New Goat Mama of 2 Kids with some questions

[Ms Thistle]

Hi everyone,

I'm so glad I stumbled onto this forum! We were gifted with two Saanen (with a dash of Angora and La Mancha) kids three days ago. It' s been a wild ride. My friend has two does for milk, and did not want the babies. Turns out she has not dealt with kids before to guide me, so I've been researching what to do. Here are some questions:

-- There is a doeling and buckling, they are 2 wks and 3days now. I planned on having the buckl' castrated this Thurs, however I'm reading here that maybe I should wait? How long? And we were told to keep him as a buddy for the doeling - is this a crazy idea over the years? I can already see how aggressive he is! (He's still sweet as heck, loves to get cuddles).

-- I was hoping to have them debudded as well this week - but their horns are poking up barely, and I'm concerned its too late already. I had no idea that this needed to be done so quickly. Is it too late? (I actually love the horns - at least, we think we do, since we've never had goats! - however, we have dogs and two small children, so we are thinking it just isn't a good idea?)

-- They get milk 3x a day right now, anywhere from 8-16 oz per serving. The male will eat and eat, however the girl just isn't that much of a eater. She actually had very little yesterday (refused her dinner), though she ate better today. Still, when I read an est. of 32 oz 2x a day, neither of our kids are eating that much. The female is VERY picky - she wants her mama's milk (I have a limited supply daily) and warmed up. She refuses Kidlac. The male doesn't care, so I've started giving him pure Kidlac and the doeling gets 20% Kidlac and 80% dam milk.

The buckling is stout and healthy, though he refused dinner tonight and did look a little bloated...the female seems almost frail in comparison, however they are both energetic and engaged. Should I be concerned?

-- They have no interest in the fine alfalfa hay I offer, and I have yet to see them actually drink water though it is in their barn and offered. They are already browsing all over the yard, which I'm trying to watch. I'm under the impression they shouldn't do a lot of that yet, but how to stop them? Should I be concerned about the lack of interest in the fine hay? Should I add grain now?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm new and really want to make sure we are raising them right. I wish we had goats long ago, I'm in LOVE!

Regards,
Ms Thistle

 

[haviris]

I'd stick w/ atleast 3 feedings aday, my 4 week old kid is still getting 4 feedings a day.

Keep the hay and water avaliable, they'll find it eventually, sometimes it just takes time, especially when there's no one to show them.

Once he's castrated he'll no longer be a buck, so shouldn't be any more aggressive then the doe. keeping him as a companion is a fine idea. (Side note most bucks should also not be aggressive) Since he's living w/ a doeling I'd probably castrate 2-3 months.

Have whoever you are having disbud look and see if it's to late, I've had a kid need it at birth, and some wait til nearly 4 weeks, hard to say w/out seeing them. I've had horned goats, and currently have 2 w/ no problems, HOWEVER, it is much easier done now, then to deside later it should have been done.

I feed goat or cow's milk to my kids, and feed them as much as they want at each meal. Not eating can be a bad sign, but some are also just pickier, neither of my current doelings would refuse a bottle, but both my bucklings occationally don't want to eat. IF they are acting normal otherwise they may be fine, but if they are not there could be a problem!

I hope that helps!

 

[Roll farms]

I would wait at until he's at least 2 mos. to band him. Holding off reduces the risk of Urinary Calculi by giving the urethra time to grow.

If a piggish kid under 4 weeks just suddenly just won't take their bottle, I give them a product called Scour Halt for 2-3 days along w/ probios the first day.
The scour halt usually 'works' to stop the scours in 1 feeding, but you don't want to stop before it's had time to kill off all the bad stuff.

If they're over 1 month and they scour, I treat them for coccidia w/ DiMethox....also start checking gum / eyelid color and have a fecal ran if needed to check worm load.

I've disbudded kids at 2-3 weeks, its not as easy but it can be done....just don't put it off much longer.

They'll start picking at the hay soon...I'd also start putting a handful of medicated goat feed (w/ deccox) out in front of them...discard it daily if not eaten....

 

[Ms Thistle]

Thank you both so much for the input. So I'm going to delay his castration, and see about the debudding (the horns are there, a bit bigger each day but well under 1/2 inch).

This AM, Saemus the buckling refused to eat again. I can see his little bout with some bloat last night is gone. Not sure what's going on. Stella ate like a champ. So when I call to resched' at our vet I'm going to look into having him checked out.

I'm going to look into the medicated goat feed, Scour Halt. They both had scours the day I picked them up, and after giving them Resorb they were fine the next AM.

Thanks!

Regards,
Ms Thistle