rachels.haven's Journal

[Baymule]

I like reading your goat adventures and seeing pictures of your beautiful goats. Mini maker! Haha!

 

[Ridgetop]

I thought you were getting out of minis.

 

[rachels.haven]

I thought you were getting out of minis.

No, just dwarves. I won't start too far on what I don't like about those non-dairy goats, but the minis make it tolerable and produce twice as much with the same or nearly as much butterfat and protein and at least the ones I've had tend to stay in milk for a whole lactation instead of being fair weather 12 week milkers like meat goats (sorry meat goats). And like nubian milk, the kids love it even more than lamancha. So I have a few mini saanens that have been stalwart dairy animals worth what they eat and we'll be trying some mini lamanchas soon hopefully.

I don't mind the dwarf bucks as much-as long as they aren't biters I think they are stinky and funny-but the goal will be to have mini lamancha with gopher ears and standard lamancha bucks only eventually. I'd never want to milk dwarf does again unless that was the only breed I could keep. They are awful.

 

[rachels.haven]

Lily's buckling is inside for the night because he was flailing his legs and flipping on his back over and over again in a weird way and seemed to be getting weaker and weaker and hitting his head on the barn wall and mom was responding by pawing bedding up and totally burying him (frustration/encouragement?). No good. I put him on the teat originally and I think he got some colostrum, but/so he sure won't take any when I offered it. I've never seen a kid flail like that so he may pass away. I kind of wonder if the pull was just too much for him and I should just be grateful that mom made it.

I can always hope he's just tired, but he's lying in a bucket now, sprawled out with his eyes open. In combo with his previous activities...I'm not sure that's a good thing. Poo. I guess at least it's just a buckling? Even if I can't get him to eat I guess at least he's not dying outside cold and suffocating, buried alive. (Not sure I should tube him at this point.)

If I can fix him up Lily can have her kid back. Assuming she quits trying to bury him alive.

 

[Ridgetop]

I've never seen a kid flail like that so he may pass away. I kind of wonder if the pull was just too much for him

He was up on his feet in the earlier picture so it wasn't a birth injury that would affect either the spinal cord or brain. We had a lamb that had a hard time being born and I wasn't there to pull him. Although the ewe finally delivered him, the lack of oxygen affected his brain and spinal column and he couldn't stand. See if you can get him to take a bottle with colostrum and a little Karo in it. I hold their mouth closed around it and if you use a plastic soda bottle you can squeeze a little so it dribbles down the throat. It could be if he doesn't take it that he is not hungry. Check his tummy.

Some of our ewes used to paw the lambs at night to make them get up and nurse one last time (so they could get a good night's sleep? LOL) If she was doing that she may have hit him with a hoof and bruised him. Let him sleep in the house overnight and in the morning he should be hungry. If he got bruised he will feel better in the morning, and you can put him back on the teat. If Lili is a first freshener and unsure about nursing her kid try tying her up first. If she swings her butt around, tie a lead rope around her flank in front of the udder and attach it to the fence to keep her from moving away from him.

Hopefully he will be ok.

 

[SageHill]

I get the adding Karo syrup to the colostrum/milk. Though with the lamb I had to help this year I started with my finger coated with it and then putting it in his mouth. He didn’t want to try the bottle at all. A few minutes after the Karo coated finger he did want the bottle. It gave him just enough boost to have the energy to suck on the bottle.
I’ve done this with puppies so that’s where it came from originally.

 

[Mini Horses]

These babies will test us, that's for sure! Hope he pulls thru for you. Looked good in the picture.

I laugh at the dwarf comments because the only one I've had around stunk 3x what any of my full sized bucks ever has in rut! .

My meat goats, like you say, short lactation. But that's ok because I only want them to raise the kids. Mine have some impressive udders, short lived

 

[rachels.haven]

I suspect mom beat him up and wasn't letting him sleep. He's doing fine now and is on a Pritchard now and took 6 oz of colostrum replacer and still wanted more this morning. Oh well, I guess I'll raise him.

 

[rachels.haven]

These babies will test us, that's for sure! Hope he pulls thru for you. Looked good in the picture.

I laugh at the dwarf comments because the only one I've had around stunk 3x what any of my full sized bucks ever has in rut! .

My meat goats, like you say, short lactation. But that's ok because I only want them to raise the kids. Mine have some impressive udders, short lived

Yeah, I don't think you want long lactations just for kid raising. That would be mastitis waiting on the wings. They're perfect for their purpose. Dwarves are often marketed dishonestly either innocently because that's what they've been told or less innocently because it's a profitable business. I have a beef with that. I think a lot fewer people would buy them if they looked more at numbers. A lot of people want more than a cup or three per milking with a quart per milking being considered very productive, and they usually want it for more than 8-12 weeks (but then they say you can stagger breed them, which has not been my experience, and just have kidding and kid raising madness all year round for your milk?)

Yes on the stink! My lamancha bucks smell like does right now. Big, udderless, dorky does.

 

[Mini Horses]

For me, staggering works only for one or two. Winter milk. But the Saanen are often good at milking thru once they get a few kidding in. Another method for milking if just for the house.

I'm thinking to get back into more "controlled" breeding next year. Does that happen with these guys? . Maybe if bucks are 5 miles away! The does are little hussies.

Glad the little buck seems revived. He looked to be a big one. Lovely black coat.