# Getting 2 Kids



## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

We have been talking and looking at getting 2 doe kids.  They have been born.  We have 10 days to 2 weeks to prepare.  What do we need to do to prepare for these babies?  They are Nigerian dwarf does.  Is there a specific book that y'all recommend that we get?

I know there is such a thing as chicken math.  Is there such a thing as goat math?  I need to be prepared.


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## babsbag (Mar 22, 2019)

Yes, there is definitely goat math. I started with three 10 years ago and now have over 60 and a licensed dairy. Be careful...be very very careful.


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

babsbag said:


> Yes, there is definitely goat math. I started with three 10 years ago and now have over 60 and a licensed dairy. Be careful...be very very careful.



My hubby would die!!  I'm still laughing.


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

These are our new babies.  We'll get them in about 10 days to 2 weeks.  I'm so excited.  I'm going to have to think of really cute names for them.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 22, 2019)

If they are bottle babies make sure that when you pick them up you have the opportunity to feed them with the bottle.
They should take it down vigorously. 
Do NOT take the kids home without knowing first hand that they are trained to the bottle and eating well.
Your breeder should be sending you home with care instructions.

I strongly recommend you have a fecal run on them (take it to your vet) and check for parasitic infection and coccidia.
Put them on coccidia prevention!
Find out from your breeder what they are being offered feed wise. Also coccidia prevention, if they do it and what they use.
Make sure they have somewhere they can cuddle together and keep warm at night.

How old are they?


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

Southern by choice said:


> If they are bottle babies make sure that when you pick them up you have the opportunity to feed them with the bottle.
> They should take it down vigorously.
> Do NOT take the kids home without knowing first hand that they are trained to the bottle and eating well.
> Your breeder should be sending you home with care instructions.
> ...


 
They are just a couple of days old.  We are getting them from Double Durango.  She takes them and starts them immediately on the bottle.  She’s already sent me care instructions.  I’m going to go out one day and get a towel that has their scent on it so Gracie and Chewy can get used to their smell.   

Do you use Corrid for coccidia in goats?   I have it for my chickens.  Would a large dog crate be good for them to sleep in?  We have a shed for them.


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

@Southern by choice i was reading your post for your kids this year.  They are so adorable.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 22, 2019)

Thank you.
Awesome they have given you care instructions.  A crate would be great, if the crate is in an enclosed area you could leave the door open.
At this time of year depending on night temps we do keep a heat lamp on.
I'll snap a pic.


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

Southern by choice said:


> Thank you.
> Awesome they have given you care instructions.  A crate would be great, if the crate is in an enclosed area you could leave the door open.
> At this time of year depending on night temps we do keep a heat lamp on.
> I'll snap a pic.


I’d love a pic.  Have all your babies been born?


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## Southern by choice (Mar 22, 2019)

grrr having a hard time getting the pic.
We do use Premiere 1 Heatlamp and bulbs ONLY. Anything else is dangerous.

No, not all. We have 1 in the kidding stall tonight another going in on Monday/Tuesday and then 9 in April... a straggler in May and June. 
So.... you could say we have a LONG way to go. 
We have a few more leaving this weekend. 

I'll try and post a pic as I am able.

How big is your shed and is there a nightlight? Will you close them in?


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

It’s a decent size.  There isn’t any electricity in it.  If the temps are too cold, we can put them in a dog crate in the basement which has heat.  They will be locked up at night. During the day, we have a very large enclosed chicken run that we aren’t currently using that I will probably put them in when we aren’t outside with them.  It’s 8 feet deep by 8 feet tall by 16 feet wide, covered with chicken wire.


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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 22, 2019)

bethh said:


> I’d love a pic.  Have all your babies been born?


Posting for SBC


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## Southern by choice (Mar 22, 2019)

Thanks @Goat Whisperer


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## bethh (Mar 22, 2019)

@Goat Whisperer thanks for the picture.  If its too cold in the pen when we get them, we'll keep them in the basement.  Currently 3 ducklings and a young cockerel are living down there.


