6 week old Pygmy?NiGi doelings - how much grain per day?

[happyhensny]

PHEW! I have been checking to see that they are pooping - and they are. Drinking water, eating hay and grain. They only "maaa" when they see me. I sneak out to the shed to make sure they are not crying. They are so snuggly, if I walk up to them they will put their heads under my arm (they stand on a shelf I made) and just be quiet. Love them!

Anything in particular that I should look for?

 

[Roll farms]

Look for as far as....?

Have they been vaccinated? (CD&T)

 

[Roll farms]

And for the record, 'her' is the only one who can type.
'Him' is for the heavy lifting.

 

[happyhensny]

Nope, no vac either. She told me 3 mths old for that. Now?

I am a "her" and the animals are "mine & our childrens" so, that means I type, do the heavy lifting, building, and all the rest of the fun stuff! Love every minute of it. Well, maybe not EVERY minute but most of them....

 

[Roll farms]

I give mine their 1st cdt by 2 wks of age, their booster at 6 wks. I would get that taken care of ASAP.

Give your 'him' time.
Mine once SWORE, "I'll never touch a goat's udder" and now he loves to milk.
I do 90% of the work, but there's some things I just can't do alone...those times I am reminded why I keep him around.

His job is seasonal, so from March to October I do it all.
This time of year, when I'm not milking, bottling, hatching, gardening, etc...and he's around to help, is my 'vacation'.

 

[happyhensny]

Cdt will be done this weekend. Out of all the animals I think DH likes the idea of the goats best due to their activity level. He wanted "big billy's" I said NO, we have 3 children, 13, 11 & 7. No billys, they are a bit stinky I have heard. Agressive sometimes too. Little ones to start. I ask him to come see, I think he may be getting hooked!

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

I give mine their 1st cdt by 2 wks of age, their booster at 6 wks. I would get that taken care of ASAP.

I second that!! Glad your getting it done this weekend. Are you doing the injections yourself??? Make sure your familar with locations on there bodies for that! Important!!

 

[Ariel301]

Cdt will be done this weekend. Out of all the animals I think DH likes the idea of the goats best due to their activity level. He wanted "big billy's" I said NO, we have 3 children, 13, 11 & 7. No billys, they are a bit stinky I have heard. Agressive sometimes too. Little ones to start. I ask him to come see, I think he may be getting hooked!

A "bit" stinky...the one I bred my does to this year was so bad you could smell him half a mile downwind from the pen. Not joking. I raked out his bedding when he was gone and dumped it in the garden, and now the garden smells like buck...and he's been gone for two months. Not a good pet!

I do all the heavy lifting too, except for hay deliveries. I have to pay someone for that, because the bales weigh more than me and my husband is badly allergic to hay. He will move a bag or two of chicken feed, but I do everything for the goats.

I would definitely get on their vaccinations as soon as possible.

As far as graining kids...I usually don't. Mine are weaned between 8-12 weeks old, and go on a diet of alfalfa hay, all they can eat. They also get all they want of a good mineral mix. I only grain them if they are not holding a good body condition, I don't like them to get overweight. (Plus grain is horribly expensive here, so I don't use it if I don't have to) I typically only grain my milking does, who are full size goats, and they get 1-3 pounds daily depending on their condition. I only have one doe who is grained year round, the rest only eat grain if they are making milk. The males never get grain.

 

[happyhensny]

I am going to ask my Nieces hubby to come help me give the Vacs. He grew up on a dairy farm and now has Nubians.

No grain even in the cold weather? Right now it is 17* and supposed to go down to 10* tonight. I was just thinking that they may need the extra nutrition.

I would much rather "work" with the animals than go to a gym. Gyms are germy. People carry yucky stuff - animals, not so much.

ETA: The girls seemed fine this evening. No shivering, gave them their grain and fresh water. Then they ran around a bit in the shed. Seem fine.