Milking Goat and Weaning after birth

[cmjust0]

I've never really had to harden my heart to pull a baby since we really only pull them if we have to.. When you have to, it's usually because mama's not doing what mama's supposed to be doing.. In those cases, I have little sympathy.

Yet, invariably and without fail, the mama who was running around the stall playing keep-away with the weird little critters that just fell out of her hind end will start bawling and crying like "Oh, no! Someone stole my babies!"...as though she's just devastated..

:/

Oh well. She'll get over it.

 

[Ariel301]

We use the method described at the Fiasco Farm website, where the babies are allowed to nurse all they want for the first two weeks, and then start getting separated for part of the time. Except that we do it backwards because evening is the best time for me to milk, so our kids spend the day in their own 'playpen' and get to go in with the moms in the evening after I milk, and spend all night and most of the morning with their moms. I leave them a bowl of water in their own pen, as well as hay and a little grain and some mineral supplement, so they can nibble on adult foods and get used to them. Then when they are eight weeks old, they are put into their playpen and don't come back out. It's fairly low-stress, as they can see each other through the fence, just not nurse. They do cry a little at first, and some cry a lot. We sold a doe because whenever we tried to wean her babies or even just separate them from her by ten feet, she would go crazy and throw herself at the fences until she got hurt. That one was an exception though, most of them get over it fast.

 

[freemotion]

That is good to know! I was hoping to milk in the evening, which is easier with my work schedule. Good to know someone has done that successfully.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I am totally new to goats.

I just got 2 doelings from a goat dairy. The woman leaves the kids with the momma for 2 days, then removes them for bottle feeding. She says it is a little difficult to get them to take the bottle at first, but she prefers for the babies to get their 1st milk directly from momma.
I got mine when they were 6 days old. The kids were calm in their pen and the momma was with the herd. The lady brought the momma out for us and walked her right past the babies. The momma had no reaction at all toward the babies. She was way more interested in getting onto the stand to get to the grain bucket.

Mine are 8 days old today. One is relatively easy to feed from the bottle, the other takes a little more coaxing. But to feed both kids it takes me less than 15 minutes, including heating up the milk.