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We are considering raising a couple pigs this summer for a fall slaughter but I have just come across several articles talking about how dangerous these animals are. We have young children (4 of them 8 and younger). Would we be taking too large of a risk raising pigs? I want to raise quality...

Well, we are relatively new to animal keeping and currently have three dairy goats, five rabbits, and laying hens plus two sets of chicks. I have loads and loads of manure and I was wondering what others do with it all? I know the rabbits' is safe to go directly into the garden, but the soiled...

One of our does kidded on Tuesday and one of her teats was clogged right from day one. We were advised to leave one of the kids on her and see if he would clear it for her. It cleared by Thursday night but tonight I noticed blood in the milk pail at the end of her milking. So, does this always...

What do you do about cleaning the goat yard in the winter? Our snow covered yard is littered with goat berries and I'm not sure how to go about cleaning them up or whether I should bother. Thoughts? Thanks!

I agree! It's been very frustrating not knowing. I know I'm going to keep much better records for sure! Thanks very much for your advice and words of encouragement. She just milked more than at yesterday's midday milking, so I'm taking that as a good sign!

She was only three days post kidding when we brought her home (6 days post now) so it could be she has been holding back for her kids? We were told she averaged 3.5 quarts/day last year but nothing more specific. I know they don't peak for a couple months but I was expecting more than 1 qt right...

We brought home a new doe Friday night, a second freshener less than a week past kidding. She is a French Alpine that milked well last year as a first freshener. Yesterday morning was our first milking with her and she only gave us 2.5 cups. Last night was 2 cups and this morning even less. I'm...

Ok, we'll just keep heaving.... it's just that I'm six months pregnant! Hoping today is better than yesterday.... I'm bringing half an apple with me. ;)

Help please! We brought home a new doe last night, a second freshener, who is in milk. This morning was her first milking here and it took quite a bit of persuading to get her onto the milk stand. She isn't sold on the grain we offer, yet at least, so that's not an incentive for her to get up...

Our goats that we got last month have never been vaccinated. One of them is pregnant but we do not have a due date on her as she was with the buck all winter. Her belly is growing but she is not huge at all and I have not noticed any udder development yet. Should I give the CD&T vaccine now...

haha.... YES, yes you would.... That's funny. Well, I am six months pregnant so we'll just blame it on that. :hide

We will have two does to milk this year. How do I keep accurate weights on each of their milk if I only have one milk pail? Do I buy a second pail? If I milk doe #1 into the pail and then weigh it, I will have a total for her. But What about doe #2? I was planning on buying a large 8qt pail but...

I am a new goat owner and am expecting our first kids in a few weeks. As I was shopping online for supplies at Caprine Supply and Hoegger's, I realized that they sell specific detergent for milking equipment. A bottle of each together will cost $55+. Is this really necessary? We do have very...

She has not had any trouble with her last two births, both twins and is due to kid this year in April. We are going to take a look at her tomorrow and I feel much better now that I know she may still be a good producer for us for a few years. Thanks for the info!

Thanks for the reply. That's basically what I was expecting. Can the kids be housed in the same barn, just a separate stall? Or do I need to house them somewhere else?

I was just wondering what age you sell your kids that you don't plan to keep, and why that age? We are planning to bottle feed our babies. Can we sell them still on the bottle? And I know this varies in a hundred ways, but what on earth would you charge for a purebred alpine bottle baby without...

This is our first year owning goats (we have two Alpines) and one is due within the next month. We are planning to milk twice a day and so my plan was to bottle feed the kids from the very beginning and get mom used to being milked by us. Do I need to keep the kids separate from the mother? If...

Hi all! We need some advice. We're considering an ADGA Alpine that we found for sale on Craigslist for dairy purposes but just found out she is going to be 7 this spring. She is currently bred. Is she getting too old to produce a decent amount of milk? When do goats reach their peak? Thanks!

Our vet wasn't overly concerned. He thought the move in addition to being pregnant just has them thrown off a bit. He seemed to think that they will eventually eat when they get hungry enough. Their stools look normal still. I will retake their temperatures in a bit when my hubby gets home...

Previous owner is suggesting that they are just nervous and we should add a molasses/water mixture to rolled barley to get them eating. Thoughts? They were shivering in the barn, even though it is draft free and they have easily a foot and half of straw bedding, so I just coaxed them out to the...