Looking to add

[NHGoater]

We are currently hiking with a 1.8 month old Alpine and a 5 month old Nubian/Boer mix. I would like to add another to our herd and have recently started looking. Curious on your thoughts if we should look for younger or older as far as age goes. I know how they integrate into the herd will largely depend on the goat. However speaking in broad terms would it be easier with one age as opposed to the other.
Thank you

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

With such a large age difference and breed, Id kinda lean toward a younger animal to pair up with your Nubian Boer cross. You get another older goat and I think that baby might have a hard time competing. Typically if you were to bring another adult in, the two adult animals will fight and decided who the boss is. Once that happens, the loser is going to look to establish his rank with the smaller one. It could go very different but this would be my concern at looking to add. Thats going to extend your wait time though. Are you goats both castrated males? With or without horns?

[NHGoater]

Ah sorry they are both nutless and they do have horns. So we really want to keep that theme going.

[NHGoater]

Ok Dave so I looked at a Sannen today. He was born on June 13th and he has his horns which are close to 5" already. For a young guy he is a biggie. Mom and dad are both big as well. He was dam raised but the kids are always playing with him and walking him on a leash. Would not being bottled fed hurt us at all? Secondly are Sannens typically a bigger breed because my Nubian/Boer was born in the middle of March and he is smaller in every aspect? Am I doing something wrong?
Thank you again Dennis

[Nanno]

All my babies are dam raised and just as friendly as if they were bottle raised, so don't let that put you off a nice goat. Saanens are big breed, but the major difference right now is probably that the Saanen was dam raised. I'm assuming your Nubian/Boer is bottle raised. That can make a big difference in size at this age. Once the Saanen is weaned his growth will slow down and I'll bet your two goats will get closer in size by next year. The Saanen will probably always be bigger because Saanens are a very tall breed. The Nubian/Boer will likely stay shorter but will probably become stockier as he matures.

[NHGoater]

Alright that makes sense. Thank you for the info. I'm thinking we will probably pick him up and get him started with the day trips.

[Nanno]

One thing to ask is if his mother has been tested for CAE. That's one thing with dam-raised kids that can come back to haunt you. The most common way for the disease to be transmitted is through the mother's milk, so it's important that the mother be CAE-free. You don't want any heartache down the road!

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Agree with Nanno. You will also get a better quality of kid starting out who has been dam raised. You can come close bottle raising but with fresh raw milk on tap just waiting, nothing can beat that. But as you get into the weaning month and beyond its all about the quality of feed. Personally I like alfalfa. There is no substitute. Many worry about UC but I again personally dont quite believe the connection between alfalfa and UC. But when dealing with UC its always best to error on the side of caution. I mix AC into the mineral mix and also do bi weekly treatments.

I wouldnt look to much into your younger goats size right now. Lots of changes can happen in the first year. Just make sure you are feeding well and keeping up on supplements.

[NHGoater]

Thank you guys. I did pick him up last night. I'll post some pics of them soon. We give them a flake in the am and pm. They are on pasture during the day. We walk them nightly in the cut behind our house and they all come back with full bellies. I've started to feed them a small amount of meat grower pellet from blue seal. It has AC in it. I also doctor their water with a little bit of vinegar. I'll keep you posted on our boys. We are going camping again this weekend. Well see how all 3 do this time.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Wouldnt do any grain of any kind on a regular basis. Grains are the number one cause IMO of urinary calculi. All grains are way outta the correct 2:1 ratio. The only time I give grain is when I am giving Legion his bi weekly AC treatment.