Goat Whisperer's & SBC's kidding thread: kidding storm

[babsbag]

Two years ago my kids grew slowly and it was probably a selenium deficiency as I had one die but this last year they are still slow and I have no idea. They have access to loose minerals all of the time and alfalfa and I have a hard time believing that kids from dams that are not deficient could be. IDK

I have been thinking of getting the hay tested since it primarily comes from 2 different growers, but they are in the same region so soil should be close.

The one kid in my herd that GREW is the one whose dam had mastitis and the doe and therefore her doeling got a good dose of Oxytet for the first week of the doeling's life...makes me wonder. She never had cocci and was never on preventative either. She is dam raised and didn't get much milk for the first few weeks as her dam was pretty sick. I did maybe 3 bottle totals but I wanted her on her dam as I thought that it was good for her morale and would give mom a reason to live. Well she lived, came back into milk, and that doeling is bigger than some 2 year olds.

I have bottle babies that are small and they had milk until they were 12 weeks + . I will say that the kids growing slowly is a "newer" problem in my herd but I haven't changed anything other than owning more goats. My dam raised kids are no bigger than the bottle babies so it isn't that, I'm just not sure what the cause is. They aren't skinny, just small.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Their does are like GW so kinda on the "fleshy" side.

Hey I'm not fleshy, just my goats are

They have a profound love for food.

 

[Southern by choice]

oops guess I forgot the apostrophe s
GW's

 

[babsbag]

Their does are like GW so kinda on the "fleshy" side.

I read that and started laughing. Since I have met GW I knew it was either a typo or she was starting to look like her goats, like they say some owners to with their dogs. I figured it was probably the typo.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

The one kid in my herd that GREW is the one whose dam had mastitis and the doe and therefore her doeling got a good dose of Oxytet for the first week of the doeling's life...makes me wonder.

Especially because it is supposed to interfere with bone/teeth development...

 

[babsbag]

Especially because it is supposed to interfere with bone/teeth development...

I have always questioned that. I have too many kids that have been on Oxytet with no problems. I have never really researched where that wisdom came from but it is certainly not what I have seen.

Since I seldom see pneumonia anymore my use of Oxy in the kids has become a thing of the past. But now you really make me wonder...kids born into my herd used to grow much better and many of them were on antibiotics.

 

[Bruce]

Isn't that the basis of the current trend toward eliminating routine antibiotics in meat animals? Feed them antibiotics so they grow faster. And we get antibiotic resistant bacteria as an unplanned side effect.

 

[Southern by choice]

We have never used medicated feed or antibiotics so I really don't know the deal there.
One year we did have kids that grew slower and were smaller. I always linked it to the weather issues we had that year.

I think if the herd is really healthy and the feed/management is good then kids will grow well but weather I do believe has a great deal to do with growth.


Ok so I was doing the list for kidding so we can start prepping. We have about 7.5-8 weeks to go!
I am like a nervous Nellie.
Seriously- I don't know what is wrong with me.

If I go by what I think the max kids from each goat we have bred so far (from what I estimate) we will have 27 kids out of 9 does.
2-4 more does will be bred here shortly but the numbers won't be significant because only 1 is a Sr. doe. I think the others would just have a single anyway.

We wanted to take the building that houses the chickens - it is divided in half with a hallway down the center-
One half has kidding stalls the other half chickens.
We planned on slaughtering the chickens except for a few that are just flat out pet keepers and moving then to a new area.
This way we would have the half of the building for a giant milkroom.
But with this many kids I am thinking a baby house til it is warm enough for them to really be out and about.
The kid side will be 20' x <9' .

But now where do I put the milk room? We will be using at least one of the double stanchions and we will machine milk in the am... hand milk pm.
The first month we milk on the porch anyway but what about after that?

Ya'll have no idea how bad I want to tear down all the fencing and reconfigure everything... I even want to move the barn.

My DH I think would either have a stroke or divorce me. Probably the stroke.
GW will probably have a panic attack once she reads this!


Trying to plan stuff out today GW mentioned how they are bottle babies and some we can just send right out the door.



Yeah... riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihgt.

I even asked... Leah's kids? hmmm no, we really need to keep a buck out of that and of course the does
What about Ruth's? Oh no way because those will be Isaac babies
Lucy? No, Isaac Babies
What about the Lamanchas?
Millie? Zephyr? Mariah? and if we breed Jane?
Ruby? seriously...

GW said well ...Trouble and Bingo's babies.

Me- SMH!

I have decided we may keep a few bucks the others will go as BB or will be wethered and grown for meat.

 

[Bruce]

I should have specified - antibiotics in factory farmed animals. Other than some people using medicated chick starter (I don't) or if similar things exist for other very young animals, I really doubt small producers routinely pump their animals full of antibiotics. Of course I could be totally wrong.

That is the one thing that bugs me about the "no antibiotics without a prescription" law. Echo (mentioned above) I believe was at death's door when I found that growth. She came out in the morning and headed away. She didn't talk to me or answer me. She is the most "personable" of my girls and ALWAYS answers me when I talk to her. This most likely because she is hoping I have a treat for her. I did my morning barn thing then went to look for her. Finally found her hunkered down near the pool pump under the deck. Lethargic barely describes her state. I thought she MIGHT have egg peritonitis and giving some antibiotics might help, couldn't hurt. I got some Duramycin at TSC. She recovered. Had the new law been in effect she would be dead. No way the vet is going to call in a prescription from a "can't hurt" phone call. And we don't have a poultry vet around here who would likely be able to tell what was wrong if I was willing to bring the chicken in and pay for the visit. Then there is the question of the cost of the drugs. I doubt the pharmacy will be cheaper than TSC because they won't be carrying "animal grade" drugs.

Does the pharmacy at the grocery store sell antibiotics packaged for animals? Are there instructions on the package as to how much to put in what quantity of water to dose, for example, a 6 pound chicken? Are there be people on the internet that have figured it out by trial and error?

I think the law was intended for big producers and the big hammer is hitting way outside the target.

 

[babsbag]

Fortunately the injectable antibiotics will still be available...for now, and I have given chickens injections. That will change in CA in 2018 but I will continue to have some on hand even if I have to drive to OR to get it. I do feed medicated feed to my chicks, but it is for cocci and not an "antibiotic". I would never give antibiotics to increase growth but I still wonder if that is why my kids were larger. As far as the pharmacy carrying drugs for animals, yes they do, at least here. But the feed stores (some of them) will still stock the drugs for feed and water, you just can't buy them without a script. I don't know what TSC will do but I have a good feed store that will stock it all, just not on Sundays or evenings.

@Southern by choice you simply have too many goats.