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## Grandma Betty (Mar 27, 2019)

We got two dwarf Nigerian doelings in January...my husband has fallen in love with them...lol.  We’ve had a bit more winter than usual this year so they’ve been in our cinderblock shed (12x16’) with about 8 bales of straw. It worked like a charm.  My husband took out the old doors (big heavy rusty metal things) and built an awesome double Dutch door.  Last weekend, he installed 5’ high no-climb horse fence for a good sized paddock...and hauled in a big old log for them to jump on.  Yeah, he spoils them a bit.  About that goat Math...we are getting 6 more goats in the next two months...lol


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## bethh (Mar 27, 2019)

I tried taking a picture of what we plan to use for temporary housing for the goats.  It’s hard to get a picture of it.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 27, 2019)

Your biggest concern will be ventilation. There is no ventilation here unless there is a window or something on the side.
You could remove the doors and make new ones using hardware cloth (1/2 heavy duty chicken wire) or 2x4 fencing to close them in at night.


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## OneFineAcre (Mar 27, 2019)

Congratulations on the new goats.

Double Durango Farm has nice goats.

In my opinion, you should not need to use a heat lamp.
I've never used a heat lamp after any kid was over a few days old no matter how cold it is.


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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 27, 2019)

We use lamps with most our kids at night (newborns)

Dam raised kids are completely different than bottle raised kids. Bottle raised kids don’t have a dam to nurse through the night. The dam will also snuggle with her kids and we’ve even had dams make “nests”for the kids to cuddle in. Bottle raised kids don’t get that. @bethh what arevthe night time temps down there? At this time of year lamps may not be needed, but it is up to each herd owner to do what they feel is best for their animals. You certainly don’t want them to be too warm if you use lamps, just enough to take the edge off.


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## bethh (Mar 27, 2019)

Goat Whisperer said:


> We use lamps with most our kids at night (newborns)
> 
> Dam raised kids are completely different than bottle raised kids. Bottle raised kids don’t have a dam to nurse through the night. The dam will also snuggle with her kids and we’ve even had dams make “nests”for the kids to cuddle in. Bottle raised kids don’t get that. @bethh what arevthe night time temps down there? At this time of year lamps may not be needed, but it is up to each herd owner to do what they feel is best for their animals. You certainly don’t want them to be too warm if you use lamps, just enough to take the edge off.


Its been colder than I'd expect upper 30's low 40's at night.  Its supposed to warm up this weekend.  We'll probably keep them in the basement for a little while until it warms up more.  What do you think is acceptable nighttime temps?


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## bethh (Mar 27, 2019)

Southern by choice said:


> Your biggest concern will be ventilation. There is no ventilation here unless there is a window or something on the side.
> You could remove the doors and make new ones using hardware cloth (1/2 heavy duty chicken wire) or 2x4 fencing to close them in at night.


Thats a great idea.  We could do the same and just do windows for cross ventilation.


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## OneFineAcre (Mar 27, 2019)

2 week old kids in Georgia in April shouldn't need a heat lamp


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## Southern by choice (Mar 27, 2019)

Yeah at this point the temps should be well above freezing... you probably won't need heat.


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## bethh (Mar 28, 2019)

An adult is available in milk.  Would this be a good addition to the 2 kids or just start with the 2 kids?


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## Southern by choice (Mar 29, 2019)

is it their dam?


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## Wehner Homestead (Mar 29, 2019)

Congrats on the cuties! Definitely make sure you are comfortable giving a bottle before they come home. I agree with the other advice posted. 

Goat math...we started with Boers, switched to dairy. Bought 6 knowing we planned on milking. We are up to 25 with one doe bred for June and our name out for several more to add yet this years.


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## Daxigait (Mar 29, 2019)

bethh said:


> They are just a couple of days old.  We are getting them from Double Durango.  She takes them and starts them immediately on the bottle.  She’s already sent me care instructions.  I’m going to go out one day and get a towel that has their scent on it so Gracie and Chewy can get used to their smell.
> 
> Do you use Corrid for coccidia in goats?   I have it for my chickens.  Would a large dog crate be good for them to sleep in?  We have a shed for them.


I have been told not to use Corrid.  It can lead to goat polio.  Dimexoth is ok . Make sure you keep the antitoxin on hand in the first couple of months.


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## Daxigait (Mar 29, 2019)

Good luck with the cuties. 
I use heated barrels.
Built with a barrel, box, ceramic fixture, the clamp that goes in the punch out, and an extension cord one end cut to hardwire.  Then a 125w bulb.   I also strap the barrels to the wall.



If you get the barrels with a removable lid and the lock, you can remove the lid and store it away and just leave the Barrel in the barn or whatever that way you don't have as much to store or worry about when you don't need it that critters could get.


