Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Imp]

Made a run to the Co-Op to load up on feed today. Purina has changed their 50 lb Layena to 40 lb bags and the price is the same! Wassup with that???? I'm calling Purina on Monday. Hope anyone else that's as unhappy with that as I am will make a call too!

God Bless,

I bought Layena last weekend and it still was the 50 lb bag, at Reber Ranch. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be alert. The price has gone down for me last year. Went up to $21, down to $17, the second to last time I bought it was &18; and last week too.

Russ

 

[BGMatt]

I have read that Purina feed is substandard now and that Nutrena is much better for the chickens.   Anyone used both and notice any difference? 

Check labels, regionally they can vary in actual ingredients used so long as they still meet the nutritional value. I always look out for unidentified ingredients. Ex: animal protein (doesn't specify which animal), plant or grain by-products etc.

The best "commercial" food I've seen has been Payback. Seems like good stuff and they actually offer a soy free which is hard to find.

 

[CarolynF]

Any goat people around - I need help

Mama was not taking such good care of her at all - wouldn't let her nurse and is now almost dried up. So, I brought her in, bought some goat replacer and am trying to get her to take a bottle. Never done it before (she's adamantly refusing right now).

Hubby wants to put her back with the herd and feed her during the day. I told him I thought it would confuse her, and that she's never accept the bottle. The problem is, we don't have anyplace to keep her except in the garage in a dog crate.

Once she has accepted the bottle for a few days, would it be safe to put her back with the flock? Would she try nursing on Mama again?


I'd appreciate any advice right now!

Hi Kate,
I'm so sorry to hear about your trouble. I wish I had experience to draw on. I just had a thought and thought I mention it -- just in case. Would it help to continue milking the momma so she doesn't dry up?

Good Luck!!!!

 

[RustyHen]

Any goat people around - I need help

Mama was not taking such good care of her at all - wouldn't let her nurse and is now almost dried up. So, I brought her in, bought some goat replacer and am trying to get her to take a bottle. Never done it before (she's adamantly refusing right now).

Hubby wants to put her back with the herd and feed her during the day. I told him I thought it would confuse her, and that she's never accept the bottle. The problem is, we don't have anyplace to keep her except in the garage in a dog crate.

Once she has accepted the bottle for a few days, would it be safe to put her back with the flock? Would she try nursing on Mama again?


I'd appreciate any advice right now!

Totalcolor, I have never tried with goats but with calves we would get them nursing the warm milk from our fingers palm toward the roof of the mouth, then gently introduce the nipple on top of the finger while they are nursing, and slowly remove the finger. It would sometimes take a time or too but usually they take right off. sorry that's the only help I can give, Good luck, PM Zgoatlady

 

[Duck Drover]

I can't scroll to the bottom of the quote so I am going to reply above it. The only way the mother might nurse her again after feeding her milk replacer is if you have poop from when she was nursing so you can smear enough on her back end to cover the milk replacer smell. Goats will accept anything that smells like their milk so you would be better to milk her and use her milk to bottle feed the kid than to feed milk replacer. To increase the doe's milk supply you would need to milk her as much as possible as often as possible. The longer she goes between milkings or nursings the less she will produce. Also, kids are prone to overeating because they will attempt to nurse everytime the doe stands still. She may be kicking off the kid because it has eaten enough. Lambs will eat so much they will die of bloat if there are not several lambs to a goat because goats produce so much milk. If the kid has energy and is not dehydrated it is probably getting enough to eat and there will not be surplus milk when you try to milk the doe. Does the kid appear to be failing to thrive?

Any goat people around - I need help
Mama was not taking such good care of her at all - wouldn't let her nurse and is now almost dried up. So, I brought her in, bought some goat replacer and am trying to get her to take a bottle. Never done it before (she's adamantly refusing right now). Hubby wants to put her back with the herd and feed her during the day. I told him I thought it would confuse her, and that she's never accept the bottle. The problem is, we don't have anyplace to keep her except in the garage in a dog crate. Once she has accepted the bottle for a few days, would it be safe to put her back with the flock? Would she try nursing on Mama again?

I'd appreciate any advice right now!

 

[Totalcolour]

Goat Issues

The Mamma won't let the doeling nurse at all, and when Himself tried to milk the goat (before we took her baby away), she was dry. The doeling is very wobbly (she's eleven days old) and doesn't run around like her three half brothers (2 days younger).

I'm going to bring her back up to the house tomorrow and try the bottle feeding again. At least we got several ounces of milk replacer in her tonight. Although it wasn't from a bottle, we can try, and use the "drench" tube again if bottle feeding doesn't work.

Mama was dry when Himself went down tonight, so I think it's too late for the baby to nurse.

 

[Duck Drover]

Mystery solved: "weird genes" minus the Irish accent is Wade Jeane's!

 

[MizzPeabodyIV]

Hello from Maple Valley (SE King county)! I just purchased three chicks from the feed supply yesterday and my kids and I are having fun taking care of our little chickies. I'm a little nervous about my long term chicken keeping prospects as I live in a strict HOA community. Additionally, my lot is very small (I think around 4,500sq ft) and we have numerous neighbors in close proximity. I'm concerned the chickens might be too loud. We shall see, but for now we are enjoying our chicks. Here are our babies

 

[Duck Drover]

Hello from Maple Valley (SE King county)! I just purchased three chicks from the feed supply yesterday and my kids and I are having fun taking care of our little chickies. I'm a little nervous about my long term chicken keeping prospects as I live in a strict HOA community. Additionally, my lot is very small (I think around 4,500sq ft) and we have numerous neighbors in close proximity. I'm concerned the chickens might be too loud. We shall see, but for now we are enjoying our chicks. Here are our babies

I am just down the road in Covington!

 

[Ixyavi]

Hello from Maple Valley (SE King county)! I just purchased three chicks from the feed supply yesterday and my kids and I are having fun taking care of our little chickies. I'm a little nervous about my long term chicken keeping prospects as I live in a strict HOA community. Additionally, my lot is very small (I think around 4,500sq ft) and we have numerous neighbors in close proximity. I'm concerned the chickens might be too loud. We shall see, but for now we are enjoying our chicks. Here are our babies

Does your HOA not allow chickens? Welcome