Bottle baby in with herd? and banding ?

luvzmybabz · #1 02/13/09, 08:53 AM

OK well I bought a bottle baby that will end up being a whether companion. My question is I have a nanny and her doeling kid seperate from the rest of the girls would be be OK to put this baby in with them for goat learning company etc at least for the day if not at all times and then me just feed him his bottle. The nanny kids turned 2 weeks on Wednesday and this soon to be whether is about 3 weeks. Also I have read many many pros and cons of banding vs. buzdirro (sp?) which you you all use any why? Also what is the latest that you can use a disbudding iron to disbud kids?

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #2 02/13/09, 09:18 AM

When you put your doe back into the main herd with her kids, they will have their dam to protect them. Who will this kid have to protect him?

A disbudding iron like a 50 in experienced hands you can disbud for several weeks, but don't put it off, even in Nubians 3 weeks is tops.

I used to ban kids. Get it done early, don't wait with the whole premise that it allows the urethra to grow in diameter so the kid doesn't get stones. Stones is from management not from early castration. Vicki

jBlaze · #3 02/13/09, 02:12 PM

I would put him in with dam and kid. age sounds very similar. It would be great for the bottle baby to be a goat. (if you have the kid inside, then you wnat to be real careful aobu the temperature.) The dam's kid and the bottle kid may bond enough, and the doe may tolerate the bottle kid enough for it to have some protection. Unless of course, the dam doesn't tolerate the intruder. Happens all ways, ya never know.

luvzmybabz · #4 02/13/09, 09:07 PM

I put him in for the day but momma did not like him so I put both kids in another area to play for a few hours. I may end up trying to milk momma out and save enough milk to feed it to him for a day or 2 and try to integrate cause everytime the momma went near him she would sniff and sniff then nope not mine and get aggrevated I think if she smelled him smelling like her she would at least tolerate him during the day but looks like it will be a process but that is ok her kid is younger but definitely has the goatie ballerina thing going on I hope the bottle baby comes out of his shell a little bit.

AnnaS · #5 02/13/09, 09:55 PM

Unless they are all out on a big pasture together, the nanny will probably beat up the new kid and constantly threaten it. I would make a creep pen that has a door small enough to let kids in and out, but to keep out adults. That would give the kid a safe place, and let the doe's kid play with the new one. Kids are very accepting of other kids.

I've banded lots of bucklings and had the vet burdizzo (sp) a few. With banding, the kids seem uncomfortable for an hour, lying down and getting up or kicking at the belly, but nothing severe. The burdizzo caused a lot of unhappy, off-feed tooth-grinding animals that I felt needed pain management drugs. Calves don't seem to mind the burdizzo though.

jBlaze · #6 02/13/09, 10:29 PM

I generally always have a dog-igloo thing for the kids. We have about 3 of them, so one for each area. Kids can play with other kids and get away from mamas. This way the mamas get used to the kids that are not theirs and will tolerate them much more after a few days. Works great for us.

Gives teh kids a warm place and a safe place and a terrific toy.

deetu · #7 02/13/09, 10:52 PM

I have left kids on the bottle with the other goats without a problem (not one mom with a kid but the whole herd) I noticed that the kids usually hang together while mom's leave to go out into the woods.
I even had one bottle kid become an opportunity nurser, snicking in between legs to nurse on all the does. He did really well and I didn't have to bottle feed him anymore.

jBlaze · #8 02/13/09, 11:16 PM

I just love them opportunity nursers!
(And teh does that adopt kids.)

hoofinitnorth · #9 02/18/09, 03:40 PM

We do knife castrations here. It is final and simple and they bounce back very quick. I personally believe it is more humane than the other available methods.

luvzmybabz · #10 02/18/09, 04:26 PM

well it looks like he is a house goat for a while at least momma would not tolerate him and today while out feeding put him in with queen and a older doeling queen tolerated but older ( about 8 months) doeling wanted to play too rough. he follows anywhere we go if we let him at night he is in a huge crate in the large bathroom. He gets 4 16 oz bottles a day and nibbles at hay. I will be feeding him the bottle until his is well off of it as some I know wean from the bottle at 6 to 8 weeks and I feel it is way too young. Maybe its just me, and I feel like he has grown so much in the last 6 days. He has been named and will usually come to his name OBE ORNERY KENOBI Ornery for short. He was banded and did not even cry until 12 hours later in the middle of the night he started to cry for about 6 hours he is finally starting to ba again.