# New Kids!



## Meaghan (Jan 4, 2015)

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right area, but I'm super excited because we got a message yesterday from our goat breeder, and she had four doelings on the ground for us to check out! 

So, when we went over to evaluate if they were good quality kids and out of good mothers, we got some pictures. We decided that we are going to get all four of them instead of waiting a few more months for some other does to drop their kids (it just works out better timing wise for the rest of the farm). 

The four does were two pairs of sisters, and both pairs have the same buck sire. The brown pair were born on January 1st, the black, tan, and white pair were born on January 2nd! 

So, here are the new additions! We are going to be getting them at 4 weeks, so around the first week of February!

Doe #1:







Doe #2:





Doe #3:





Doe #4: 





Sorry the photos aren't that great, my phone doesn't do well with tiny creatures bouncing around!


----------



## Goat Whisperer (Jan 4, 2015)

So exciting!!!!!!!!! I have been there too.... The wait is killer!!! 

They are so stinkin adorable!!!! 

Pics of the sire/dam would be great too


----------



## goat-heaven (Jan 4, 2015)

Aww so cute geez I can't wait for my does to kid


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 4, 2015)

Congratulations!

So exciting!  So you get to have bottle babies! 
So which one is your fav and what are their names going to be?


----------



## OneFineAcre (Jan 4, 2015)

Very nice


----------



## jodief100 (Jan 4, 2015)

They are adorable!  Congratulations


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 4, 2015)

Thanks everyone! The wait will definitely be hard, but we have a lot of things to accomplish in the next few weeks (painting the house, repairing the fence, getting the hay, grain, etc, settling in the guard llama, and everything else), so it will probably fly by! The breeder is going to wean them onto cow's milk for us in the mean time so that they won't have that stress along with the stress of moving.

@Goat Whisperer: I didn't think to snap pictures of her does, or the buck. When we were there, we were still on the fence if we were going to get any, or all, of the kids. Sorry! I looked around on her website but she's an older woman and hasn't updated it in years.  She does most of her selling by word of mouth, so she doesn't need to have a functioning or up to date website. 

@Southern by choice: Yep, all will be on the bottle until 8-10 weeks. My personal favorite is the littlest black girl, the last picture. She's tiny, but fiesty when a bottle comes out and she's got good potential in my opinion.


----------



## Hens and Roos (Jan 4, 2015)

Congrats, very cute!  Hope you have extra hands when bottle feeding....baby goats really like their bottle


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 4, 2015)

I like cows milk if you can't get goats milk. I think there is less issue than with replacers. Being Nubians you really want to think about keeping them on milk for 12 weeks.


----------



## Baymule (Jan 4, 2015)

They are adorable!


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 4, 2015)

@Hens and Roos: I've bottle fed kids before, so I know what you mean. We'll be feeding them together for a while. 

@Southern by choice: The breeder we're getting them from weans at 8-10, I didn't know Nubians are supposed to stay on the bottle until 12 weeks. Is there a specific reason?


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 4, 2015)

They are a large standard breed goat. Mini's and Nigies are weaned younger but the Standard breeds do better , grow better and thrive when given 90 days. Some if they have does in milk will keep giving bucket milk to 120. That is a bit long to me but 90 days gives them a better start. Of course they are also eating hay and grain to by that time.


----------



## SA Farm (Jan 4, 2015)

They are so cute! I like the look of Nubian kids - all floppy legs and ears


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 7, 2015)

@Southern by choice: That's good to know, we'll keep them on the bottle then.  

@SA Farm: I love them too! So lanky and cute when they bounce around on those long legs.


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 17, 2015)

We finally decided on names! The larger brown doe will be Ruby, the smaller brown doe will be Amethyst, the larger black doe will be Emerald, and the smaller black doe will be Sapphire. 

I'm bringing them home on February 1st.  Nervous and excited. My other half will be gone visiting his family out of state until the next afternoon, so I'm alone with them for about 24 hours. 

But... kids!


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 17, 2015)

My only Nubian has this long silly papers name but we call her Ruby!
It is fitting as she really is a jewel!  

Love the names you picked. This is so exciting! Feb will be an exciting month for so many!

I probably don't need to say we will absolutely have to have a lot of pictures. We need to REALLY make sure they are perfectly adorable.


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 17, 2015)

I will have plenty of pictures when we get them. Trust me, everyone must think my Facebook is run by my cats, so it'll be a good change for them to see goats. 

I don't have any updated pictures from the breeder, just info. Everyone is doing well. Littlest black doe is eating well, but it still the smallest.


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 17, 2015)

LOL Once you have your goats your cats will get no FB time!


----------



## kinder (Jan 18, 2015)

Glad for you . I was there last year at this time, and now my babies are having babies this spring. Soon enough you'll be there too.


