# Weaning without separate pasture?



## newbiekat (Mar 19, 2013)

I have two doelings that I need to separate from their mommas. They are going on 6 weeks old and I wanted to start preparing. My pasture isn't big enough to be split, and I don't really have anywhere else to put them. I can pen them up in the barn, but it's starting to get nice out, I don't feel like that would be fair... I am penning them up in the barn at night so we can milk their mommas in the morning. Any suggestions?


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## madcow (Mar 19, 2013)

Maybe you could erect a temporary, separating fence in the pasture while you are trying to wean the little ones.  You could just use a few T-posts in a corner of the pasture and put some rolled fencing up to close it off.  That might also be a good solution, because they could see and be close to their mothers, but not really be able to nurse.  Of course, you will need a shelter for them to keep them out of the sun and weather.  An empty barrel open on 1 end (or both ends), laid on its side and held in place by a few stakes to keep it from rolling should work for a few young ones.  It should make a good place to climb, but keep it far enough away from the fence so they can't climb or jump over it.  

We will be faced with the same problem in a couple of weeks, too, but right now we have separate areas for our kids and does when the time comes to separate them.  If you plan on having kids along, this type of sit-up will be needed off and on, and it would also make a fair quarantine area, too, if needed.  Our smaller separate pen will be for our buck and companion wether when we acquire one and we will also be setting up another separating pen for our next batch of kids, and then we should be all set.  Just gotta keep the number of goats we have to a reasonable amount.  That's going to be the tough part! LOL!  

I'm sure other members will have other ideas for you.  Good luck with the weaning!


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## newbiekat (Mar 19, 2013)

I do have a separate makeshift area for my buck, which is a temporary thing, I was hoping to have him gone by now so I could put the two girls in there. It isnt much bigger than maybe 10x20 I would say. But I still have him, so I cant put her in there, and I definitely dont want him back with my girls... I may see about doing that.

How long would it take to wean them? A few weeks? How would I know when they are weaned?


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## Suburbanfarmer (Mar 19, 2013)

We are truly urban farmers with no extra space for a separate area, so last spring when I had one I needed to wean I taped the doe with bandage tape. Worked great (most days, the doeling was able to remove the tape a couple of times early on before I got good at it  ). I ran a piece down one side of the teat then back up the other side. Then I ran another piece so that they crossed at the end in an X. Then I taped around the top to keep the ends from getting loose. Just make sure not to tape tight around the top. I hope this makes sense. You can see the start of the process on my blog (before I got the bandage tape and was using my son's Spiderman bandaids lol ... http://washingtonfarmerchick.blogspot.com/2012/07/update.html

-K


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## SheepGirl (Mar 19, 2013)

Keep them in the pen you lock them in at night for about 1.5-2 wks. That's how long it takes for my lambs to 'get it' that they aren't supposed to not nurse off of mom anymore, and usually by that time the mom doesn't want them nursing anyway.


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## newbiekat (Mar 19, 2013)

Sheepgirl- Keep them in the barn 24/7 for 2 weeks?


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## SheepGirl (Mar 19, 2013)

Yes, unless you have a pen outside with a shelter you can put them in. Then you can put them back out with mom & they will be weaned.


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## newbiekat (Mar 19, 2013)

Should I start when they are 8 weeks? Or should I wait until they are older? What is a reasonable age to wean?


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## newbiekat (May 13, 2013)

HELP! I separated my two doelings when they were 8 and 12 weeks old... They were separated in the area where the buck was. They were still able to see their mommas but did not have access to them at all for SEVEN weeks...

We put them back in with the big goats tonight and they went to town on the fresh green grass which is what I was glad to see. So DH and I went to town and when we came back, we sat and watched them from afar... the OLDER DOELING WAS TRYING TO SUCK! AND MOMMA WAS LETTING HER!   Not for long periods of time, I'd say maybe one or two seconds, but she still let her! What do I do??! (Don't know if this has any affect on anything or not, but we are still milking the does and would like to continue milking them)


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## 20kidsonhill (May 14, 2013)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Keep them in the pen you lock them in at night for about 1.5-2 wks. That's how long it takes for my lambs to 'get it' that they aren't supposed to not nurse off of mom anymore, and usually by that time the mom doesn't want them nursing anyway.


