# Weaning Paddles??? Anyone ever try them?



## omg_sob (Jun 19, 2017)

Hi all, when it comes time to wean,  I've seen YouTube vids on the low stress nose weaning paddles.

Looks interesting....anyone have any experience with them?  Some have little spikes,  some are just flaps..

I'm curious....they seem to make the process easier...https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwj2vPiO_srUAhXFdD4KHSZUDTcQwg8IIQ&adurl=


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## Devonviolet (Jun 19, 2017)

Looks interesting.  

I'm almost ready to wean kid goats for the first time.  My oldest kid does not seem like he is at all ready. When I separate them, at night, for morning milking, both mom & kid keep calling each other.

@Southern by choice, @Goat Whisperer, @goatgurl, @animalmom any thoughts? Is there anything similar for goat kids?


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## omg_sob (Jun 20, 2017)

I bet there's one for goats too. Look on Tractor Supply or Jeffers.


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## Southern by choice (Jun 20, 2017)

I have never seen them used on goats and personally I wouldn't bother.
It is kind of a natural occurrence that they holler for each other but separating overnight is something they get use to in a few days.
You could switch them... separate in day and together at night. 
Just make sure the kids have plenty of room and something to do in the day. They do much better when they have space to run jump leap and do goaty kid things and are distratced... then they start eating more hay and feed and want less of momma anyway.


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## animalmom (Jun 20, 2017)

Yeah, cotton in your ears for a couple days is what I recommend when the kids get weaned.  I have four that are going to face that hard reality on Friday.  The two moms will go to the milkers' pen and the kids stay in their pen with other goaties they know.

The little squeaks the kids emit on day two after crying all day one, does tug at your heart.


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## Devonviolet (Jun 20, 2017)

animalmom said:


> The little squeaks the kids emit on day two after crying all day one, does tug at your heart.


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## Hillaire (Jun 20, 2017)

the people we are getting our Oberhaslis from said they should be weaned by Saturday... they are still giving a bottle a day... I'm over here like yeah lets get that taken care of because I honestly don't want to hear more yelling then what they will do when we first bring em home lol


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## Southern by choice (Jun 20, 2017)

Hillaire said:


> the people we are getting our Oberhaslis from said they should be weaned by Saturday... they are still giving a bottle a day... I'm over here like yeah lets get that taken care of because I honestly don't want to hear more yelling then what they will do when we first bring em home lol


*The goats should be weaned for at least 2 weeks if dam raised and minimum 1 week if bottle raised before going to their new home*.

This is why you see so many on here with emergency "I just got my new goats and..... fill in the blank"
Weaning and shipping off to new home is really stacking the odds to have serious stress complications. 
Stress of weaning is one.
Moving to new environment is another.
Hopefully they aren't wethering them the same time too.
Make sure you do a fecal on them 4-7 days after getting them to check for cocci bloom.


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## babsbag (Jun 20, 2017)

Southern by choice said:


> Stress of weaning is one.
> Moving to new environment is another.
> Hopefully they aren't wethering them the same time too.



I do it every year. 

This year 95% of the kids will be leaving on the same day and will be weaned and moved the same day. None will be wethered but quite often they are.


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## Southern by choice (Jun 20, 2017)

babsbag said:


> I do it every year.
> 
> This year 95% of the kids will be leaving on the same day and will be weaned and moved the same day. None will be wethered but quite often they are.



Why?
So much on new people and they don't always know the signs to look for.
At least I know you will give them basic things to watch for but still why add to the stress.


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## babsbag (Jun 20, 2017)

Because I dam raise and usually don't have a pen for kids to stay in to get weaned earlier so they get weaned when they get sold. I sell them at 8 weeks and won't wether before that so it all gets done at once. I also only wether when requested to do so, it depends on the purpose for the kid. 

A lot of that (most) will change when the dairy is done.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 20, 2017)

I find it best, for me, to separate all day when weaning and do NOT put mom on fence line where they can stick head thru & nurse!   

Minis were separated, brought in and allowed a "slurp" or a few days, then fed outside mom's stall, then to a pen with other weanlings.  After about a week....no slurps, just own pens and pastures away from mares.   I'd check mares for udder tightness but mostly the week of slurps slowed her down and she dried.

Goats, who are being milked and nursed....well, take the kid off with others and just let them holler.   Like others say, couple days and they stop BUT you will have to keep them away from moms for a couple months or they will nurse again.  Dairies generally just pull at birth, bottle feed.   I've done that & really was easier in many ways. 

Next tip -- to distract a mare we put her with a good stallion.  Yeah, love happens but, they can be pastured when not cycling.  The interaction of a herd changes some attitudes.  If you don't own a buck, so be it.   Just change pastures -- new browse, exploring, etc.


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## goatgurl (Jun 21, 2017)

I've seen weaning paddles for cows and have used weaning halters on horses but have never sued one on a goat.  I am also of the put them in separate pens and let them cry for a while.  they get over it pretty quick but I agree with mini horses you have to keep them apart for quite a while or they will go right back to nursing.


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## greybeard (Jun 22, 2017)

Southern by choice said:


> This is why you see so many on here with emergency "I just got my new goats and..... fill in the blank"
> Weaning and shipping off to new home is really stacking the odds to have serious stress complications.


I don't see it often with cattle in emergency section here but only because there are relatively few here who have cows, but It happens with calves too....way too often, especially with dairy calves. I see it on the cattle forums all the time--most bought off Craigslist. 

Having said that, I do occasionally 'trailer wean' @ 6 months if I need to send one to the sale barn but not many novice calf buyers at those barns. 

It gets noisy around here when I pen and separate them, but music to my ears for a few days, and a check in the mail won't be far off.


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## WyndSyrin (Jul 16, 2017)

what I have discovered is that if you start weaning calves 5 days before the new moon there tends to be very little squalling of the calves for their mothers.


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