----------



## goatgurl (Jan 18, 2015)

such doll babies!!  i love those nubie ears.  congratulations on the fab four.  will be anxious to see them grow


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 29, 2015)

I'm getting so excited for Sunday! I can't wait! 

We finally got their pen set up tonight. Been so busy with the fence for the pasture that it got put off. 







I have a question! It occurred to me that it does freeze at night here, but the garage doesn't get particularly cold (rarely below 50, never below 45) but will the kids need a heating lamp at all? Or am I just being a worried new mommy who doesn't want her kids out in the cold without a jacket?


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 30, 2015)

they will be fine.


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 30, 2015)

So I should stop panicking when, exactly?  

Two days!


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 30, 2015)

I may as well tell you ... the worrying and panicking has just started you are now on the wonderful road to craziness.It is a goatowners side effect. AND it's too late there is *no help* for this problem AND it is a vicious cycle because you will become addicted to goats and _need_ more which will cause an increase in worry and panic. 
Notice the word _need...  _truth is you really will not _need _more you will_ want_ more but this too will be twisted into a denial and you will_ believe_ it is a_ need._
You will turn to us here on BYH and we will pretend to support and help you but in the end we will enable you and tell you_ YES_ you_ NEED _more goats.

The countdown to your sanity has begun! 2 days left!


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 30, 2015)

Enablers, the lot of you!!! 

.... Nathan was already asking what sort of goats we're getting next year ("more Nubians? or what?" "No, a few Boers and maybe a Nigerian Dwarf or two!").


----------



## Hens and Roos (Jan 30, 2015)

Meaghan said:


> So I should stop panicking when, exactly?
> 
> Two days!


probably never based on some of the other threads I've read  and I have all this to look forward to...


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 30, 2015)

Just wait, you'll be hooked too!


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 30, 2015)

@Hens and Roos  you have finally accepted this... I am proud of you!


----------



## Hens and Roos (Jan 30, 2015)

Meaghan said:


> Just wait, you'll be hooked too!



 we already are!  We have 1 ND doeling and keeping our fingers crossed that by mid- April we will have our 2nd ND(provided the doe we put a deposit on has at least 1 doeling) doeling.  We're trying to keep it to 2!


----------



## Hens and Roos (Jan 30, 2015)

Southern by choice said:


> @Hens and Roos  you have finally accepted this... I am proud of you!


 
 but I am still aiming to keep the number at 2 .(that's where DH comes in!)

I don't think it matters what type of animals one has- there is always concern for them- even when we hatch out eggs


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 30, 2015)

Well... there are ways of getting around DH... just saying!


----------



## Meaghan (Jan 30, 2015)

Like just getting him to agree with you and love the little ones just as much as you do. That's my tactic! 

Of course, then the problem is the "limit" becomes "what limit?"


----------



## Hens and Roos (Jan 30, 2015)

oh, I'm not worried about getting around DH....it's more like we only have so much space and cool neighbors, we'd like to keep it that way!


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 1, 2015)

Oh my goodness! Babies!


----------



## Hens and Roos (Feb 1, 2015)

oh my goodness...what a load of cuteness!!!


----------



## norseofcourse (Feb 1, 2015)

Oh those ears....


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 1, 2015)

It is so incredibly difficult to force myself to stay inside and do my homework for my Masters classes. It's not as though I have three midterms this week or anything... 

Gah, I just want to go in the garage and snuggle with them!


----------



## Hens and Roos (Feb 1, 2015)

study breaks!!  Good Luck with your midterms!


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 1, 2015)

My problem is that study breaks would end up being every half hour for an hour each...  Just gotta make it through this week then I can play with them all next weekend!


----------



## goatgurl (Feb 1, 2015)

as granny use to say  "awww look at 'em 'years!  they are just adorable!!


----------



## goats&moregoats (Feb 1, 2015)

Incredible cuteness!! .   Welcome to the world of bouncing, prancing goat antics. It only gets harder not to add more from this point out!


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 1, 2015)

Just got done feeding them for the first time. Emerald is mouthy! She got me good with one of her incisors jumping and biting for the bottle. The others are very well behaved with only the occasional headbutt, which I expected. They eat well and finish their bottles. They are also really interested in the Chaffhaye we have, and have been nibbling at the bucket of it I put in their pen. I also gave them a bucket half full of water.

The breeder had them on 2x a day feedings of about 18 ounces each for the three average sized does and 15 ounces for the littlest doe (she won't drink more than that). But I was under the impression that kids should be fed at least 3x per day until they are 8 weeks, just in smaller amounts at each feeding. Is that right, or should I stick to 2x a day? She's only been doing 2x per day for a few days now, and the kids would not object to taking a bottle an extra time per day, I'm sure.


----------



## Southern by choice (Feb 1, 2015)

They are adorable! 

  

How old are the girls?


