I just got some spanish does and a just weaned boer buckling. The buckling thinks he's a lap dog and is extremely attached to people. The spanish does are real skittish, I made the mistake of putting them right out into a quarter acre paddock and now I can't get within 50 feet of them without them running, so I haven't been able to give them a good once over yet. But from a distance their tails look frayed like an old paint brush, that's a mineral deficiency right? Also, I'm pretty confident one of them is pregnant is there any visible way to guess how far away kidding is? I'm taking the fake it til I make it approach so I know next to nothing of what I am doing.
Just started my herd
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Spend a little time each day in your pasture just sitting there with some little treats (animal crackers work great) Goats are naturally curious so they will start to get closer to you. Give them a treat. It won't take long until they think you are the best human ever. 
Its hard to tell how far a goat is along in a pregnancy. Some don't look pregnant until right before they deliver and others are just fat girls who aren't pregnant but love to eat. You can get an idea by how large her bag is. She will bag up before she delivers. Good luck with your new additions!
Its hard to tell how far a goat is along in a pregnancy. Some don't look pregnant until right before they deliver and others are just fat girls who aren't pregnant but love to eat. You can get an idea by how large her bag is. She will bag up before she delivers. Good luck with your new additions!I don't think it will be too hard to get them to warm up to me. I pulled up a chair this afternoon and they seemed interested once they saw the little buck take a nap on my lap. From what I gathered from the people I bought the does from I think they were exclusively hay fed. I had a feeling it was copper deficiency. I haven't seen much at the feed stores as far as goat minerals go, is there a brand that's better than others that I should be keeping an eye out for or just get what ever is in stock?
As for the doe that I'm pretty sure is pregnant, she's about as large around the belly as a pregnant mini donkey gets and it's sticking out more to the right and the seller did say that they were all exposed to a buck. And I mean I'm not complaining about a freebie but I was expecting a little more learning time before dealing with kidding.
As for the doe that I'm pretty sure is pregnant, she's about as large around the belly as a pregnant mini donkey gets and it's sticking out more to the right and the seller did say that they were all exposed to a buck. And I mean I'm not complaining about a freebie but I was expecting a little more learning time before dealing with kidding.
That was my original plan but I made the mistake of letting my wife see them.
I love your last comment.
For minerals, get a loose mineral instead of a block as it takes too long for an animal to lick their nutrition. This goes the same for salt. I also feed kelp meal.
Your chair sitting is productive two ways, both for the animals to acclimate to you in a less threatening posture and you to evaluate your stock while they're more or less comfortable and get to know what looks 'normal'. If/when something is 'off' it'll tend to stand out more. You'll slowly also be able to see their confirmation and can use those traits to help you make culls (if your wife lets you).
I looked in Spanish goats briefly, the kind the yields cashmere. There weren't a whole lot of breeders I could find near me but they looked like a neat breed.
The does seem to be taking to me well. I'll probably need a week or two until I'm able to get close enough for maintenance but they now let me be within 15 feet of the group and they will come over to smell me before scoffing and running away. And they've finally allowed the buckling to be near them. They remind me of the popular girl cliche from high school, very high society.
I'm not sure if these are purebred spanish goats, if they are I got them for a great price.
I keep getting security errors about uploading pictures one last try. The white doeling is the does on the lefts kid and the other one matches her dam.
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I'm not sure if these are purebred spanish goats, if they are I got them for a great price.
I keep getting security errors about uploading pictures one last try. The white doeling is the does on the lefts kid and the other one matches her dam.
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One package of Ginger Snap cookies, and they will be following you around like puppies.
As far as minerals go I'm scratching my head. I've been to about every feed store near me and all they have is blocks or loose cattle minerals. I found some bags of dumors sweet feed and it seemed to have decent mineral amounts so I bought that but I can't find any to give free choice.
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Find a place online that sells Goat Block. It is the size of a block of salt, and has everything that a goat needs. You don't need to keep it in the pen all of the time, as they will eat up a block in a few days. I put out one block a month.
We use the loose minerals from Redmond. They have a product locator and said if there's no dealer close to you, they can order it for you: Goat Products | Redmond Agriculture. There is also Manna Pro Goat Mineral | Manna Pro
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Sweet feed is not good for goat digestion.
“Grains are high in carbohydrates, and should be fed sparingly to goats. Sweet feed should not be fed to goats, as the high amounts of sugar and starch can cause digestive upsets such as bloat and ruminal acidosis, as well as obesity.”
urbanlivestockvet.com
Goat blocks do NOT provide minerals in a form that allows the goat to ingest an adequate amount. Loose mineral, high in copper is desired. I fed the Onyx formulation, by Cargill.
“Grains are high in carbohydrates, and should be fed sparingly to goats. Sweet feed should not be fed to goats, as the high amounts of sugar and starch can cause digestive upsets such as bloat and ruminal acidosis, as well as obesity.”
Goat Feeding | Urban Livestock & Equine Veterinary Services
Goat blocks do NOT provide minerals in a form that allows the goat to ingest an adequate amount. Loose mineral, high in copper is desired. I fed the Onyx formulation, by Cargill.
Really? I could have sworn I saw someone posting on here that the dumor sweet feed was good and since I can't find loose minerals I thought that would be the best bet. That makes sense though because their droppings have been clumpy since I started giving it to them.
The pasture they are on right now is about a quarter acre of decent browse. Should I just be letting them eat browse and not feeding anything else until I find the minerals?
The pasture they are on right now is about a quarter acre of decent browse. Should I just be letting them eat browse and not feeding anything else until I find the minerals?
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