Weaning dam raised bucklings

[Critter]

I have a boer doe with triplets that just turned 7 weeks. She has two bucklings and one doeling. The bucklings are both (still) quite a bit bigger than the doeling and I've been noticing them trying to mount each other, their sister, and my other doelings who are about a month older. I know this is normal behavior, but yesterday I noticed that one of the bucklings is starting to be able to extend, so it looks like I am going to need to separate the boys sooner rather than later.

My plan is to separate both bucklings together and leave the doeling with mom so hopefully she can catch up a little bit by having all the milk to herself. They are all on pasture now and the kids have access to a creep feeder with goat pellets and have been eating well. I'm wondering if 7 weeks is too young to wean them. They are really nice looking bucks and I don't want to stunt them, but mom is also pretty depleted at this point as well. Any advice on when/how I should go about weaning? I have a pen designed to keep my buck separated during breeding season that has a second fence around it to prevent breeding through the fence where I could put them for now. They won't be able to get to mom to nurse, but they will be able to see each other through the fences.

I'm also wondering what everyone does as far as weaning doelings. Last year we left them with their dams until we sold them at 5-6 months and it took a long time for their dams to bounce back. This year I'm considering keeping one or more of the doelings, or at least growing them out until they are quite a bit bigger. I'm thinking I'll keep the small doeling on mom until at least 12 weeks, and then wean all three doelings together in their own pen.

Any advice or ideas would be much appreciated.

 

[Latestarter]

Separate the bucklings now. They'll scream and cry for a few days then get over it. You'll need to keep them from nursing for several weeks to a month or more. Generally the dams will wean the younguns when they feel it's right. Some just never seem to recognize that time and let them nurse for what seems forever. When YOU think it's time, then YOU separate them and force wean. Lots of energy required to feed a kid that's almost the same size as the parent... But if mom is going to continue to let them suck, there's no reason for them to stop. Good luck!

 

[Goatgirl47]

Honestly, I would not wean them at only 7 weeks old. If possible, I like to keep all of my kids (whether standard or mini) on their dams for at least 3 months. My bucklings begin extending when they're 3-4 weeks old (and they are in with the doelings until they're 12 weeks old) and so far I have never had any doelings accidentally bred from that.
Boers are typically a little slower to sexually mature and it is rare for a doeling to cycle before she's 4-5 months old.

One option, if you do want to keep them away from their sister (and let the sister get more milk for herself), is to let just the doeling in with mom all day, and then separate the doeling and let the bucklings with her all night.

As for weaning doelings, if I am keeping them, I usually don't wean them until they're 4-5 months old, sometimes longer if I feel that they need to catch up. But if they are seriously wearing their mamas down, weaning them a bit earlier isn't a bad idea.

 

[Critter]

Thanks for the advice. The kids are 8 weeks old today, and it is definitely easier right now for everyone to just be out on the pasture. I will give them a couple more weeks and then I may just start with separating the boys during the day for a few weeks to ease the transition. I would start doing that now, but I have a trip coming up and don't want my husband to have to worry about moving them around. The doeling is quite a bit smaller than the bucks and the doe actually has two functional teats on one side, so she always nurses all three at once, which I know makes it difficult for the doeling to get much. I tried hard to get her to take a bottle at the beginning to supplement - I actually tried with them all, but they weren't having it.

The buckling that is always mounting everyone is just an aggravating little dude. He spends the majority of his time following mom around trying to sneak a drink as she grazes. He's relentless enough that she's taken to grazing while laying down, then crawling forward on her knees to a new spot. She can't even pee without him trying to get up under her to eat. Part of why I want to wean them is that I feel so bad for her having to put up with that. The other two kids leave mom alone for the most part and only try to nurse when she calls them. They also seem to go to the creep feeder to eat more often than he does. Heck, while he's walking along trying to attach himself to her udder all day, the others are grazing. Has anyone else dealt with such a persistent kid?