C&D Farming..oh what a life!

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Remove the bully where they can see or here the rest of the herd for a while like a month and then reintroduce might lower her status some but som goats are dossier then others top goat gets the best of everything.

So, basically that requires me to build another pen..or keep the 2moms in the barn all day, and switch them to goat shed at night?

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I think if you are seeing the buckling trying to breed he should be castrated.

He’s already been weathered..few weeks back...he shows absolutely no interest in the girls. I think it worked. He’s very docile now. I will definitely keep an eye on him..,but at this point today...I don’t want to put him alone. He is my only wether. He bawls, Busty bawls when they are like 20 feet apart. So, right today..I want to watch his behavior. If I see anything suspicious..I will pull him out.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Okay. Got it condensed to pretty much just your questions for those who’d like to answer lol. I have a hard time answering when it’s such a long post, personally. I left blank the ones that were answered before I started this project!
1) yes
2) yes. Not only so she can put her energy and nutrients into her kid(s), but to make sure she has colostrum available, not just milk.
3) learn about condition and decide in the fall if she’s big/strong/mature enough to handle breeding. If you want.
4) not if he’s a wether and has been for a while. A buck, yes.
5) depends on your area. Not here because, you know, winter lol
6) there is a LOT to consider with either buying or stud service and I would definitely recommend research and reading/searching for threads on here regarding that topic before you buy or rent.
7)
8) I would leave her alone, personally. Look, don’t touch if your presence is freaking her out so much. That said, I have no experience with pigs. Seems just feeding and watering/visual observations should be plenty if she’s so skittish.
9) I always fed my goats grain each time. I had a separate area for milking, so I didn’t have to wrangle the others much if at all.
10)

Hope this helps a little

This helped a ton!! I love how you broke it down into numbered questions!! Perhaps I should start doing that?! Geez, you guys would have number 1-1,100 everyday!!.

ok, so...good I can leave my Wether alone. Good I can leave Busty eat when being milked each time. As for separate are for milking...my barn is small fight now, so, I’m not that luckt..hoping to get another...actually..my barn is a semi trailer!! I know, sounds weird. But we converted it into a barn and it works great. Put in windows for plenty of ventilation. But the goats only have 1/2 of it. My plan is to hopefully buy two more. One will be another goat barn. One will be strictly storage. I have to call the guy this weekend. A plant shut down in this area, perfect timing. We got the last one for $1,000 ..very cheap. It needed new cherry hardwood..to make it last...and other stuff.,but, now it’s a nice little barn for a fraction of the cost!!

ok..no spring breeding!! It’s horrible cold here too, so, yes, no one wants to feed animals over the winter. Prices are very low.

as for buying/studying bucks..I will make and read threads. Great idea!

as for ND making creamy milk. My ND makes very little milk...and she’s awful to milk...so I don’t bother with her right now. I figure next time around. My Pygmy actually makes more and she’s quite creamy! Ok...thanks for the help ladies..,you’re the best!!

 

[lalabugs]

You have a lot of good information given to you. I did get the pictures and will post at the bottom of this.

As far as the new goat (when the timing is right). I suggest trying to find local breeders and go see their goats. We have had a few breeds, finding what breeds we love and sticking with those breeds. We had mini alpines, mini nubian, nubian/boer, ND, LaMancha and mini Mancha. My favorite is the mini mancha. Which is my focus this year. My kids prefer ND milk.

To make milking easier I would somehow have a separate area where you milk away from the rest of the herd.

Here are the pictures. The first one I put purple dots where the hips end. They're both fuzzy with winter coat. Not the easiest to see the hip width. Opal is 6 1/2 months old.

You can see Nilla is taller and over all bigger than Opal. Until Opal has more width to her, she will not be bred. My boys had to help hold them, Nilla hates Opal. It was not an easy task to get the pictures.

 

[chickens really]

Hello Denise.
Remember my little wether Ozzy was very Bucky and he was castrated as a very young kid. He was absolutely horrible trying to breed Fancy every heat cycle. His hormones are levelling off so he doesn't act so bad anymore.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

You have a lot of good information given to you. I did get the pictures and will post at the bottom of this.

As far as the new goat (when the timing is right). I suggest trying to find local breeders and go see their goats. We have had a few breeds, finding what breeds we love and sticking with those breeds. We had mini alpines, mini nubian, nubian/boer, ND, LaMancha and mini Mancha. My favorite is the mini mancha. Which is my focus this year. My kids prefer ND milk.

To make milking easier I would somehow have a separate area where you milk away from the rest of the herd.