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 1, 2015)

Just over four weeks. The brown pair were born on January 1st and the black pair were born on January 2nd.


----------



## Southern by choice (Feb 1, 2015)

Roll farms is not really around anymore but she has many articles and was a walking book of knowledge. 

Below is a link to one of her post with another link to her articles on Bottle Feeding. The old articles are archived from the old site.
We alter ours from hers just because we have little bitty goats that are only 3lbs at birth. Rolls is awesome! 

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/bottle-babies.15681/#post-213600


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 1, 2015)

That's a great resource, thank you! 

It sounds like I suspected, they should be on three bottles a day still and be eating a little less at each feeding. I'll have to give that a try, although I will adjust the times a bit as I prefer to be up later than earlier. 

It's good to know that the littlest girl isn't eating too much less than the recommended amount. She's about 15lbs and is growing well, she just started off small and can't keep up with the others that were born at almost twice her weight.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 3, 2015)

They are doing well on three bottles a day! 

Everyone but little Sapphire finishes the bottles of about 16 ounces and wants more. Sapphire is eating about 13-14 ounces consistently.

I really need to get a bathroom scale so that I can start tracking their weights. All of them look great and are eating some regular orchard/timothy/clover mix hay that I have for my rabbits/guinea pigs (just indoor pets) as well as the Chaffhaye. We haven't given them any grains yet because we're waiting to get a few large outdoor storage barrels before opening up and mixing the grains we have. 

Still a bit torn as to whether to give them straight grains or to sprout. Has anyone done sprouting here? Do you like it better than giving whole grains? The mix we are using is one from the Land of Havilah farm with barley, oats, and BOSS.

I love having the babies! They are so much fun.


----------



## goatboy1973 (Feb 3, 2015)

Congrats!!! I love kidding season with all the little goats jumping around like bunnies. They provide hours of free entertainment and tons of photo ops.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 8, 2015)

Just a question regarding bottles. The breeder gave us nipples that snap onto soda bottles, but the soda bottles are collapsing and getting gross and can't be washed. What sort of bottles do you guys use? Where can I buy them? TSC only has 2 quart ones and those are far too big.  

Sorry I'm not on much anymore, our internet at the new house doesn't like BYHs or TEGs sites. After just a few clicks it refuses to load the page and just dies. The only way I can post is on my cell phone which takes a while.


----------



## Pearce Pastures (Feb 8, 2015)

I hate those snap on nipples.  For Nigerian Dwarfs, we use the red and yellow pritchard nipples and for Boers, we buy the gray Lambar type.  However, for the actual bottle, we do use pop ones.  The best I have found are Sprite bottles--they are squattier and thicker than others so they don't collapse and fit well in microwave.  We wash them immediately after use and discard any that we neglected to clean right away.  If they get funky looking, they get tossed.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 8, 2015)

We've been washing them out after using them, but we don't have a bottle brush and obviously can't stick them in the dishwasher. The other challenge is that we don't drink soda, so buying them is a waste as we've only gotten one week of use out of a bottle. The calf bottle would be cheaper than buying 4 20 ounce soda bottles every week.


----------



## Pearce Pastures (Feb 9, 2015)

We don't drink any soda either.  I'm a tea gal.  Dumping out the pop is cheaper than those other bottles though and usually, one set of pop bottles will last us through weaning.  If you were throwing them out after each week, then yes, I can see that being more expensive.  We do put ours in the dishwasher after we swish them with HOT water, bleach and soap.  Works good here.


----------



## goats&moregoats (Feb 9, 2015)

For my ND I use a regular baby bottle & nipple from the dollar store. Works great.


----------



## Fullhousefarm (Feb 9, 2015)

The Zephyrhills sparkling water bottles are great for goat bottles. They stay nicer and you don't have to buy soda. They are clear and just over 16 ozo think. They are branded different in different regions, so yours might be a different breed. I also have hubby get bottles out of the break room trash too. 

We use either Prichard nipples or the grey lambar nipples depending on age and size of baby. The grey ones last longer. Prichards are better  for smaller or newer babies IMO.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 15, 2015)

Sorry it's been a while, the babies are doing well, but we had a disaster with the chicks we ordered. Post office took too long delivering them, and we ended up losing 32/46 chicks in less than 48 hours. Thankfully the hatchery refunded us, but still quite depressing. 

We ended up ordering a few lamb/kid bottles online, they are 16 ounces and microwaveable and dishwasher safe. I just don't trust soda bottles in a microwave or dishwasher, they leach chemicals pretty bad and we want the babies to live long healthy lives. The bottles we ordered are coming with prichards, but we have the grey lambar nipples. I had no idea what they were called until I looked up the names, so thank you @Fullhousefarm! We'll see which ones work better for our babies.


----------



## Hens and Roos (Feb 15, 2015)

sorry about the loss of the chicks


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 18, 2015)

@Hens and Roos: Thank you. We buried them under our large oak tree. 




