Clover's Kidding Thread :D

[babsbag]

Their colors can change too. I have a doe that is registered as Alpine but does have some Togg in her. When she was a kid she looked like a Togg and I registered her as Experimental since she didn't meet the color standard. Now, 3 years later she is no longer Togg brown, more brown/gray. I love the Togg colors though.

 

[Ferguson K]

I just found this thread. Congratulations on two beautiful does! Mom looks proud.

 

[Ridgetop]

Horn buds are slower to emerge in doe kids than in bucklings. The nice thing about goat milk is that there are almost no human disease carried in it so you don't have to pasteurize it for human consumption, and it is naturally homogenized. That was annoying when we wanted cream for ice cream of course since you have to use a mechanical separator to separate goat milk. Since you don't need the milk, you can let the kids nurse for 3 months. After that they will be eating hay and forage (if you have pasture) and Clover's milk will start to dry up. If you want maximum yield you need to milk 2x a day by then, but since you don't need the milk you have the option of letting her nurse and wean the kids naturally, then dry up, or like I say start milking her at around 3 months. It is your choice as to how much work you want to do. If you have milk cows you already know how much work dairy animals take!

What kind of cows do you have?

 

[Southern by choice]

The nice thing about goat milk is that there are almost no human disease carried in it so you don't have to pasteurize it for human consumption, and it is naturally homogenized.

This is not true. Sadly this is part of the raw milk hype... Raw milk is great but everyone should be educated on the risks as well.
The other issue is that things like e-coli are not the same e-coli's that your was in your grand-daddy's day... these are far more resistant to treatment because of mutation.
Leading to a very bad strain that can cause Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)


The following are zoonotic and transmission can be through raw milk.
Johnes (Mycobacterium) avium subsp. Paratuberculosis (MAP)
CL- studies still undecided but related to MAP
Brucellosis
Listeriosis
Toxoplasmosis

MAP disease is NOT killed through Pasteurization.
There are other illnesses that can be passed through the milk if animal is infected, like E-coli, Camphlobactor

 

[Ridgetop]

This is interesting since some of these diseases I only know from my goat medical book. The only one I dealt with was CAE. We raised our children on unpasteurized goat milk for 18 years with no problems. the only reason we pasteurized was for CAE in the goat kids. What is MAP? We did experience E. Coli in some calves and had to stop bringing them in for 6 months after we sanitized the calf hutches and the ground under them so we could be sure the organisms were killed. This was about 15 years ago. The calves were never around the goat pens or milking areas though and were bottle fed. New diseases are migrating all across the globe and places that never had them are being introduced to them now. Just look at that
Zika disease. It is related to Dengue which is a killer from Africa. Originally they said Zika was not dangerous except to pregnant women but now I just saw that several people have died and almost 100 have been hospitalized in Venezuela with complications from Zika. Scary!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

What is MAP?

Johnes (Mycobacterium) avium subsp. Paratuberculosis (MAP)
In short its called Johnes. I'm surprised you aren't familiar with it because its a big cattle disease.

http://www.johnes.org/

 

[babsbag]

Brucellosis (Undulant fever) has been around in milk for a very long time; it was one of the main diseases that was killed with the invention of pasteurization by Louie Pasteur. Bovine tuberculosis is another raw milk disease that is killed by pasteurization. Goats in a commercial dairy are tested for both of these diseases and must be put down if they test positive. Even though the milk is pasteurized that isn't enough.

I personally drink raw milk from my goats but I never give it to anyone else and I pasteurize all milk that is used for cheese if anyone else is going to taste it. If I had children at home I would never give them raw milk, not worth the risk. What we can't see can hurt us.

 

[Goatgirl47]

I can feel Lulu and Annie's horn buds now.

They drive me crazy by climbing up on ant hills and/or laying down on them. I have been letting them out with the other goats (only under my supervision) and they leave them (the kids) alone.

How do I know they are getting enough milk? They both seem happy and healthy (jumping, playing, etc.). Also, it is normal for them to nurse every 5-10 minutes, right?

Horn buds are slower to emerge in doe kids than in bucklings. The nice thing about goat milk is that there are almost no human disease carried in it so you don't have to pasteurize it for human consumption, and it is naturally homogenized. That was annoying when we wanted cream for ice cream of course since you have to use a mechanical separator to separate goat milk. Since you don't need the milk, you can let the kids nurse for 3 months. After that they will be eating hay and forage (if you have pasture) and Clover's milk will start to dry up. If you want maximum yield you need to milk 2x a day by then, but since you don't need the milk you have the option of letting her nurse and wean the kids naturally, then dry up, or like I say start milking her at around 3 months. It is your choice as to how much work you want to do. If you have milk cows you already know how much work dairy animals take!

What kind of cows do you have?

We have mostly crosses. Here are our cows names and breeds (and ages):

Sasha - 1/2 Normande 1/2 Jersey, almost five years old, I think
Candy - 1/2 Simmental 1/2 Brown Swiss, three years old
Violet - Purebred Dutch Belted, just turned three years old
Ruby - 3/4 Jersey 1/4 Normande, almost three, I think
Piper - 1/2 Brown Swiss 1/2 Jersey, thirteen months old
Frankie - PB Dutch Belted, almost one year old
Georgia - 7/8 Jersey 1/8 Normande, ten months old
& Linus - 1/2 Jersey 1/4 Brown Swiss 1/4 Simmental, almost nine months old

We milk the first four.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

If they are acting normal (sounds like they are) and their bellies seem full & aren't constantly crying they should be getting enough.
If you are worried about her milk, squeeze a few squirts into a bowl and make sure it looks ok & her udder isn't congested.

 

[Goatgirl47]

Ok, thanks. Her milk looks normal.

Here are a few pictures from today. The annoying buck (Romeo) was rubbing on my legs the whole time I was taking them.

Lulu

Annie

These show their difference in height

I love this little face!

Did I post too many pictures?