[FizzyGoats]

We made the 7.5 hr round trip and have our little doelings home! We weighed them and gave them some probiotics then they promptly began to avoid us. We were expecting this. I’ve been just sitting in the barn with them as they figure out their new place. They are soooo fun to watch and now come near me. They don’t want me touch them, but if I leave the barn, the little black and white one calls for me. I’ve never had a goat call for me. So many firsts!

Anyway, I’m just excited to finally have my first goats. They are 10 week old ND.
(White one is Thistle, Black one is Petunia, and brown one is Jasmine)

I’m sure I’ll be bugging everyone even more with questions now that I have them. Thank you for being patient and helpful and helping me get ready for these lovely ladies.

 

[FizzyGoats]

So excited for you! They are too cute! I hope they gentle down quickly for you.

Thanks. I hope so too, lol.

They are adorable! Congratulations!!

Aw, thanks.

Sooooo cute! Isnt it exciting? Theirs just something about haveing goats! Congrats! Enjoy!!!

It is exciting! Thanks so much.

Finally, the long awaited for day has arrived! Congratulations on becoming a goat owner and welcome to the roller coaster ride they can sometimes take us on. Your 3 new ladies are adorable and they will settle down before you know it. Just wish I could be a fly on the wall and witness your reaction when they first come up to you for some scratches.

lol. I’ll probably throw my hands in the air a few times on this roller coaster. Luckily I’ll be able to come here when that happens. I can’t wait until they come to me for love. They will walk up to me when I’m sitting here on their already poop filled bed, but I can tell they’d bolt if I tried to pet them just yet. I’ll probably pass out the first time they stroll right up for a scratch.

Very cute!

Thanks!

They are gorgeous! A super humongous congratulations!

Aw, thank you. I can’t believe I finally have them!

 

[FizzyGoats]

Oh for sure! I put a nightlight in the barn because I know this has to be a really difficult adjustment and they seem slightly more content with it. Already so in love with my goaties!

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thanks!

They love to hang out with us and cry when we leave but are still not wanting to be pet, and that’s fine. It hasn’t even been a full day.

Luckily they will follow me right into the milk/med room, so it’s easy to catch them in there without a lot of hoopla. I gave them another small dose of probios this morning and then brushed them for bit. They liked it but didn’t want to like it, lol. I brushed and scratched them until they were calm then stopped and let them slowly walk away. Of course they still won’t come to me for scratches, but I’m hoping it’s only a matter of time if I keep this up.

My only real concern right now is that I’ve only seen one drink water. They all eat hay and leaves and chew their cud just fine. They even eat the loose minerals (no takers on the kelp yet). Any tips on getting them to drink water?

I put a bucket of water by our automatic waterer because they were used to the small buckets. And the one I’ve seen drink does so out of the bucket. I thought the other two would copy her, learn from her. So far, I haven’t seen it. All their poop looks good but I only saw one pee this morning (one that I haven’t seen drinking) and it wasn’t a lot.

 

[FizzyGoats]

My buckets are black. And you both were right, I saw the other two drinking out of it today. They just took longer to figure it out and I don’t think they’re great at it yet.

Here they are napping in a toy, yet they play on the beds. Silly girls.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Lol. Apparently I have a lot of goat rules to learn.

 

[FizzyGoats]

The goat chores aren’t that bad so far. My little turkey poults are more work right now. Of course, tomorrow is clean the barn and pen day, so my opinion might change. Most of my time is spent sitting in a chair in their pen, letting them get comfortable and if I move to do anything, they trail behind like puppies. Still no coming for cuddles but I will make it happen, lol.

Thistle’s face markings is what made me first fall in love with her. Here’s a little bit better pic of them.

 

[FizzyGoats]

I’ll have to try a different color. They are 10 weeks old.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thanks!

So my favorite thing to do today was walk to a different part of the pen, watch them realize I was on the move, then laugh as they hop/run after me.

They’re out in the barn bleating away. I feel bad for them. This has to be such a difficult adjustment. I want to show them I’m here and can be trusted to comfort and care for them but also not set a precedent that I too now live in the barn. Still finding a balance.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thank you. I’m glad I’ve been able to learn here.

And guess what?! Thistle (the white one) came to me and my husband for scratches!!!! I mean, we sort of forced her at first but she stayed willingly, then walked up to us again later asking for more. It somehow both melted my heart and made it flutter. I’m sure we’ll have to start at square one tomorrow with her but it was awesome. The other two are still in the unwillingly getting scratches phase but after we start, they relax pretty quickly and we don’t have to firmly hold them in place. Then when we stop, they don’t run away. They just sort of stand there and try figure out if they like what just happened or not.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thanks everyone. I fell in love with them impossibly fast.

