goats!

Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[ruth]

Hi All - sorry no pics yet but will post plenty when I get them next Sunday. The breeder has raised most of them as pets. The mother and aunt of the two doe twins were raised in her home so they are super friendly. The two doe twins that are four months old are "large for their age" but the little itty bitty one I picked out is five months old and "very small for her age". Bella is 18 months old and smaller than my grown German Shepherd which is a small shepherd to begin with. The two does are smaller than my 4-month old GSD puppy. The little tiny one looked like a miniture little deer - about the size of a cat. I know in the breeder world I probably should not have picked out and paid full price for the "runt" but she was so tiny and so cute I just couldn't help myself. Hubby said "that's just you" meaning I'll always pick the underdog. Plus if I'm going to be breeding minis isn't the idea to breed some small size into the mix?

My plans are to get registered as a herd "Bethel Farms" is what we just incorporated as and to start raising my own. I picked ones that aren't directly related to one another so that I can breed offspring.

As far as milk production - I think I read about a quart per day which would be more than enough for hubby and I. I'm mostly getting them for their cuteness and to add to the "farm" we've just started. Hubby read that you can sell goat milk, just can't advertise it.

I have a lot to learn and will have to join the various associations. You all are to blame because it's on here that I learned about them and saw pics and watched you all talk about them and then I just had to have some. Shame on all of you.

The previous owners had goats at one time and there is a goat pen right next to chicken coop that we are working on cleaning up and getting ready.

I must ask - why all the warnings against them getting chicken feed - is it just because they will eat it all or because it's harmful to them? Since my chickens freerange I'm hoping to let the goats and chickens interact a lot. Chickens like goat poop and bugs it draws (from what I've read). All the coops and pens are in backyard and safe from predators thanks to GSD Rex and other dogs and cats. Of course the goats will go through introductions slowly and under close watch. There are also stables and barns that could be safely enclosed and which have electricity in case I need heat or air for them. But, heck, they'll probably be living in house with me. That little tiny one could sleep on my pillow next to my head she's so little.

Question - the breeder also had a two year old that I liked that has never been breed. She would keep her and breed her and then return her and I would have babies (and milk) in Dec. or Jan. Would it be getting too cold then to fool with babies - given that I do have a warm/heated barn/stables they could be in - or should I just wait till winter and breed her and have a late spring kidding?

I'm going to have lots of questions. Thanks for any and all links to informative sites. The breeder is also willing to answer all questions. She is only selling them for the first time because she just had a baby herself (in vitro) and really needs to get rid of some and raise some money. She was having a hard time letting them go - they had always been her babies.

 

[Chirpy]

This is just my personal opinion not experience talking here but - after bringing my babies home in May I was really, really glad that it wasn't cold outside. I would have been so concerned for them (keeping them warm and dry) if they'd been here during snow or bitter cold days.

A couple of the breeders I talked with said they don't like to have kids born in the cold months because they were more likely to lose them at birth or shortly thereafter.