weaning

Liley5 · #1 07/27/04, 08:03 PM

I was wondering what the best way to wean is. I have four 4 month olds, and one 5 1/2 month old. Right now I pen them up at night and milk in the morning, but I am not getting much milk, and it is quite a pain to catch them each night to put them all in the pen. Thanks

okgoatgal2 · #2 07/27/04, 09:18 PM

can you keep them penned up for a few days and bear the screaming? if so, go for it that way.

Liley5 · #3 07/27/04, 09:46 PM

I can't put them in the pen in the goat barn that I usually put them in a night because it is fairly small, and it gets rather hot during the day, but I have some pens on the other side of my property that have chain link fences around them, and I can put them in there. There is a three sided shelter in it, so I guess that would be okay for them. The only problem is getting water to them. I will have to haul it quite a long way, which I can do, but do you know how long I will need to leave them in there? Will a few days be enough?

okgoatgal2 · #4 07/28/04, 07:16 PM

i would think a few days would be enough. i always bottled my babies, so it was easy to wean. depends, i guess, on how attached to the teat those babies are and how well they are eating.

GoldenWood Farm · #5 07/28/04, 08:05 PM

No no no no! A few days will sooooooo not be enough to make them give up on drinking milk from mom. Once you put them back in with mom away they go on the teats. Believe me I should know! I had a kid who was away from her mom for 3 1/2 weeks and she still would try and drink from mom when I tried to put her in there! The only thing you can do is keep them away from mom for at least 2 months(that is if you plan to keep milking her). If you don't plan to keep milking her then dry her up and let the kids back in with her. Either way it will take a while to get them off of momma. They will be fine off of mom by now but they are just getting spoiled staying on momma. Or you could probably just leave them on momma and they or their mom will wean them off(don't know if they will wean them selves as I have never tried it before but maybe other people have?).

MotherClucker

Laura Workman · #6 07/28/04, 10:24 PM

Like Motherclucker said, they will ALWAYS go back and try Mom's teats, if they haven't been away long enough to forget who she is. However, I have a secret plan that I intend to implement when I get ready to wean my girls. It's already worked for keeping kids off for the day with no difficulty at all, so I'm betting it will work. There's this stuff at Petco called Bitter Break. It's nasty, bitter stuff that keeps dogs (and other critters) from chewing on itchy spots. There's also paper first-aid tape - a LOT like teat tape, but you can get it at any drug store and many supermarkets.

So, tape the teats, then spray with bitter stuff. Not only will the kid not get any milk, they'll also get a mouthfull of the nastiest stuff you can think of. (DO NOT breathe in while applying the spray!) This chemical is also used as deer repellant, so you know it's nasty. BUT, it washes right off with udder wash (for me, that's warm water with some homemade goat's milk soap). To apply teat tape, take a strip a couple of inches long, place the center at the orifice, and then smooth it up both sides of the teat. Then make a circular wrap around the bottom of the teat, with another piece, largely covering the first piece. You will have the first piece pretty much vertical and the second piece going around the bottom of the teat horizontally. (This is where a picture would be really nice). Make SURE it's not on tight enough to cause any decrease in circulation to the tissue.

The only pain is you have to take it off and replace it every time you milk. Sigh. But I'd bet the kids get tired of trying before too long. We'll see.