Wow!! Input please!

bee · #21 01/03/12, 11:54 AM

Kids are very quick nursers and keep going back frequently at first..as they get older you will get the er..ah.."joy" of watching Mom's udder become a "butting bag" as they try to stimulate more milk.....as they age she will cut them off by simply moving away when she has had enough. Hmmm...you should soon start to see some bright yellow/orange poops from the kids..this is normal and will dissappear as the doe stops giving colostrum and gives regular milk. thought I'd mention this to help avoid any more panic for you. I also will mention that I almost waited too long to disbud the horns..mine was done at 3 weeks..consensus seems to be between 1 and 2 weeks,,with sooner being better. Are "we" having fun yet??? LOL!! bee

Cannon_Farms · #22 01/03/12, 11:56 AM

Amber I dont know what area you live in in N Ga as its a large place but we will be pulling blood on my girls and would be glad to teach you. It wont be this weekend but the next providing I dont have to work on sunday, otherwise it will be monday when I do it. I will probably have several people here. If your close enough you can bring the kids to get disbudded if you so desire.

Sonshine · #23 01/03/12, 12:13 PM

Congratulations. I'm so glad you took them. Some people don't care much about their critters for anything except making money. Sounds like that lady would fit right in with the puppy mill group.

Oat Bucket Farm · #24 01/03/12, 12:18 PM

Oh wow! What an adventure you and your new goats have had. I'm so glad you rescued mama from that place, and just in time too.

When you go back to TSC, you might think about picking up a bag of alfalfa pellets for mama goat. It will help her produce enough milk for her growing babies without stripping her of the calcium she needs for her own body functions.

What breed of goat is she? Or do you guess her to be?

You asked at one point how will all do this without going nuts...have you noticed how crazy we all are?

AmberLBowers · #25 01/03/12, 01:26 PM

Yes, my name is Amber and I (finally) am a crazy goat lady.

To answers some of the above replies:

Yes, I would love to get some "learnin" from an experienced person and be able to get them disbudded by an expert. From what Ive read, its traumatic in the hands of the experienced so its definately somethin I dont want to learn from my mistakes on.

Also, DH already has a list of things to get from tsc on the way home. Quest, alfalfa, tarps and tiedowns (to double reinforce windbreaks. I dont want even a breeze to ruffle the fur on those little hineys I was praying so hard for last night)

They will go out to a 100 square foot chain link pen (with door directly off my back deck) this afternoon to transition to the outside. Since mom was in such a tiny box I dont want to just dump her and newborns onto our 3 acres, even with an area with windbreaks and dogloo with hay. It took her a little while to figure out that yellow stringy fluffy stuff I gave her yesterday was edible.

can I do her CDT and probiotic now or do I need to hold off?

FrogTacos · #26 01/03/12, 01:42 PM

Yes you can give her both now. Good thing about probios is you can give it to ANY goat ANY time.

Watch the babies when they wake up, if they are stretching all is well with how much and how often they are eating.

Be sure to write down everything you put into your goats for meds -dates/doses/lot numbers. You wont be able to remember in a pinch.

I agree with the others, call and report those people.

LoneStrChic23 · #27 01/03/12, 01:53 PM

Don't forget the loose minerals. TSC carries a small bag of loose minerals by Manna Pro (orange bag) & they also have a $4 double sided, small mineral feeder that you can mount inside a shelter....Put baking soda in one side, minerals in the other. I prefer their Standlee Brand alfalfa pellets because the,quality is top notch. Plus I have heard the Dumor or store brand of pellets at TSC is preserved with animal fats ....yuck!

Probiotics won't hurt her a bit. Neither will CDT, & I'd give her a booster shot of the CDT 21 days later to seal immunity. Store it in the fridge, always use a clean needle & you can use the same bottle until it's gone.

Disbudding isn't so bad once you've done it a few times, but if youg can get someone close to you to do it the first time, that would be great. Just don't wait too long...... I start feeling for bumps from day 3+ & prefer to disbud before they break through the skin (typically no later than 2 weeks old). If done at the right time, it's not so tramatic, & you have less chance of scurs later.