I disagree, goats have very very good memories, a kid that has nursed for 8 weeks would take weeks to be weaned from a doe that is being milked. As in several/many weeks. If you are just drying the doe up then 2 weeks woudl be an okay amount of time.  If the doe is still in milk it is very likely the kids will start nursing again after even 2 or 3 weeks of seperation.


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## 20kidsonhill (May 14, 2013)

I would build a 10x10 or 12x12 outside pen with a dog house for shelter and keep the kids in that.  That way they can be outside. There just isn't any real easy way to do it.  We have pens on the side of our barn under an overhang that we wean our kids into.  That way they are not weaned into the barn and still have shelter from teh rain.  Dog houses or calf huts work great for shelter.  If you are expecting really bad weather, like two days of rain, you could always move them into the barn for a couple days.


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## newbiekat (May 14, 2013)

That area that we kept the buck in (which is what we kept toe kids in) had shelter from bad weather... Are you saying we should keep them in there from here on out? Are they ever going to be able to go back in with the big goats? My goal is to have them all in the same pasture... I had them in that separate area for 7 weeks... They had access to some grass, and shelter, and we supplemented daily with hay and some grain.


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## 20kidsonhill (May 14, 2013)

newbiekat said:
			
		

> That area that we kept the buck in (which is what we kept toe kids in) had shelter from bad weather... Are you saying we should keep them in there from here on out? Are they ever going to be able to go back in with the big goats? My goal is to have them all in the same pasture... I had them in that separate area for 7 weeks... They had access to some grass, and shelter, and we supplemented daily with hay and some grain.


We don't milk, so our does are dry after a month, but I have still seen the kids give it their best try nursing even after being  apart 2 or 3 months and mom is dry. Your experience of having a kid start nursing after being weaned for 7 weeks does not surprise me. You certainly need the advice of people who milk and have does in milk.  But my guess woudl be months before you can put them together, as in 4 or 5 months. We actually never put our keeper doelings back in our main herd until they are kidding for the first time or even near the age of 2 years, mostly for us it is to feed them more grain compared to the older does, and to make sure  they are getting their fair share of the grain.  But there are times I am forced to combine the younger yearlings with the older does.  

Hope someone else jumps in with more ideas.


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## ragdollcatlady (May 14, 2013)

I have 2 babies this year and one last, that nurse and I milk the moms as well. This year I am locking them up at night in a large 5x10 kennel in the garage and milk moms in the morning and then at night as well.  Sometimes I get as little as 1/4 cup, sometimes more than a whole cup at night. In the mornings I typically get 2 cups from the mom with the larger little girl and 3 or more from the mom with the smaller one. Talking about NDs. I do have one that had both babies sold so I milk her once a day and I get around 4 cups from her pretty consistently. 

Last year, Reese didn't let her babies nurse much and they were always hungry, I had 3 other girls in milk so I just let the babies come up on the milk stand to nurse from the other girls when I was milking. She did however let the one that I held back, nurse for around 9 months or so. While she was letting her nurse it was only a sip or 2 so I was still  getting most of the milk. 

Could you keep them in the other pen at night?....That would guarantee you the morning milk anyway, but then the herd could be together and the girls could benefit from grazing/browsing....


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## newbiekat (May 18, 2013)

Ragdoll thanks for the reply... I guess I have a couple more questions... How long will the babies continue to nurse until they naturally wean? I'm just concerned because the does are getting pretty skinny. We give them grain on the stand when we milk (2x a day), extra hay throughout the day, and the grass out in the pasture is lush and tall. Is there anything else we can do? When should I get concerned?


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## 20kidsonhill (May 18, 2013)

newbiekat said:
			
		

> Ragdoll thanks for the reply... I guess I have a couple more questions... How long will the babies continue to nurse until they naturally wean? I'm just concerned because the does are getting pretty skinny. We give them grain on the stand when we milk (2x a day), extra hay throughout the day, and the grass out in the pasture is lush and tall. Is there anything else we can do? When should I get concerned?


If your does need to put weight back on, you will want to do that before you breed them back. We will need to wean and dry them up to get weight back on them.  That woudl be my deciding time frame.

you mention feed, but what about worming???  you can feed them tons, but if they are wormy they will plumet in weight.


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