The Goats have landed!

[babsbag]

They are so little and so cute. How much fun to go from 0 to 4 goats all at once. Congratulations and good job giving them a home. You will love them.

 

[Ericka]

I was given little to no information about them. Given that the previous owner told me "any hay is fine, like home depot sells hay" I thought.... yup and I have a fish in bowl at home - doesn't make it salmon for dinner.

What I do know and was given.
- Bella has not had any shots or de-wormings at all in the 4 months that they owned them.
- The kids were born 12/27
- They were eating Purina goat chow and hay, which wasn't seen in the pen with them when we got there.

Our local feed store had goat feed, not sure if it was Purina? It was all that they had, but she loves it, it's her favorite! He gave us a grass hay and totally sold us the light :/ UGH. She also has Manna Pro goat minerals and baking soda free choice, the water bucket is hanging, do babies need water too? If so, must put shallow bowl on the list for tomorrow! Feed store man told me I can't do a de-worming now as she is nursing too young of babies.

Also, I have contacted a local pygmy goat breeder in town, the only one in town... to see if she might be interested in coming over and looking at them? I am not sure if that is even a thing, but she has so much wonderful info on her site, I essentially begged that she come over my house LOL maybe I can convince her that banding our sweet man and disbudding will be a "fun time" while she visits

 

[goats&moregoats]

Congrats! On the momma & babies. In place of dog coats, you can go to a second hand shop(if you have one in your area) purchase some infant sleepers. Cut out feet and areas for potty needs.

Sounds like they are off to a better start already. Good luck and I hope you end up with a Mentor, help with banding & disbudding.

 

[OneFineAcre]

If you leave the light in there, don't just rely on the clamp. Get some zip ties to totally secure it so it can't be knocked down.

You probably don't need anything at all.

For coats you can just take and old towel or sweat shirt or really any piece of material and cut a square about 12" by 12". And then just make a hole in all 4 corners to get their leg through. It doesn't wrap around them but just hangs on top.

You can't see very good in this picture, because they are laying down.

Now, I just had a regular incandescent light bulb, and not a heat lamp. And I probably had 10 zip ties on the light and cord.

A pan or box that all 3 will fit in helps too. They love to get in a box or pan and snuggle.

These guys were only a couple of days old and it was in the teens.

 

[Southern by choice]

The guy at the feedstore is wrong. Deworming is no problem you can use either Fenbendazole or Ivermectin. The protocol is different for them because they respond differently. Fenben needs to be given 3 days in a row, whereas the ivermectin is 1x. Fenbendazole is labeled for goats whereas ivermectin is off label (requires vet to say ok) LOL. Both are sold at TSC, given by mouth. You should run a fecal on her first find out the load and treat accordingly.

Good luck on getting someone to disbud! Especially someone that doesn't know you. Most will tell you to get your vet to do it.

Is it Maggie coming out? That would be pretty cool!

Good Luck!

 

[babsbag]

Everything that Southern said, and you might want to add alfalfa to the grass hay since she is nursing three kids. Alfalfa has more calcium and she needs that for milk. I would contact a vet about disbudding ASAP. I raise standard sized goats and they need to be done at about 7-10 days and that is pushing it on the boys. Not sure about pygmys, but if you wait too long then it is too late.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Everything that Southern said, and you might want to add alfalfa to the grass hay since she is nursing three kids. Alfalfa has more calcium and she needs that for milk. I would contact a vet about disbudding ASAP. I raise standard sized goats and they need to be done at about 7-10 days and that is pushing it on the boys. Not sure about pygmys, but if you wait too long then it is too late.

x 2.
I don't think it would be too late to disbud those kids at all at this point.

 

[Ericka]

Ha. It is Maggie She has yet to respond in a totally thrilled way LOL she did send me some links on where & what to buy etc. Still no word from the vet she mentioned... it's like people were on vacation! LOL I shall be at it again tomorrow.

In the mean time they are doing splendid today. I am making little jackets for them and putting a bin in there. We have twist ties on the light now, but will be removing it once the coats are ready to go! I couldn't sleep last night staring at the barn waiting for fire any second. I nearly gave up and brought them all inside the house LOL

 

[Ericka]

And outfit #1 done LOL they are even cuter!

 

[Southern by choice]

Ha. It is Maggie She has yet to respond in a totally thrilled way LOL she did send me some links on where & what to buy etc. Still no word from the vet she mentioned... it's like people were on vacation! LOL I shall be at it again tomorrow.

In the mean time they are doing splendid today. I am making little jackets for them and putting a bin in there. We have twist ties on the light now, but will be removing it once the coats are ready to go! I couldn't sleep last night staring at the barn waiting for fire any second. I nearly gave up and brought them all inside the house LOL

I love baby goats in the house! So much fun. We use a playpen and put "boots" on their feet so they don't slip on the wood floors!

I know you already have referrals from several of us for vets so at least you have others to call if that one doesn't.

She has yet to respond in a totally thrilled way LOL

Yeah, I understand that all too well.
Unless you are paying a consulting fee the reality is why would someone be thrilled to come to your house and spend their time and day for someone they don't know, and they are not clients?