Is it bad...

[DanielleP]

Is it bad to have two pregnant does kid in the same stall? I can't seem to think of a reason but I've never done this before so I thought I'd ask you knowledgeable people.

Also, would it be horribly catastrophic if my buck lived with my does continually? other than not knowing the do date what other problems could occur?

[Bearfootfarm]

As long as they don't get confused as to which kid belongs to whom they should be ok, although ideally you'd have them seperated for at least the first couple of days.

The moms can get pretty rough when another kid tries to nurse

[praieri winds]

Our buck stays with his does 24/7 the only problem I have come across is he gets more feed than he needs other than that extra body heat is welcome when it is so cold

as for the does it is the smelling thing for bonding baby could smell wrong mom or visa versa best to serarate if possible panals hay bale walls stalls anything you might could put together for a few days anyway

[DanielleP]

Wow, that was fast! Thank you this helps a lot.

I've got another thing that I didn't really clarify, would there be big problems if my kidding does were left in the herd with all the other goats, including bucks, like in the wild? would the buck harm the does or kids?

[julieq]

Since all of our ND's are in the barn, I wouldn't want the bucks with the does constantly as they'd hassle them too much. Plus we grain the does twice a day, but not the bucks. We do kid out our does in their regular stalls with their buddies though.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Just keep in mind that a doe about to kid and having just kidded gives off odors that can instigate hostile, aggressive behavior in other goats. As long as you have a place where you can sequester a kidding doe for a couple of days, you'll be fine.

[LittleRedHen]

Last winter I had two goats kid a week apart. I had taken the bigger goats kids into the house and made them bottle babies. Trouble came when #2 goat was kidding. Soon as #1 goat heard the goat kids crying she was in a rage trying to get to the goat kids. She apparently thought they were hers? well, it was awful! I didn't have a way to keep her away from #2 other than trying to block her with a pallet while trying to help mama #2 with her births. SHe had a hard delivery with extra bleeding and I had to help pull the kids. It was chaos as goat #1 was banging away trying to bust in. After that I always made sure a goat kidded alone

[CarolT]

I've heard that the buck may also try to breed the does while they're giving birth. I know that I tried letting Lupin stay with Rosie at night for warmth last week and he became very interested in chasing her around and trying to mount and she's only close, still no babies. I had only separated them the week before when she had goo. After the goo, he started getting interested. He can now freeze those pesky things off! Not really, when the Arctic blast comes in, he'll get to bed down with the calf. But no, I wouldn't leave everyone together if possible. Just my opinion, I'm fairly new to goats myself :-)

[6e]

I'm with the class of not leaving bucks with the does. When they give birth it lets off a smell that makes bucks think it's time to mate and babies get squished in the process. Better to separate them. I can't say I've had trouble with does kidding together though, except for the getting confused as to what goat they belong to.

[wmsff]

Sorry to jump in but I have a question about letting the buck stay with the does. I read that the milk will have a strong nasty smell and taste because of the proximity of the buck. I take it from the responses that it is no big deal.

[DanielleP]

Well my goats wont be in a barn, right now my two saanen does are living in a fairly small shed, but they will soon be living in a pasture bigger than any barn I've ever seen with a quonset hut for shelter. I'm getting my buck and a bred doe in the next couple weeks. just wanted to clarify because julieq said that since they were in a barn she'd want the bucks away, but what if there is more room?

Thank you very much for all the help!

[pookshollow]

Originally Posted by wmsff

Sorry to jump in but I have a question about letting the buck stay with the does. I read that the milk will have a strong nasty smell and taste because of the proximity of the buck. I take it from the responses that it is no big deal.

My bucks are in the same barn as my milking does. Sometimes they are in the pen right next to them - never had an issue with bad-tasting milk.

[pookshollow]

As for the original question, I'll put does that are due to kid within the same week into one pen. I don't have enough space for them to have their own separate pen. Haven't had any problems doing that. I don't have any kid "stealers" although I've got a couple of does that will allow another doe's kid to nurse. I had a set of triplets last year - I swear their theme song was "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves". They'd nurse off of any doe that stood still for more than two seconds!

[Oat Bucket Farm]

We keep our buck separate from our does. They share an eight foot chain link fence line but they live in separate pens and houses.

[goatkid]

My goats live in a small log cabin and also have a few other goat sheds in their yard. They are not locked into stalls when they kid, but I do take them into an unoccupied goat house to give birth. Some of my kids are pulled at birth to be bottle raised. These are generally the doelings and the does raise their bucklings. The bottle kids have their separate pen and the does and dam raised kids all live together. The bucks have their own pen. I usually run a cleanup buck with the does at the end of breeding season, but he goes back into the buck pen before the first does kids. I would never keep a buck in the main goat pen year round. Doelings can start cycling long before they are big enough to be bred. I don't want 9 month old kids having babies.