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## Wehner Homestead (Mar 29, 2019)

We haven’t strapped ours to the wall thus far but we’ve also only kidded Nigerians up to this point. Definitely something to keep in mind!


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## bethh (Mar 29, 2019)

Today’s the day.  Heading to p


Southern by choice said:


> is it their dam?


No she isn’t.   After talking to the breeder, we decided not to.  If it would have made it easier on the kids, we would have but it didn’t sound like it would plus she advised housing them separately.  So it’s just the two babies for now.


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## bethh (Mar 29, 2019)

Daxigait said:


> I have been told not to use Corrid.  It can lead to goat polio.  Dimexoth is ok . Make sure you keep the antitoxin on hand in the first couple of months.


The goat lady gave us some to give them for a few days to make sure they don’t develop coccidia from the stress.


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## bethh (Mar 29, 2019)

Our first family pic


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## bethh (Mar 29, 2019)

This was after we first got them home.   We gave them bottles before we left from picking them up and they took them like champs.   While we were there, one of her does kidded and had twins.  They don’t have names yet.


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## Wehner Homestead (Mar 29, 2019)

They are very pretty girls! I’m sure they’ll have perfect names in no time!


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## OneFineAcre (Mar 29, 2019)

Welcome to the world of goats


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## bethh (Mar 29, 2019)

Wehner Homestead said:


> Congrats on the cuties! Definitely make sure you are comfortable giving a bottle before they come home. I agree with the other advice posted.
> 
> Goat math...we started with Boers, switched to dairy. Bought 6 knowing we planned on milking. We are up to 25 with one doe bred for June and our name out for several more to add yet this years.



So we gave bottles to them before leaving and they did very well.  Tonight, the black one, Tipsy, wouldn't take the bottle.  She clamped her mouth shut.  The Cou Clair one, Dixie, sucked hers down.  We let them play in the kitchen for awhile and have crated them.  I will try again later.


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## Wehner Homestead (Mar 29, 2019)

She *should* eat when she gets hungry since she is familiar with eating from a bottle. 

Some things I’ve noticed is that they won’t take the bottle if the milk is too cool. (I know that you know better than too hot or they could get burnt. It’s very similar to feeding a human baby a heated bottle.) 

Also, you may have to pry her mouth open and push the nipple in to get her going again. It doesn’t need to be rough, just sometimes getting it in their mouth gets that oral suck reflex to react and they’ll go to town! 

Also, is she used to being held? Standing on the ground and being fed from in front of her? You may have to mimic the way that she was fed by the breeder until she adapts to her new surroundings. 

Cute names! I think you are in for a load of fun! Take lots of videos and of course, we want to see pics!


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## bethh (Mar 30, 2019)

Tipsy doesn't take the bottle as easily as does Dixie.  Maybe I should attach the nipple to a wine bottle.  She may not realize that Tipsy is in reference to the white on the end of her tail.  One thing that I realized is that the bottle from tractor supply needed the end cutoff the bottle.  She guzzled it like a champ.  This morning she was still a little bit of a struggle but not as bad.  I'm holding etc the same as the breeder but we need to get the kinks worked out.


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## bethh (Mar 30, 2019)

Is this normal poop?


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## Southern by choice (Mar 30, 2019)

looks like the first colostrum poo you see in the first few days-1 week old kids. First poo is tar like, then as they get the colostrum it is mustard yellow and more glob like- then  it progresses to mote itty bitty berry formed clumps


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## bethh (Mar 30, 2019)

Southern by choice said:


> looks like the first colostrum poo you see in the first few days-1 week old kids. First poo is tar like, then as they get the colostrum it is mustard yellow and more glob like- then  it progresses to mote itty bitty berry formed clumps


Thanks!!


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## bethh (Apr 1, 2019)

How do I post a video?


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## Southern by choice (Apr 1, 2019)

The icon that shows the film... hover over and it will say media.
It will only allow from certain places.


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## bethh (Apr 3, 2019)

Let's see if this worked...


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## bethh (Apr 3, 2019)




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## bethh (Apr 3, 2019)

Southern by choice said:


> The icon that shows the film... hover over and it will say media.
> It will only allow from certain places.


Thanks!!


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## Pioneer Chicken (Apr 20, 2019)

They are super cute! Congrats on your new adventure!!


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