Weaning without separate pasture?

[20kidsonhill]

I would build a 10x10 or 12x12 outside pen with a dog house for shelter and keep the kids in that. That way they can be outside. There just isn't any real easy way to do it. We have pens on the side of our barn under an overhang that we wean our kids into. That way they are not weaned into the barn and still have shelter from teh rain. Dog houses or calf huts work great for shelter. If you are expecting really bad weather, like two days of rain, you could always move them into the barn for a couple days.

 

[newbiekat]

That area that we kept the buck in (which is what we kept toe kids in) had shelter from bad weather... Are you saying we should keep them in there from here on out? Are they ever going to be able to go back in with the big goats? My goal is to have them all in the same pasture... I had them in that separate area for 7 weeks... They had access to some grass, and shelter, and we supplemented daily with hay and some grain.

 

[20kidsonhill]

That area that we kept the buck in (which is what we kept toe kids in) had shelter from bad weather... Are you saying we should keep them in there from here on out? Are they ever going to be able to go back in with the big goats? My goal is to have them all in the same pasture... I had them in that separate area for 7 weeks... They had access to some grass, and shelter, and we supplemented daily with hay and some grain.

We don't milk, so our does are dry after a month, but I have still seen the kids give it their best try nursing even after being apart 2 or 3 months and mom is dry. Your experience of having a kid start nursing after being weaned for 7 weeks does not surprise me. You certainly need the advice of people who milk and have does in milk. But my guess woudl be months before you can put them together, as in 4 or 5 months. We actually never put our keeper doelings back in our main herd until they are kidding for the first time or even near the age of 2 years, mostly for us it is to feed them more grain compared to the older does, and to make sure they are getting their fair share of the grain. But there are times I am forced to combine the younger yearlings with the older does.

Hope someone else jumps in with more ideas.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I have 2 babies this year and one last, that nurse and I milk the moms as well. This year I am locking them up at night in a large 5x10 kennel in the garage and milk moms in the morning and then at night as well. Sometimes I get as little as 1/4 cup, sometimes more than a whole cup at night. In the mornings I typically get 2 cups from the mom with the larger little girl and 3 or more from the mom with the smaller one. Talking about NDs. I do have one that had both babies sold so I milk her once a day and I get around 4 cups from her pretty consistently.

Last year, Reese didn't let her babies nurse much and they were always hungry, I had 3 other girls in milk so I just let the babies come up on the milk stand to nurse from the other girls when I was milking. She did however let the one that I held back, nurse for around 9 months or so. While she was letting her nurse it was only a sip or 2 so I was still getting most of the milk.

Could you keep them in the other pen at night?....That would guarantee you the morning milk anyway, but then the herd could be together and the girls could benefit from grazing/browsing....

 

[newbiekat]

Ragdoll thanks for the reply... I guess I have a couple more questions... How long will the babies continue to nurse until they naturally wean? I'm just concerned because the does are getting pretty skinny. We give them grain on the stand when we milk (2x a day), extra hay throughout the day, and the grass out in the pasture is lush and tall. Is there anything else we can do? When should I get concerned?

 

[20kidsonhill]

Ragdoll thanks for the reply... I guess I have a couple more questions... How long will the babies continue to nurse until they naturally wean? I'm just concerned because the does are getting pretty skinny. We give them grain on the stand when we milk (2x a day), extra hay throughout the day, and the grass out in the pasture is lush and tall. Is there anything else we can do? When should I get concerned?

If your does need to put weight back on, you will want to do that before you breed them back. We will need to wean and dry them up to get weight back on them. That woudl be my deciding time frame.

you mention feed, but what about worming??? you can feed them tons, but if they are wormy they will plumet in weight.