Early Questions on pygmy & dwarf

[julieq]

 

[chandasue]

If we get 1 doe and 1 wether...
We'll have to have the doe bred to get the milk. At what age do you usually have them bred? Is this a really expensive thing to do? And then, when you wean the kid - I guess we would just try to sell the kid? Boy, my kids are unhappy when we sell a chicken, I don't think they'll like selling a goat much lol! With milking, how long will the doe continue to produce milk?

That would be a good combo to break yourself in easy to milking.

For ND's they aren't typically bred until they're close to a year old depending on their size, and don't breed to a standard sized buck, as they might develop babies that are too big to birth. If there's a lot of ND breeders near by you'll likely find someone that offers very reasonable buck service. I pay $35 to get mine bred, which I think is very fair to have registrable babies. I pull the babies at birth and bottle feed them so I can be greedy with the milk. A lot of people around here want babies that they can bottle feed so it works for me. Once they've been on mama it's hard to get them to take a bottle, so you'd either keep them until she's weaned them or pull them right at birth to get them on bottles. Babies have a way of multiplying if you don't sell them, just reassure the kids that there will always be more babies in the future. The first freshening is not usually a big production year and you don't really know what they'll produce until they've had 3 kiddings. Their lactation cycles can really vary so if you want them to be outstanding milkers be sure to buy from a breeder that is pushing for production, rather than "pet" quality.

 

[MomMommyMamma]

I've looked at Craigslist and also at Best Farm Buy. Tell me what some red flags are in listings. What should make me NOT want to buy from someone. I saw one ad,

I Am Selling One Of My Bred Pigmy Goats, She's At Least A Month away. Bought her bred so i dont kno the definite due date. $65 email if interested. Thanks

I'm thinking 1) why would you buy & sell the animal so quickly, 2) why would you buy a bred goat not knowing the EDC...
Yes? Or are these all "normal" circumstances?

 

[chandasue]

I'd pass on that one too. Seems questionable unless she's just getting picked on too much by the others. It's hard to know who's really honest. Vet papers showing negative tests are good although I've heard of people even faking those. And not everyone tests but they may very well have healthy animals. Going to look at the goats and the overall herd health is next best if you know what to look for. You could also have a vet go look them over before you buy. Most people will go along with that and some will hold the animal if you want to pay for any testing.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

It could be that she has:
1) an existing herd of hornless goats and this doe is horned
2 and existing herd of horned goats and this doe is hornless
3)health issues
4) doe had an ultrasound and it was discovered she was having more kids than was wanted.
5) got the doe home and DH said "No more"
It is really hard to tell.