I’m just going to ask a care question here if that’s ok. Are they too young for copper? They don’t have fish tails and their coats are soft, but their tails are a bit scruffy? Not sure that’s the right word. Like the hair is splaying out with intent to fish tail, lol. I haven’t checked FAMACHA but if I should then I can do that tonight. I know I couldn’t give them much copper (they range from 14-20 lbs). Do I need to wait until they’re 22 lbs so I can give a gram? They are freshly weaned and chewing their cud. They have loose minerals and do eat them here and there. And they’re 10 weeks old. I was thinking of waiting until 12 weeks of age but if I shouldn’t wait, I won’t.

I have 10,000 or so photos of them already and I think this shows their tails.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Ok. Thanks. She’ll be my early warning system then. And thanks for being so nice about all my question. I’m even annoying myself at this point.

 

[FizzyGoats]

So there’s hope for me yet!

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thank you. Good to know. Thankfully, I do have good loose minerals for them and they munch on them a bit. And yeah, I’m probably more in danger of over doing things, so I’ll need to tread lightly (and double check here until I know what I’m doing...which seems like an impossible dream).

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thanks. That is Thistle. She’s the most into pets and scratches. And she constantly steels the chair I bring there to sit with them, lol.

 

[FizzyGoats]

It’s a miracle. I was finally able to convince my little hold out, Jasmine, that she wants to be pet and scratched. Now we have all three tame enough to love on. Happy day!

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thanks all. I am pretty happy. Though I now see the problem of having only two hands and three goats who all want love. I don’t know how you all do it with many more.

one- convince them to love me (well, at least to let me love them). -Complete-

Next week I begin to tackle steps 2 -4

two - get them used to me putting a collar on them and taking it off (too paranoid to leave it on and this is step one to get halter broke and learn to lead someday...hopefully)

Three- get them to take treats from me so I can start the herbal dewormer regimen (I think I’ll make dosage balls without the herbs, put them in their dish until I find a recipe they cannot resist, then feed by hand until I know they’ll take it, then add herbs...does that sound like it might work?) Right now if I try to hand feed them anything (and I’ve tried many different things) they just look at me like I’m an idiot.

Four- get them to let me pick up and mess with hooves without fighting me (they had their hooves trimmed when I picked them up Saturday, so I’m hoping by next trimming time, it won’t be as complete fiasco - but we’ll see).

Any suggestions or advice is welcome.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Thank you both for the tips! I need all I can get. I will definitely be applying them. I absolutely love that I can rely on the experience of others since I have so little myself.

 

[FizzyGoats]

I haven’t tried raisins. But I will now.

They do get a small amount of grain in the evening. Sometimes they eat it. Sometimes they don’t. And it’s the exact same the breeder had. And two are better eaters than the other. Petunia (black and white one) is a docile, gentle soul and super sensitive and she is also the one with a smaller appetite but loves to forage.

This morning her poop was clumpy. Still pellets but clumped. So I gave her some probiotics and am waiting to see if this helps. I’m hoping it’s from new forage. She’s still bouncy and happy and sweet as ever. I am not great at getting that big tube of probios in a tiny mouth yet and smeared half of it on her face. Should I give her more tonight if her poop is still clumpy?

 

[FizzyGoats]

Squirt it into a 6cc or so size syringe, the type with a regular tip on the end, not a luer lock, too short. Wash it out real good afterwards using a little bit of dish detergent and rinse really well, use it again for dosing her probiotics. Probably from the browse, though keep an eye out on the poop. If the consistency of the poop becomes concerning to you, fecal test including cocci. Cocci can present in the early stages without noticeable loose runny stools. And yes, give her another dose later today.

Since I’m leaving for the evening, I gave her a dose right before I left. I won’t be back until late and I didn’t want to wait, especially since I botched it the first time. My adult son is home watching the animals though because I don’t feel comfortable without a “babysitter” around yet. And I plan on both doing an at home fecal and sending it in on Monday (just to double check that I get my counts right). I’ll definitely put the probiotics in a smaller syringe. That’s a great idea. They were treated with Valbazen (I believe, I’ll double check when I get home), and the breeder gave me a dose to give them in ten days, so three days from now.

Just don’t make the mostake I made and use hot water to wash out a syringe. It changes the plastic and makes it unusable.

Oh geeze. I had no idea and I would have used hot water too. Glad you told me.