What is best way to start with pregnant goats?

[annabelle333]

I am wanting to get a pregnant or two goats so I can start learning about milking and goats. How should I buy my goats? What tests should I get on the goats, what questions should I ask, etc/ What type do you recommend? How long should I wait before I wean the baby? Sooo many questions and it is all sooo exciting! Any information is greatly appreciated as this is my first time playing with goats!

 

[SassyKat6181]

I started by purchasing two 8 week old doelings. There is so much to learn about raising and keeping goats, that I wanted to start from the beginning. We now have our first kid born here, she's 5 weeks, and I've started milking her mom. Going pretty well, but still learning every day.

I hope others more experienced will chime in for you. Good luck!

 

[annabelle333]

Thanks SassyKat- that is a good idea to raise them from when they are babies themselves. How did you find a buck? How does that process work? Sorry to ask such beginner questions.

 

[chicken pickin]

Im a beginner also, so your questions also help others learn too. I also as said above started with 2 doelings just this year. I got them at 8 and 10 weeks old. I decided to go this route 1) because who doesn't love a baby goat 2) I wanted my family to bond with the goats so we can train them and they learn to trust us when it comes to milking kidding hoof trimming etc. It is a learning process and getting them as babies gives you much more time to learn as you go and time to get ready for the bigger stuff like kids and milk. Just my opinion. Others Im sure jumped in with both feet and got pregnant does and Im sure that works for some people so I do hope others have opinions for you.

As for getting you doe pregnant you just need to find a studding service. I have seen many on craigslist and breeders also offer this service. Depending on your area price can be different but where I live it cost $75 for a buck to spend a few hours with your doe and do the deed. If you are unaware of your does heating cycle some breeders will take you doe and board her for a month with a higher charge.

 

[SassyKat6181]

Oops, sorry....just saw this thread again....haven't been on for a while. I bought a buck when I was ready to breed my girls. I know some breeders offer a driveway breeding. You'd have to look around your area, or if it suits you, get your own buck.

I started with the two doelings in may 2012, added a buck in January 2013. Bought a wether to keep the buck company in May, then immediately bought a doe in milk and a buckling. Then I bought another yr old doe and 4 mo old doeling, and I'm going to pick up the doeling daughter of my doe in milk tomorrow. One of my original does had a doeling the end of the June, and the other is due in a few weeks. Okay, how many do I have now? This is worse than chicken math. 10 with another on the way

 

[madcow]

I started with a pregnant pygmy doe and her year-old daughter, whom we found out was bred too! Two for the price of one! I've had them since last December and both have kidded and we have loved having babies early on in the game and getting up to speed with all the ins and outs of pregnancies and taking care of kids at the beginning. Right now we are getting ready to buy a buck (hope tomorrow, going to have a look-see at prospective sires) to increase the size of our herd by breeding my 2 does to start the cycle all over again, but this time from the very beginning. I did milk the does for a short period of time. Would have milked longer, but had no where to confine the kids to keep them from nursing overnight as they kept breaking out of the crate I kept them in and nursing anyway. We have since built a large enclosure for all of them, but still need to section a portion off for the kids when the next round of little ones is born so I can milk at least once a day and then when the kids are old enough to wean move to twice a day milking. Our kids were born in January and February and both are still nursing some. I am sure I could go out and milk the does at this point and get almost as much as I did when they were a couple of weeks old, but right now it's too blasted hot for that in Texas at this point.

Most of what you might need to consider is how ready are you for all the phases of a goat's life. I started with pregnant does so I wouldn't need a buck to begin with, but could have kids early on and not have to wait a long time before I could learn to milk. It just depends on how long you want to wait for what you are using your goats for. Mine are for milking and I didn't want to wait a whole year until they were old enough to breed, then once bred go through the 5 month pregnancy, then once the kid(s) are born waiting at least 2 or 3 weeks before milking once a day. That was why I went with grown and bred does. We have loved the babies and my DH, who was dead set against getting goats at all, just loves them to death! They have a funny way of capturing your heart whether you want them to or not!

Consider how much milk you will drink or consume daily to decide what type of goat to get. If you want to make cheese most recipes call for at least a gallon and I found out the hard way you can't cut the size of the recipe down or increase it, it won't work correctly. Keep in mind some breeds give more millk than others and the taste of the milk will differ from breed to breed and even goat to goat within a particular breed. I went with pygmies because between 2 does in milk we would get about a quart a day. Their milk is very rich and creamy and has a lot of butter fat. Delicious and fattening! I could make fresh cheese about once a week with the amount of milk my 2 does gave. That was enough for me and my schedule for cheesemaking. Keep in mind that milking has to be done at least daily and can be done up to 3 times a day if you want maximum production, although most people will only milk twice a day, morning and evening, with the morning milkings giving the most milk. Some goats can give up to a gallon a day when they are at their full production. Once again, that depends on the breed and the goat in particular, too. Milking is a committment, rain or shine, cold weather or hot weather. Of course if you get tired of milking you can always dry the does off and take a break until the next kidding. Of course if you want milk year round it's a good idea to stagger breeding between a couple of does, because rarely will a doe be in milk from 1 kidding to the next. She can automatically dry up after several months just naturally. Of course you would want to allow a doe to dry up before giving birth again for at least a couple of months to reduce the strain of late pregnancy and being in milk at the same time on a doe. Takes extra feed to produce milk too. Economics should also be considered.

Read as much as you can about the different breeds and decide what will fit your situation the best. You can always change breeds down the road if you can stand to part from what you start with. Personally, my goats are my pets and it's a bonus they give us milk too but at this point I think I would have a hard time parting with any of them! Although I will have to do that with some of this last generation or the next, because I could get overrun with goats pretty quickly if I don't. I will have to decide that at that time.

Good luck with it. Goats are incredible creatures, but they do take a moderate amount of time and money, but it's doable with a variety of budgets, if you are smart about it. Just be sure you get at least 2 goats, because goats are herd animals and don't do well alone. Sometimes pairing them with different species like horses or donkeys they will be okay alone. They just need their own herd of some sort.