When can I throw the kid out back?

[Haviris]

I raise all my bottle kids in the house, how long they stay there depends on the kid and if I have any others at the time.

My goats are all very healthy and well adjusted, keeping her in the house til it's warm enough will be fine. I don't know how warm the days are, but I would start moving her out w/ the buckling during the day and bring her back in at night for awhile, she won't like it and will cry, but she'll adjust. Then as the weather finally starts warming up you can start leaving her out over night (or if you have a good place you can set up a heat lamp).

The longest I kept a kid inside and isolated (I normally make sure they get lots of goat time), was 8-10 weeks, I had to keep her isolated to keep from spreading sore mouth to the other goats. She'll be 2 next month and is fine and dandy! About half my goats are bottle babies. The biggest difference in my bottle goats and dam raised ones is the bottle goats I can take off by themselves and they are perfectly fine, but the dam raised ones don't like being separated from their friends.

 

[cutiepieacres]

If we have bottle baby pygmies they are up at the house for the first 3 weeks at least. When they are strong enough we let them follow us to feed morning and night. At some point they go to Kinder-Goaten where they will spend half days out with the others learing what these goat things are all about. We increase the amounts of time they spend outside so that by around 8 weeks of age they are spending the nights with the goats. I start slowly backing off of milk as well so that by 12 weeks they are pretty much weaned and eating with everyone else. Taking into account that I live in S. Cali it never gets below 25* here, I would be worried about making sure your baby has properly adjusted to the cold before just chucking her out into the goat pen, take it slow but she is old enough to begin learning.

 

[Indiana hens]

 

[ametauss]

love the diaper baby and kitty....

 

[Skyesrocket]

Oh!!!! She is a beauty! I will gladly take THAT problem off of your hands!
So nice of you to color coordinate her with a kitty!
I'm a little surprised she hasn't chewed your books up yet.
Tell us about the diapers please. How often do they need to be changed? Does her backside get all wet when you use them? I was just wondering how much of a mess they would be to use.

 

[hollyk]

Our bottle babies have been boers and one saanen dairy goat. We did have to keep a new baby inside for a while because of weather. You folks up north would laugh if I told you what we thought was cold. But, we almost lost him the first night because we put him outside with no other buddy. So, at night only, he came inside. During the day, even if it is cold, they run around and play generating warmth. If there is another goat and you can put out a heat source, they will be ok. They will not like being moved, but they will be ok. She definately needs to go outside during the day. She is livestock, they were made for this. I know its hard. I think partly it gets hard because we attribute "baby" identities to them. they (goats, sheep, chickens, etc.) are not babies they are livestock. That is why they can hit the ground slimy and wet and in 4 hours be jumping in the hay feeders!

 

[Indiana hens]

Quote:
Diapers hold alot of liquid. But just like any kid; a dirty diaper is a dirty diaper. She doesn't eat books but loved the comics. I am still looking for good homes for 3 hand-raised friendly kittens (black and white)

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I like the way they're color coordinated