New to goats

[countryacres]

Hi all,

We have been reading and enjoying this site for several months and never posted, due to all the great info already available. We bought 2 baby goats yesterday and have a question. One of the does is 10 weeks and the other is 9. The lady said they were both eating solid food and drinking water, however, they were also still with their mommas. Will they do okay with immediatly being taken from their mommas, or should we give some kind of milk supplement for a few days?

They are pygmy/dwarf mix, and very cute. We would hate to lose one due to our lack of education on goats. We have read allot, however, all our books talk about taking the kids when they are only a few days old so you have access to the milk.

Thanks for any help you can give!

[HilltopDaisy]

I would suggest asking the seller if you can have some of the food that the babies are used to eating. When I bought my first little ones, I was given about 10 pounds of the feed they were already eating. It's not good to switch them quickly. Find out exactly what shots they've had, and what they still need. I think taking them away from the mother's milk is probably not going to be a big problem.

A word of advice--I was pretty upset that my goats and sheep wanted nothing to do with me at first. Now I now they were frightened and overwhelmed. It only took a couple days for them to become very, very friendly.

[mary,tx]

Since they have been dam raised, I doubt you could get them on a bottle if you tried. They are old enough they should do fine, especially since they are already eating feed. Good idea to find out what the previous owner was feeding. (Don't overfeed grain, they should be just nibbling.)

Babies usually tame up pretty fast if you talk to them and pat them while they are eating(or any other time you can get close )

[countryacres]

Thanks for the info! They seem to be eating the hay (coastal bermuda and wheat), grain (small amount of cattle sweet feed), and wheat pasture just fine. The lady had been feeding some green weeds/grass, coastal bermuda hay and grain. They are still stand-offish even though we hold and pet them for long periods of time.

Thanks again.

[Starsmom]

You didn't say if your new babies were doeling or bucklings or wethers. A word of advice, if you have any males you need to give them ammonium choride. That prevents UC as the males have a very very tiny urinary system. A wethers is even smaller as it didn't have time to developed. UC is a blockage and the goat cannot urinate. If not caught in time the bladder can burst and it will die. Sweet feed is and can be a problem without the Ammonium Cholride. Check with your feed store and see if they have Show Chow by purina. That has the AC in it and most of the other minerals needed. Just my 2cents. Good luck with the babies, they are so fun.

[HilltopDaisy]

Yes, very important about the urinary calculi. That's the reason I give mine the Purina Show Chow. I have three wethers.

[countryacres]

Our kids are doelings. Does this mean we don't have to worry as much about the urinary calculi? The local feed store person said we needed to give them something for tetanis (sp?).

Thanks for all the help!

[windyhollowfarm]

With Does you dont have to worry about UC.


Goats do need a tetanus shot. I would give CD/T (any brand) it is Clostridium Perfringes C&D Bactern -Toxoid. This is the immunization use to prevent Enterotoxemia and Tetanus. You give 2mL SQ. It is the same dosage no matter what age, sex, breed, weight,etc.

It can create a small bump/abscess at the vaccination site.

If a goat hasnt ever received this shot I do a series of boostering before they go on an annual schedule. I give it at 3,6, and 9 weeks old. Then they get it once a year. So I would give shot now, then in three weeks the 2nd, and then the 3rd shot in three more weeks. After that, I would give it once a year.


Have they been given any coccidiosis meds? If not, I would recommend so.