Here are the pictures. The first one I put purple dots where the hips end. They're both fuzzy with winter coat. Not the easiest to see the hip width. Opal is 6 1/2 months old.
View attachment 71952
You can see Nilla is taller and over all bigger than Opal. Until Opal has more width to her, she will not be bred. My boys had to help hold them, Nilla hates Opal. It was not an easy task to get the pictures.
View attachment 71953

Thank you sooo much for the pictures!!! I really appreciate that!! I definitely see the difference in the two....what breed are these two? I don’t remember? So, do th mini mancha’s make less mi since they are a smaller breed? When you milk your goats do you separate each type to get the taste differences? I don’t get enough from my two others to have ever thought of that. I read all the time that ND are great for dairy...mine has a tiny bag, and even tinier teats...at this point I don’t milk her because it’s such a struggle and I gave too much else of my plate, and the times I’ve tried...there wasn’t hardly much there. So, it made me wonder, why are ND considered dairy if they don’t produce much? Or is it just this goat? As for the hips widening, that just happens over time, just as a woman? I was looking at my kids’ bags yesterday, as they played, and then just felt around. I noticed that Roxy, I think will be a lot like her mom, Busty? She seems to have more of a pooch to her than the rest? Could be my imagination,but, it was cute. They have been in their pen this past week, and pouting. So I take them on supervised walks during the days, so they don’t eat the dear Pine trees...lol...well yesterday they went wild!! Even the moms were kicking up their heels! It was a great sight! We have a piece of old solid wooden fence that fell from last year in the field...we’ll they loved using it as a pretend trampoline ! It was such a delight!! We had so much fun..they were doing hot laps all around the fields, and tired themselves right out!! Goats are just the best!!

 

[lalabugs]

Nilla and Opal are both purebred Nigerian Dwarf. Both are registered. With all goats, you could have a good milker or not. I buy goats that come from milk lines (people who milk and can show what the dams are producing). I milk my does starting 12 hours after they give birth. We milk 2 times a day.

Nilla is currently giving us 3 cups am and 2 cups pm. That is with twins on her. That is not stripping her empty either. We still leave milk for her kids.

Nyx (my Lamancha doe) is currently giving us 6 cups am and pm.

The 2018 Nigerian Dwarf breed leader in milk production through ADGA milk testing produced 2190 pounds in 305 days. Roughly a little over 7 pounds a day. That's almost a gallon. With a gallon being 8 pounds. 10th place made 1440 pounds in 305 days. That's over 4 pounds a day. Say 1/2 a gallon a day. Nilla use to have tiny teats but they have plumped up a lot.

Here is the link to the ADGA breed leaders. https://adga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TTv-65-010820.pdf

When we start keeping milk for ourselves. Yes, I keep the milk separate and write on the jars. Right now since we're using the milk for the baby goats, we are not keeping it separate. Our first unregistered mini lamancha at her second freshening was milking almost a gallon. I currently do not have any minis in milk. I was hoping that Nyx (my purebred LaMancha) would have given me a doe, but no. I will not have a Mini in milk again until next year. I am working on having registered minis now. I have 1 registered mini doe and buck. They will be bred later this year after Kate has had time to get back into health.

Yes, the goats hips keep growing like a woman. Opal is not mature yet. Just like people, goats mature at different ages.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Wow!! A lot of great info again!! I definitely don’t need tha5 much milk!! Right now...the stores I sell to are closed, but I have some customers who bu6 cheese...but I need to keep Busty’s milk up, so when the stores open back up...her milk is up too. But, to be honest...I’m realizing she’s probably older than I want to admit. I can’t ge5 a good look at her teeth. I’ll get a picture of her bony hips...she’s still not putting back he4 weight and I feed her pretty good. About every othe4 day I have to clean a back hoof for her, and make sur3 its trimmed nicely. She gets a limp easily. It’s a muddy messy out here. She walks wayyyy out around the mud to go anywhere Green. She’s pretty smart. But, you know, she still gets muck stuck to th3 bott of a hoof...so I clean them off. Poor gal. I just love this goat to pieces. When she came here...she was...much mor3 youthful....or, I should say...she and Stormy wer3 my first goats and I though5 the6 were youn* because I wanted them to be young. But now, when I compare her to my do3 who is 1.... I just want to do right by her... at the same time...I don’t want to disappoint people. I absolutely hate decisions. Last night she wanted to sleep outside in th3 goat shed with her kids. Bu5 the6 are still too small and I’d have worried all night, so I kept them in the barn. She’s so sweet.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Ok, here’s a quick couple pictures of Busty’s poor bumm. She’s sooo thin. And has such a time up and down on the stand. I told Chris today that I don’t want to milk he4 anymore. He thinks it’s about me...that I’m tired of th3 milking. I quite enjoy it now....it’s very peaceful and I just love my time with Busty. But I do see how it is hard on her, and that worries me. I also hate all this indecision!! All the ups and downs right now are driving me crazy!! I just wan5 to have things settled..know what’s go8ng on and be set! So, with that being said, I hope to figure out tha5 plan this week. Talking to Chris about not mil8ng her, due to the stress on her. He was pretty surprised. I don’t think he cares either way, jus5 shocked at my ups and downs too.

 

[chickens really]

Ok, here’s a quick couple pictures of Busty’s poor bumm. She’s sooo thin. And has such a time up and down on the stand. I told Chris today that I don’t want to milk he4 anymore. He thinks it’s about me...that I’m tired of th3 milking. I quite enjoy it now....it’s very peaceful and I just love my time with Busty. But I do see how it is hard on her, and that worries me. I also hate all this indecision!! All the ups and downs right now are driving me crazy!! I just wan5 to have things settled..know what’s go8ng on and be set! So, with that being said, I hope to figure out tha5 plan this week. Talking to Chris about not mil8ng her, due to the stress on her. He was pretty surprised. I don’t think he cares either way, jus5 shocked at my ups and downs too.

Denise ..I know feeding Momma the same ration kids or any babies get helps Momma gain weight. My Momma dogs always eat puppy feed till weaning..