Cannon_Farms · #28 01/03/12, 02:05 PM

Im a manager in the monroe TSC a great deal of products made for goats can be the same for labled for horses but more expensive, in all reality we have very few products worth having, something I am trying to change but we have 1000 plus stores and im a peon on the sea of them.
I second the mana pro mineral it suits our soil types very well here, I use the pasture minerals personally along with the goat tubs we sell (check under the paper for mold) but thats a bit expensive for a few goats and the mana pro minerals will suit you quite well.
i would advise not to get the solid alfalfa from TSC, its pretty but has heavy stalks in it that the goats will not eat, get the timothy alfalfa mixed or just get pellets. With the compressed bales be advised that when they decompress they are at least twice as long, I normally open mine in a storage barrel (55 gal drum). Our alfalfa is high, check the Ga market bulletin for cheaper alfalfa hay. Once again I recomend you use the pellets if at all possible to avoid a mess. Rye grass hay is the best base hay because its sweet and the goat really like that, plus its high in protein and calcium.

Ranger · #29 01/03/12, 02:22 PM

Good for you for saving Mom and babies!!!! Please, please call either your local animal comtrol office, or the Sheriff's office in your county and report that jerk. If no one reports things like this the animals will continue to be abused.

AmberLBowers · #30 01/03/12, 04:24 PM

Um, wow. Just watched Cookie (second born and largest) "punch" mom's udder while nursing for the first time. Made me hurt just watchig. DH has decided that since it will be 20 degrees tonight but will warmup to 50s tomorrow we should let them stay inside another night. This is the same man that said that farm animal WAS NOT coming inside our new house no matter how cold it was or if she was in labor. Pretty funny when you find a 6'4" 280 pound bearded country boy kneeling to talk baby talk to a tiny goat. "Oh, what a tweet wittle baby." Haha, he has the bug!!

Donna1982 · #31 01/03/12, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmberLBowers

Um, wow. Just watched Cookie (second born and largest) "punch" mom's udder while nursing for the first time. Made me hurt just watchig. DH has decided that since it will be 20 degrees tonight but will warmup to 50s tomorrow we should let them stay inside another night. This is the same man that said that farm animal WAS NOT coming inside our new house no matter how cold it was or if she was in labor. Pretty funny when you find a 6'4" 280 pound bearded country boy kneeling to talk baby talk to a tiny goat. "Oh, what a tweet wittle baby." Haha, he has the bug!!

Thank you for saving the momma and her babies. We all understand the questions and IMHO you could not be in a better place for answers. My bf said the same thing about the goats. He is now owned by the goats. This is a man that will not raise his voice at them because he doesn't want to "hurt their feelings" or make them hate him. I find it 100 % adorable and will be the bad guy when it comes to them. We dont have kids so the goats are our kids. I can't wait to see your babies and again thank you for saving them.

Minelson · #32 01/03/12, 06:21 PM

I have been watching this thread but haven't said anything because I am speechless! I cannot imagine what I would have done if Gretta started labor before I even got her home!! But it sure would have saved me a gagillion walks out to the barn to "check" lol!!
You are doing great. I scoured the website www.fiascofarm.com when I first got preggos Gretta. It helped a lot with the basics...along with this forum. This forum is a life saver!
Now...where are the pictures of these darlings??!!

AmberLBowers · #33 01/03/12, 09:02 PM

Sorry about the delays in the pictures guys, DH is scrambling to find the USB cord. I will have them up ASAP. I know all goat babies are fictional until proven otherwise by photographic evidence.

Oreo has had her CDT, Probios, and an udder/tail wash and trim to go along with worming. There are some alfalfa cubes in her bowl. small plastic dishes of baking soda and the mannapro mineral are alongside.

AmberLBowers · #34 01/03/12, 09:19 PM

So, what do you guys think about these teeny treasures? To review, mom is Oreo. The firstborn is the smaller mostly white doe named DS (Double Stuff). The second born larger doe black with white markings is Cookie.

Pony · #35 01/03/12, 09:24 PM

Oh... Lucky, blessed Oreo, that you came along and saved her and her kids!!!!

And that horrible person who keeps animals confined like that should be horse whipped in public! I hope that you are seriously considering our strong suggestions to report that [fill in the blank] jerk.

You are doing a bang-up job. Good on ya!

Minelson · #36 01/03/12, 09:24 PM

They are adorable!! Good job!

BethW · #37 01/03/12, 09:41 PM

Oh, mama is just adorable and the babies are little angels!

As are you for saving this little family. Their story makes me equally sad and furious. Please report those people.

Donna1982 · #38 01/03/12, 10:40 PM

Momma goat has such a sweet face. Also the babies are beautiful. Good job.

southerngurl · #39 01/04/12, 12:11 AM

She looks like a sweet girl. And congrats on the babies

noeskimo · #40 01/04/12, 12:40 AM

Talk about jumping in with both feet! You passed the test.