2 female baby goats

[fahad]

Dear all,

I was on a 2000 mile road trip with my friend when i saw an animal market which had blocked the highway. Instead of waiting in the car we went in the market to check out the cows n the goats and I fell in love with 2 baby goats. I was on my way back and 300 miles from home so I decided to get them

But i had never done anything like this before, I've had chickens for a long time now but goats are needier and i'm sure i'll have to give them more attention than i give to my chickens.

I've had them for a week they're a month old (pics below) and I have questions for the goat experts here:

1. Can they be potty trained? if so how?

2. How much milk should they be fed per day? I give them 750ml/day each

3. When i gave them milk at my place they started having loose motions, i gave them Terramycin (Oxytetracycline) 250mg twice a day. they're much better now. Is there a natural way to cure their stomach without using antibiotics?

4. when do they start eating solids?

5. I'm really new to this so any tip would be highly appreciated

 

[samplekasi]

Where are you located I noticed that you refered to the liquid in metric and that those goats have amazingly long ears.

Have you started them on any solid food hay or grain yet? My babies will start to nibble hay by a week or 2, even tough I bottle feed up until 10 to 12 weeks.

Have you taken their temps (rectaly)

 

[Roll farms]

Oh, my I'm LOVING their ears....*melts*
May I ask where you're located? Only place I've seen ears like that on a goat (in pictures) was in the Middle East. I'd love to import some ears like that to my herd.

Are they disbudded (horns burnt off) or naturally polled?

GORGEOUS!

I've never had any luck getting them potty trained (my husband tried w/ his pet pygmy). One thing that makes it difficult is they poop while walking, standing, and sometimes while lying down....they don't have to "try"...it just happens.
I'm sure they know they're doing it, my point is you can't see a warning sign, so can't grab them and run outside first like you can with a dog who's circling or sniffing.
I have noticed that the first thing most do after getting up is pee....so after one's been lying around a bit you can guarantee a nice long pee is on the way.
My husband got the pygmy to the point of going to the door to pee, but never could stop her from pooping inside.

My month old kids are getting 20 oz. (591ml) 3 x a day....1773 ml per day.
What kind of milk are you using?

I use some form of probiotic (ProBios in a tube, with babies) to straighten loose stools.
Sometimes just the stress of leaving mom / move will cause a flare-up.
The milk you use (powder, fresh, etc.) can also upset them.

I offer them hay around 1 week of age, along w/ fresh water (not enough to fall into) and put medicated goat pelleted feed out around 2 weeks. They may not eat it right away, but they play with it and get the idea before long.

I bottle feed 3 bottles a day until 2 mos. old, then go to 2 bottles. At 10 weeks they go to 1 bottle, then wean them at 3 mos.

Tips: Vaccinate them! CDT at minimum, repeat in 21 days...then 1x a year. 2 cc per kid ea. time.
Keep a probiotic on hand to ward off tummy trouble.
Check their eyelids and gums for anemia, pale color often is a sign of problems with parasites.

Good luck!

 

[helmstead]

Those are the COOLEST looking goats! WOW! The ears just make me smile!

To touch on the runny BMs, here we use a sulfa based antibiotic when needed, but you can also use probiotics to help clear them up.

Can't wait to hear more about where you're from and what sort of goat you have!

 

[mavrick]

how cute

 

[Roll farms]

I believe those have a lot of the 'old' Nubian blood in them...what Nubs looked like before the English got a hold of them and turned them into a purebred Anglo-Nubians.
There may be some African Boer in there (based on the coloring) but a lot of the goats in hot areas of the world have those really long ears to help cool them.
I'd kill for ears like that...I've read of 18" long ears....I want, I want badly.

 

[DonnaBelle]

Hmmmmm. would it be possible to fed-x one of those over here for the right price??

DonnaBelle

 

[foxywench]

omg there gorgeous!

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Wow, I had no idea their ears could be so long! I've taken lots of road trips but I was never fortunate enough to bring home kids as a souvenir- way to go!

 

[ThornyRidge]

those have to be the sweetest.. maybe we can all go in on a bulk shipment.. truly look like a sweet little goat mixed with maybe basset hound?!?!?! serioulsy I would love to have some of those ears!! and the one picture looks like some serious tail on the little gal too!!!! cute cute cute.. hope it all works out well.. welcome aboard! and know that many of us on here started out with critters on a whim.. in fact 7 years ago and many goats ago I started out with an impulse purchase of two three day old pygmy goats.. and the rest is goat history!!