assorted goat questions - and pics ;)

[isra]

Hello friends -

A few questions for my fellow goat owners as my anxiety has been somewhat heightened since losing Luna.

1. How cold is too cold for my wether to be outside in an enclosed shelter with a little doggie door that he can go outside in a small fenced in area. It’s gonna be 25 tonight. And he’s alone because the new mama and baby are in my garage (because I’m worried about coyotes getting the kid) - so no cuddling. See below for pic of shelter (excuse the mess )

Worried about the 2 week old kid also with mama in garage- sometimes I run a space heater until I go to bed for them to have some additional warmth for part of the night.

Is this unnecessary? I’m just so averse to being cold I assume they must be too.

2. Is Dobby (wether) gonna freak out nightly because I’m not letting mama + doeling sleep in there with him? I think he’s worried since Luna went to the garage and never came back. He was castrated about 3 weeks ago to calm him down because he’s needy and wants affection but he’s too rowdy and has some pointy horns. Not To mention the stink made it hard to give him any lovin’. I read it can take Months for them to really calm down after castration.

3. Can Dobby still get this doe-mama pregnant at this point? I didn’t think of that but they spend their days together.

4. Should I treat my goats with flea and lice treatment and if so, can I just use dog stuff?

5. Anyone from piedmont NC? How worried about coyotes should I be? They are def in the area as they are in most areas now. I have a 6’ fence all around backyard but partial privacy in back - still 6’ but has wire instead of boards to be able to see the forest behind it. Below is a pic of coyote spotted a few miles away for reference since I know coyotes in other states can vary in size etc. could my wether fight back? Not that I want him to. What other solutions are there for predators short of locking him IN the shelter at night? (12 hours in the winter of being locked up). And if I do lock him up, can I put the doe and baby in there since baby is almost 3 weeks? Think he’ll hurt her? He’s gentle but he’s also giant compared to her.

6. How do you know if a kid is getting enough milk? Can my does milk dry up? The doeling prods and nudges the udders and switches back and forth a lot and doesn’t seem to nurse consistently for long but seems bouncy and energetic nonetheless.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[isra]

And thoughts/ advice on horns? I feel like getting rid of a goats horns is akin to declawing a cat. (Against doing it personally especially if the goats are pets- if they’re for meat purposes or whatever I get it I suppose) -

Can I put/ glue something to ends of them at least so they aren’t so pointy? He got me and my daughter in the leg the other day just getting worked up from getting a good scratch behind the ears.

 

[isra]

Last one- if the new doe and doeling seem to be itching a lot and shaking their heads/ears - can this be a sign of mites? Can I treat this myself? My wether itches a lot right now bc he’s shedding his winter coat I think (thanks to the warm weather we had a couple weeks ago... thanks to global warming -_- ) but the doe and doeling seem to be annoyed by their itch/ ears.

 

[Ron Bequeath]

You could treat the goats with raw acv for fleas and ticks. Or use diatonatious earth. For mites i check their ears and if present use olive oil in their ears and on itchy spots. As for global warming I'm 68, seen the same weather patterns when I was a child and if i live to be 136 (ha ha) will probably see them again. The individual who started that idea sure made a lot of money off of his believers. Stick with the goats and leave the global warming to Monsanta, you see what they did to our food source.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

And thoughts/ advice on horns? I feel like getting rid of a goats horns is akin to declawing a cat. (Against doing it personally especially if the goats are pets- if they’re for meat purposes or whatever I get it I suppose) -

Can I put/ glue something to ends of them at least so they aren’t so pointy? He got me and my daughter in the leg the other day just getting worked up from getting a good scratch behind the ears.

I round off the tops of our goat horns with my hoof cutters, it doesn't hurt and makes a "softer" contact point......all my current goats have horns, I like them and use them to hold my goats when needed.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Last one- if the new doe and doeling seem to be itching a lot and shaking their heads/ears - can this be a sign of mites? Can I treat this myself? My wether itches a lot right now bc he’s shedding his winter coat I think (thanks to the warm weather we had a couple weeks ago... thanks to global warming -_- ) but the doe and doeling seem to be annoyed by their itch/ ears.

Brush out his coat, while you are doing this take a look at his skin and hair..... if it's just shedding and dry skin you shouldn't see any mites . If you see mites try to identify what type they are and treat accordingly. You can treat mites yourself once you know what kind they are...

 

[momto6Ls]

1. Goats are fine with cold - see that shaggy coat? Baby may need a sweater and a warmer at times. I don’t kid in the winter for this reason - I’m afraid of cold kids!

2. it totally depends on personality

3. impregnated by a castrated goat? Is that your question?

4. I would go with the ACV and olive oil.

5. I’m not in coyote country, so I’m no help there.
6. “seems bouncy and energetic”
It sounds like she’s getting plenty. And she is super cute by the way! The other indicator is weight gain, of course. But I don’t bother to weigh them if they are bouncing all over the yard.

 

[isra]

I round off the tops of our goat horns with my hoof cutters, it doesn't hurt and makes a "softer" contact point......all my current goats have horns, I like them and use them to hold my goats when needed.

Ooh I didn’t know this was an option - do you just do a tiny bit?

 

[isra]

Update-

Warming up in NC- not too many cold nights left hopefully.

Dobby (wether) hates sleeping/ being alone so I relocated mama and doeling to the barn and locked up the little “goat-hole” that lets them into a smaller penned in yard area (coyotes active recently in the area).

Got a little camera on them- mama was a little distraught with the change initially but doeling (they’re still unnamed ) was bouncing around and Dobby seems so content now. I put a large animal metal cage in there for mama and baby to go into (Dobby is too big to even half-fit in there) if they want some “space” from Dobby and they’re sleeping in there.

called my vet and they said it may be [goat-specific] lice (over fleas or ticks) and suggested Dectomax - which seems to be an all around dewormer/ ? It’s also an injection - sigh. I have tried to give them shots before (when they were ill back when I first got them) and it was not a pretty scene. I cried more than they did after the first syringe popped and all the antibiotics splashed out and directly into my eye. -_-

Will try the olive oil in the ears though til I figure out who I can enlist to give these injections.

Also- one more question: how does one weigh a goat? The baby and mama I could probably hold and get on a scale myself. But Dobby is a big boy

I also went searching in the woody/creek area behind my house for signs of coyotes/ dens. Must protect my flock

 

[B&B Happy goats]

You

Ooh I didn’t know this was an option - do you just do a tiny bit?

Can easily round off a 1/4 inch , I cut off the top pointed tip , then do the sides