Help with new, untrained goats. Unsure of vaccine records.

[EcoHomesteaders]

Hello all! We are new to having goats this year. My wife and I obtained two sister mixed breed (farmer we obtained them from thinks they are half mini-alpine and half nigerian pigmy) goats. They are around ten months old we believe.

One sister is very friendly and will come to you, whereas the other sister is reluctant to be handled. They are both very healthy, eating well and have no evidence of worms or problems. We have a micro farm with 18 hens, these two goats and a few rabbits.

Two questions:

- First, since we are unsure of vaccines these gals might have been given, what is most important for us to do vaccine wise for these girls as we would like to breed them for milk as soon as possible.

- Second, I built a milking stand and have began putting them up into the stand and brush them and pet them to get them used to it... I put a little food in the trough for them and they will eat, but as soon as I attempt to latch them in they freak out, so I immediately free them. I really hope to milk these goats, but am afraid that they may be passed the time where they could be trained to be more managable. Is this the case? Or do you have any advise on training them to behave in the milking stand so that when the time comes to milk them, it will not be a disaster.

Thank you so very much for any advise!

 

[Chris8dozer]

We have an auction close to us that sells animals every Friday. Typical rule of thumb for us with new animals we're unsure of histories with is to give the CD&T vaccine, wormer medication and probiotics. Then to watch for signs of illness and treat with Neomycin. If all else fails, call your vet.

You will probably have much better luck with getting them to stand for you for milking once they are bred and engorged with milk. Once they realize you handling in that manner will relieve them of the pressure from engorgement, they will welcome the idea of getting on the stand and having their tears handled.

Make sure you are handling them on a regular basis. The more you play with them and handle them, the easier they will be to train.

Hope this helps.

 

[OneFineAcre]

CD&T for sure.
I would do fecals before I did any type of worming.

We don't try to train any of ours on the milk stand until they are in milk. So, no 10 months is not too late.

Just handle them a lot, give them treats and they will warm up to you.

We always give ours something special in the milk stand.

 

[treeclimber233]

Something else you could try is teaching them to lead and stand tied to something. If you take an animal that is used to running loose and then try to restrain it (fastening head in stanchion) it will freak out. Everything will fight at first until they learn that being restrained will not hurt. Go slow and gradual with them. Turning them loose when they start fighting the head hold will only teach them to fight harder. You definitely want the stand to be a pleasant place to be.