| Author | Message | ||
     Alexander Cripps New member Username: hazydaynubians Post Number: 36 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 142.167.8.253  Rating: N/A |
Maggie and others i just wanted to let you know i told a friend about Maggies milker and they are goning to take back the one they got for 380.00! The E-Z milker and think that 380.00 is way to much to milk 1 saanen! This just shows how goat farmers are not in it for the money! (well some of us!) The E-Z milker is for horses and not for goats our friends used a E-Z milker for a year and then the doe they were milking her teat turned black and fell off (I know i would want that)!!!! | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 1626 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 71.111.215.105  Rating: N/A |
At the shows I milk twice a day if they don't have their kids with them. I prefer to keep bottle feeding, it is cleaner and I know exactly how much they are drinking. It is easier to tell then if they might be starting to get sick... Cleaning a bucket feeder is a pain with all the tubes and nipples you might as well clean bottles. Fit in the kitchen sink better too! Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| Alexander Cripps New member Username: hazydaynubians Post Number: 34 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 142.167.21.224 Rating: N/A |
do you have to milk them 2 times a day if you are showing them? I milked my nubian doe 1 time a day and she did ok. Before i got her she dam rasied her kids and when they told her 3 month wether off her i got her and only milk once since she was only milking 2 pounds (yes i know only a little but she was trying to wean me!) I guess i won't put a heat lamp in there i may look for pig mats i don't know if we even have those around here! I guess i have a doe due the 26 and she looks like 3 and had 3 last year so 3 should keep warm and then next month i have another doe to kid then so they could keep them warm. Have you ever trained them to a pail? Bottle feed them for the first couple of days then trian to a pail? | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 1623 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 71.111.215.105 Rating: N/A |
The wire will get hot from the heat lamp and they could burn themselves on it. But it is your call. If there is more than one kid and it is well bedded with straw they should stay warm enough. For the most part any bad habits a goat has are controlled by you. It is what you let them get away with doing. Have you visited the Fiasco Farm Website? They raise dairy goats, and leave the kids with the does, but have a routine that makes the kids just as friendly as bottle raised kids, but not bratty like so many bottle raised kids are. It is my bottle raised kids that bite me, that sometimes will butt me, that don't get along with the other goats because they were never taught proper goat manners by another goat. They are real pills in the showring wanting to climb on me rather than stand still for the time required. Again your call... When I am bottle feeding I try to do it as much like the doe as possible, you have a fairly short time to get the colostrum in them for it to do the most good. After about 8 hours the antibodies aren't absorbed very well. Newborns will suck for a short time then rest, then suck again and rest. Newborns don't regulate their body temp very well either for the first day or so, I keep orphans in the house. They don't seem to know to get on a heat mat to stay warm (no heat lamps in my barn I use a hog mat made for baby pigs). Cows and goats have very different digestive rates, cattle take 24 to 30 hours to get food (or milk) through their systems. Goats take about 6 to 8 hours. Sure lots of kids are only fed twice a day from a week old or so, but it isn't what nature intended. I did this with my first bottle kids, following instructions and they didn't grow as well as the kids on their dams. When I started trying to feed more like the goats do I got much better results. Shows have mandatory milk out times, you can't go more than 12 hours before showing them before you have to milk out. So if you think you will be in the ring at 4:00 p.m., you have to milk out anytime after 4:00 a.m. That is how I understand it. In the ring you want that udder tight with milk. I show pygmies, when I want the udder to be full I keep the kids off the doe for 5 or 6 hours before I think I will be showing her. I don't show my does in milk if the kids are less than 6 weeks old, at that age they can go without mom for that long. Kids less than 10 weeks old go to the shows with their dams. If the kids are 10 weeks or over I leave them at home and milk the doe at the appropriate times at the show. At home when you milk twice a day you have 12 hours of milk in them everyday! That is assuming you milk at 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening, it is 12 hours between each milking. You must milk twice a day if she is not nursing kids. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| Alexander Cripps New member Username: hazydaynubians Post Number: 32 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 142.167.27.255 Rating: N/A |
would it still be warm for them? I have a wire cage to put on it so they can pull it down. I have a dam raised kid and don't like her so much they get bad haits form the dam i don't want so im bottle feeding can't you feed them there first milk 4 times I have Dairy cow and we feed there first milk 2 times a day and they grow good. You said you can leave them on and then take them away to bag up for show. What if im milking them how many hours do i have to wait Some people keep 12 hours of milk in them but that would hurt! Plus In The shows we have Nubians are last so in a show that starts at 9:00am we don't get to nubians untill 2:00 and we only have may-be 10 farms come so thats almost a 24 hours with a full udder! You show i haven't shown but know what to do but the milk thing i can't get! | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 1622 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 71.111.215.105 Rating: N/A |
The kid needs the colostrum from the doe so if you decide you want to snatch the kid at birth you will have to milk the doe for the colostrum. Most kids die if they don't get colstrum. If the kid is not on the doe you WILL HAVE TO MILK TWICE A DAY, every day if you want to show the doe with an udder. Or you leave the kid with the doe all the time you can milk just once a day. This will keep her in high production and make a nice udder. When you go to a show you just keep the kid off the does for several hours to let her bag up. If you start bottle feeding at birth you have to feed every 45 mintues or so for the first 12 hours to get the colstrum to the kid. Then most people feed 4 times a day for the first 3 to 4 weeks, then drop back to 3 times a day for another 4 weeks, then 2 times a day for another 4 weeks then once a day for a week or to and then stop. NO WATER IN THE BOTTLE. It is the bottle they want, not the milk so much by the time they are 16 weeks old. Giving water is completely unnatural. It can cause red blood cells to burst giving the kid anemia if they drink too much water. By then they are drinking water when they are thirsty, milk is FOOD. If you leave the kids with the doe they learn to eat solid food much quicker they generally grow better and they become good members of the herd better. Just my opinion, I have had bottle babies and dam raised, I prefer dam raised kids. The shed you are talking about is too small to put a heat lamp in, you will cause a fire. The kids would be able to reach the cord and/or lamp and pull it down. Lots of sheds and barns burn down from heat lamp accidents. Just my opinion of course. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| Alexander Cripps New member Username: hazydaynubians Post Number: 31 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 142.167.21.101 Rating: N/A |
Hi I have a reg Nubian doe that is due any day she has been making a udder since the first few days of Dec but was told by the owner that she was due Jan 26 but she is so big and her udder is getting alot bigger. So I want to show her but i have to feed the kids alot of work before school and in the cold Hope-fuly some one can answer this Most Breeders that show leave the kid on the Dam for the first few days to get there first milk but i want to start them off on the bottle right away (if im not at school) But if i was to do this how much at a time and how many feeding aday? when should i wean the kids people say start weaning at 2 months and by 3 months they are getting water in there bottle. (right or wrong) (Im not doing a CAE so thats not way i want to start them off on the bottle. And i only have a small barn like 20 X 18 or like that size and i have 8 does in it (nubians and boers) and we have a small chicken shed thats 5x5 and not that tall may-be 4 feet and and a roost in it and a few pieces of wood so the hens can get up to the top (no aninmals are living in it at this time!) It's a good shed (i want to house them in there as one doe i have will let any kidd suck on her and she has a big udder but i still love her. And don't want to do any-thing with her udder!)So it's made out of wood just that and up off the ground 2 feet so dry and if im going to put them in there i would have to put a good 3 or 5 inches of saw-dust and a heat lamp. it hasn't been cold but it's warm in the day 1 or 2C and gets to -5C at night so i need the heat lamp so what should i do?? Thanks (and sorry for the spelling) |