Chat
04-07-2018, 09:11 PM
My babies are 10 months old. I offered my bottle baby grain when he was just learning what food was because it's more palatable. A couple weeks later his sister was weaned so we went and got her and she taught him how to eat hay in 2 days so it's been alfalfa ever since. I feed alfalfa because their breeder fed it to her 100+ goats (does, bucks, and wethers) but I'm thinking of switching to Timothy because they REFUSE to eat the alfalfa stems so I'd rather feed something they can eat all of.
I use grain and other treats to bribe them onto the milk stand for hoof trimming. Plus peanuts, raisins, cheerios, and banana chips for clicker training. I have their training treats all mixed together so I call it "goat trail mix" :-)
As Nan said, there are advantages to waiting a few months, so it's really up to you. I am of the opinion that UC is a result of multiple factors including diet, wethering age, and genetic predisposition so wethering a little later can give them a leg up.
That being said, some methods of wethering become a lot more difficult as they age. Burdizzo should still be fine but banding is harder (you need bigger bands) and possibly more painful when they're older and you'd have to check and see with local vets for other methods. In my area, the only vet within an hour of my house will only surgically castrate w/ general anesthesia and it would cost almost $300. I'm planning to band my next boys as late as the bands will still fit.
I use grain and other treats to bribe them onto the milk stand for hoof trimming. Plus peanuts, raisins, cheerios, and banana chips for clicker training. I have their training treats all mixed together so I call it "goat trail mix" :-)
As Nan said, there are advantages to waiting a few months, so it's really up to you. I am of the opinion that UC is a result of multiple factors including diet, wethering age, and genetic predisposition so wethering a little later can give them a leg up.
That being said, some methods of wethering become a lot more difficult as they age. Burdizzo should still be fine but banding is harder (you need bigger bands) and possibly more painful when they're older and you'd have to check and see with local vets for other methods. In my area, the only vet within an hour of my house will only surgically castrate w/ general anesthesia and it would cost almost $300. I'm planning to band my next boys as late as the bands will still fit.