Chat
03-31-2017, 01:03 PM
Hi everyone, new to goats here and looking for some help. We love the idea of getting into pack goats, and just got three cute little bottle baby buckling oberhaslis.
I have been scouring the many forum topics here, and I can see that I could spend a lifetime and never read the end of it all, so I apologize if I have questions here that have been asked in other threads.
1. My bottle babies are about 2-3 weeks old, we came home with some goats milk, but that is all gone. Then we gave them some regular whole cows milk from the store, and now we are mixing half cows milk and half goat milk replacer mix. One of them is about 13 lbs, another about 15, and the other about 17lbs. We have been feeding them all 4 times a day with about 6 oz per feed for the two lighter boys, and 7 oz per feeding for the bigger one. They seem like they could eat more, but I don’t want to over feed. The bigger one seems more attracted to the grass and other growing things around than the others. Are we doing things right? Is there any advice anyone can give us in this regard? Should we feed more? Less? Something different? Things to watch for??? Do they need access to water to drink as well?
2. We just had a big windstorm, and their little shelter was damaged slightly, and I noticed afterwards that one of the babies has a small gash in the back of his leg just above the dewclaw looking thing (a couple inches above his hoof). What would I do about this? It bled a bit, but stopped on its own before I even found it. He doesn’t seem to be favoring the leg at all…
3. What should I be preparing for in the near future? What vaccines do they HAVE to have, and what vaccines are recommended, and what vaccines should I NOT give them? Deworming? How often should they get medicines and treatments? When should I plan on having them Castrated? Will I need to take them to a vet to have it done, or could I band them?
4. At what age will I need to start trimming their hooves?
5. When will the stringers from their umbilical cords fall off? Should I trim them?
6. My children love to play with them, hold them on their laps, carry them around, let them suck on their fingers, etc. Is this good for the goats, or is it going to teach them bad habits? What and when should we start doing to train them to be good pack goats? Can they be trained to not jump on people, trained to not whine, trained to not chew on people’s clothes, trained to come to their names when called, etc? How?
7. Our yard has a wide variety of flowering plants. What is a list of plants can be harmful to baby goats, and goats in general that I should try to get rid of?
8. What are some typical medical issues that we could encounter with the goats that we should be prepared for, and what types medicines and first aid equipment should we have on hand?
9. Nutritionally, what should I have to feed them at the different stages of their growth? Mineral Blocks? Salt supplements? Grain? Pellets? Grass hay? Alfalfa hay? We have about a half acre fenced area that they are in now that is more or less regular lawn style grass (somewhat weedy grass), so we are expecting to have to supplement their diet in some regard.
Thanks for the help!!!
I have been scouring the many forum topics here, and I can see that I could spend a lifetime and never read the end of it all, so I apologize if I have questions here that have been asked in other threads.
1. My bottle babies are about 2-3 weeks old, we came home with some goats milk, but that is all gone. Then we gave them some regular whole cows milk from the store, and now we are mixing half cows milk and half goat milk replacer mix. One of them is about 13 lbs, another about 15, and the other about 17lbs. We have been feeding them all 4 times a day with about 6 oz per feed for the two lighter boys, and 7 oz per feeding for the bigger one. They seem like they could eat more, but I don’t want to over feed. The bigger one seems more attracted to the grass and other growing things around than the others. Are we doing things right? Is there any advice anyone can give us in this regard? Should we feed more? Less? Something different? Things to watch for??? Do they need access to water to drink as well?
2. We just had a big windstorm, and their little shelter was damaged slightly, and I noticed afterwards that one of the babies has a small gash in the back of his leg just above the dewclaw looking thing (a couple inches above his hoof). What would I do about this? It bled a bit, but stopped on its own before I even found it. He doesn’t seem to be favoring the leg at all…
3. What should I be preparing for in the near future? What vaccines do they HAVE to have, and what vaccines are recommended, and what vaccines should I NOT give them? Deworming? How often should they get medicines and treatments? When should I plan on having them Castrated? Will I need to take them to a vet to have it done, or could I band them?
4. At what age will I need to start trimming their hooves?
5. When will the stringers from their umbilical cords fall off? Should I trim them?
6. My children love to play with them, hold them on their laps, carry them around, let them suck on their fingers, etc. Is this good for the goats, or is it going to teach them bad habits? What and when should we start doing to train them to be good pack goats? Can they be trained to not jump on people, trained to not whine, trained to not chew on people’s clothes, trained to come to their names when called, etc? How?
7. Our yard has a wide variety of flowering plants. What is a list of plants can be harmful to baby goats, and goats in general that I should try to get rid of?
8. What are some typical medical issues that we could encounter with the goats that we should be prepared for, and what types medicines and first aid equipment should we have on hand?
9. Nutritionally, what should I have to feed them at the different stages of their growth? Mineral Blocks? Salt supplements? Grain? Pellets? Grass hay? Alfalfa hay? We have about a half acre fenced area that they are in now that is more or less regular lawn style grass (somewhat weedy grass), so we are expecting to have to supplement their diet in some regard.
Thanks for the help!!!