Recently purchased farm and completely overwhelmed wih springtime chores... lots of misc questions!!

[Ana Robin]

Good morning!

We recently purchased a small-scale farm... 4 dairy goats (nigerian dwarfs), a buck and 3 doe; several meat rabbits, already experienced 2 litters of kits and 25 pullets (we've done chickens before).

Questions:

We did deep litter with our goats this last winter. Never again, as getting rid of the mess is proving difficult. We do not need that much compost. Any suggestions regarding alternate methods? Does are about to kid and we are having a hard time sifting poo pebbles from the straw in he new barn.

Once kids are born, how long do they stay in the stall with mom? How long before mom can venture out? How long before kids can pasture with other does?

How do I test the goat milk for harmful bacteria before consuming?


Should I pasture the chickens with the goats? At what age? They are 5 weeks old.

Do goats need lighting to kid? Our barn is sort of dark, which leads me to my final question... window or vent in the barn? They used to have windows, but we moved them to the barn on the pasture... nicer with stalls and all, but no windows. The door allows for ventilation because there is a 1.5 inch gap at the top of the door... but it's getting warm here in Idaho... we'll need better ventilation. Suggestions?

Sorry for so many questions!!! lol

 

[ridingtailboard]

Hello,

My nannies do best of I isolate them and their New babies for about three weeks. I put them in a small paddock and the babies will venture out with mom in a day or two. After two - three weeks ill combine all my nannies and little ones. I am also having success just leaving them with the herd through the whole process. I tried this with two nannies this year. However I feel better knowing they are safer when separated.

bedding is hard to control, I don't have the best solution yet. I clean it out and add more as needed. If your barn is dark I would provide some light in daytime hours. And I like lots of ventilation.

 

[Ana Robin]

Thank you so much for he advice!

 

[cassie]

The only way to test milk for harmful bacteria would be to culture it and the only times I have ever had milk cultured, either goat or cow, is to find the best antibiotic to use to treat a case of mastitis. Use cleanliness in milking, sanitize equipment, and the milk should be fine. If you are worried about it, you can buy a pasteurizer. There are a number of them available for home use.