Of course, saying that just may jinx me .......
Things did not go according to plan this year....... I usually keep my bottle babies on a good schedule with milk feeding.
All they can eat at 4 feedings in the begining........ Ages 2-10 weeks they get all they can comfortably eat 3 times a day. After that it's all they can comfortably eat twice a day until about 17 weeks, then I knock them down to 1 feeding a day until I'm ready to wean. Last year this worked beautifully & I had kids well over 100lbs by 6 months old.
This year I thought I really screwed myself & it's been eating at me....... Due to moving momma in, back & forth at doctors offices, back and forth between my herd & hers, and everything that happened after her passing, I had to short the kids on milk (sold a milker sooner than planned as I needed feed $$). The late March doelings got cut back to measured feedings instead of whatever they wanted & by June 1st I had to cut them down to 1 feeding per day, and weaned them July 1st when I was forced to go down to 1 doe in milk.
Tricks, my May kid, fared better as she's been getting 2 feedings a day since June & I can keep that up until the end of September.
I have to make BIG cuts after kidding season, so holding 4 March doelings over for another year before freshening really hurts me, but when I look at them, they all look like tiny babies still.....
Wanted to see how bad the damage really was, so I took a weight tape to them....... Numbers HAD to be wrong!! So I had hubby pick them up and weigh in on the scale....Made him do it twice as the #'s had to be wrong....
Rosie, the Nubian is 84lbs.
Alpine doelings Cookie & Heidi are 76-82lbs.
Mocha, the Lamancha is 75lbs...
And May baby Tricks is 50lbs! Tricks had a 6 week long ordeal with cocci & ecoli.... It was a nightmare & she lost 8lbs during that time, thought she would die for a lil while, and then stalled out on growth, so her weight shocked me most of all..
So, I can't breed NOW like I had planned, but I'll definately be thinking about breeding them in November!!
Can not even begin to explain what a huge relief this is....... At least 2 of those doelings will have to be sold, and this way I can see udders & sell as milkers.....
Oh and the weight tape was wrong. It was over by 8lbs on every doeling
Since you listened to my lengthy babble, here's pics..... Took Rosie & Tricks to the weedy, unfenced area of the property for a walk, and took them by the sr does pen for a size comparison & Rosie looks her weight standing next to my grown LM doe..... So maybe my kid pen distorts sizes and makes them look barely 60lbs just to give me grey hair??!
Tricks all bristled up watching the neighbors cattle:
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Luck just may be on my side.... (updated - more pics)