 

The babies are doing well and growing like weeds. We are going to take them to the vet down the road on March 1st to use their dog scale to weigh them (and because the vets demanded to see the cuteness for themselves!).



 

 

Ruby is a giant! She's gained at least 5lbs since we brought her home, maybe more! I would show her now if I had the time. Maybe in a few more months! 



 

Emerald is competing with Ruby for design and size.



 

Amethyst is actually smaller than Emerald now, but she's still eating everything in sight.



 

Little Sapphire. She's small, but still drinking like a champ given her size. She's designed well, just like her sisters. Flat back, long legs, and a cute little nose!



 

I do have a question, though. Amethyst seems to have lost one of the caps/scabs from where she was disbudded. I just want others opinions if this looks okay. I know the scabs all fall off eventually, I just want to make sure the bloody area (not actively bleeding, just dried) is normal. 

You can see the difference in the capped and uncapped sides on her head. It is so dang hard to get good pictures!


----------



## goatboy1973 (Feb 18, 2015)

The uncapped area looks fine to me. Looks like no oozing of yellow or green stuff so all looks normal.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 18, 2015)

@goatboy1973: I thought so, the red dried blood area just seemed a bit large to me. Thank you!


----------



## Pearce Pastures (Feb 18, 2015)

x2 looks good.


----------



## goatboy1973 (Feb 18, 2015)

Meaghan said:


> @goatboy1973: I thought so, the red dried blood area just seemed a bit large to me. Thank you!


By the way, I absolutely love Nubians. I own several myself and one in particular that rides in my Polaris UTV beside me when she takes the notion.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 18, 2015)

I love Nubians. They also have great milk for making cheese and soap, I've heard, so they are ideal for us.


----------



## goatboy1973 (Feb 18, 2015)

For me, Nubians have multiple kids per birth, milk forever so my crossbred kids grow very fast, and add long legs to my Spanish sired kids. I also like their long floppy ears. LOL!!!


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 26, 2015)

We just brought home the little boy I mentioned in my breeding thread! He was born on 2/15, and we decided to name him Topaz.  I'll post pictures tomorrow, as it's already getting dark here and my phone camera quality is best in the light. 

We are also getting our guard llama delivered  tomorrow, so I'll post pictures of him as well.


----------



## Hens and Roos (Feb 26, 2015)




----------



## goatboy1973 (Feb 26, 2015)

Meaghan said:


> We just brought home the little boy I mentioned in my breeding thread! He was born on 2/15, and we decided to name him Topaz.  I'll post pictures tomorrow, as it's already getting dark here and my phone camera quality is best in the light.
> 
> We are also getting our guard llama delivered  tomorrow, so I'll post pictures of him as well.


Wow!!! Congrats on the new critters.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 27, 2015)

Sorry, no pictures today. The llama got delivered much later than expected, and we had to run errands afterwards that we had expected to have done by 1, when the llama didn't even get delivered until then. By the time we got back it was basically dark. 

Ah well, I will for sure have pictures for you guys tomorrow.


----------



## Meaghan (Feb 28, 2015)

Alright, I got some pretty decent pictures of everyone today. It's been dreary all day but the lighting wasn't bad.  

The llama's registered name is Ghost of Cloud, but just Cloud for short.


----------



## Hens and Roos (Feb 28, 2015)

very nice!


----------



## goatboy1973 (Feb 28, 2015)

Congrats! Good choice for a herd guardian. Llamas are such good guardians. Our male llama "Carl" loves kidding time. He goes with each doe when she kids and oversees the process. If there is twins he helps clean off one kid while the other is being birthed. He also lets the babies use him as a playground and the kids will climb on him and and play "King on the mountain". The kids treat him as if he is a big brother and romp around with him and he just lets them have their way with him. Once again congrats on the beautiful llama and Nubians.


----------



## Pearce Pastures (Mar 1, 2015)

Very cute!  Will he be in with the herd?  Is he friendly? I have zero llama experience.


----------



## Meaghan (Mar 1, 2015)

He will be in with the herd when they are old enough to be out with him. They just turned 2 months today and tomorrow, so it will be a while yet before they are out with him full time. 

He has guarded goats before, with his brother that lives with a different family of goats, but it's been a few years. He is unsure of the babies, but curious. We will be putting them in a pen with him during the day as soon as we can get that up.


----------



## Meaghan (Mar 2, 2015)

Got weights today, and Ruby is just shy of 30lbs! Amethyst and Emerald are about 26lbs each, Sapphire is about 18lbs, and little Topaz is 12.5lbs. These were "empty" weights, before feeding or grazing. The last weights we got when we picked them up four weeks ago were "full" weights.


----------



## HoneyDreameMomma (Mar 2, 2015)

Beautiful goats!  They are growing like weeds.


----------

