Newbie Kidding Thread 2020-2021

Wow, that is a cute baby! Congratulations! I can see why you want to keep him. His markings look like one of my does. He's only going to get more and more handsome as he grows.

 

Aaaaawwwww!

 

He is ADORABLE...I see a case of Goat Math starting..lets an.old forum..that is sooo funny.

 

He’s gorgeous!! Those eyes! And those ears!! I love Mini Nubians.

 

Glad to hear they are all doing so well!
Good job noticing the lopsided udder and milking her!
Yes, the milk still has colostrum. Very good idea to save it for an emergency! Good thinking! It helps to label it with date and “day 2”, but you probably did that already.

 

I have had new mothers have a kid, walk away and forget about the first one after the 2nd or third one comes.
Had one new doe have her first kid in big boulders where most of them had their kids. Problem was it was in the middle of the night during a cold rainstorm. She headed for cover, left the kid, who died from exposure, then had the second one under cover.
I had one doe who had 3 kids, as time went on, she ignored one of them who we fed by bottle.
Have pulled several kids, some reverse presntation, a couple huge kids, too big for the doe to pass.

 

Horns, especially on Angora are critically important as temperature regulating devices! They act as radiators for body heat! None of our goats are ever disbudded and the ones that lose horns by accident definitely miss them. I find that horned goats are no more aggressive; in fact, just a threat from a horned goat is enough to end an argument, often much faster than having disbudded goats go at it till one has a headache. Just don't allow them to push at you, *ever*. Of course, our Angora are very sweet-tempered, even the bucks (they are told early on that they will end up in freezer camp if they aren't polite.)

 

I have seen no data proving that horns have a temp regulating function. But i have seen a yearling Alpine doe with horns threaten my 200+ lb buck. And have heard of udders ripped, eyes poked, and yesterday had to pull my neighbors Nigerian doe out of our fence. They were not home: luckily our 100% weather has passed.
If you can not disbud, find a vet who can.

 

Thanks for sharing your babies! They are so cute! I'm definitely getting antsy for some more goat kids of my own, and I haven't even bred my does yet!

 

Oh my! They are so cute! Thank you for sharing. The main thing to watch when you integrate them back in with the herd, is to make sure that the other goats are not going to be aggressive to the babies, and also, that the babies are active enough to be able to get out of the way of the older goats. You will want to be sure that the moms and babies have bonded well enough that the babies will be able to continue nursing once their moms have integrated back in with the other goats.

This was my first year with milking, so others with more experience will have even more input for you. Separating at night and milking in the morning was what I did with my does, and it worked well. The only issue would be to watch that the babies are not being too aggressive with their mother's udder when you first put them back together after you milk.

 

Beautiful babies! Thanks for the pictures!

 

We prefer to let our goats keep their horns as well, although that does have its downsides of course. I think whether you disbud or keep your goats horned, there will be both pros and cons, and you just have to decide what you’d rather do.

I also just wanted to say that I, too, separated my doe and kids overnight for milk sharing, and it worked well for me. I’ve heard that a lot of people use that method with good results.

Best of luck!! Also, I might be slightly in love with your little Mini Nubian buck.