Ok, I'm reading a book on Dairy Goats and as they say, a little knowledge is dangerous. I have these stupid, newbie questions I was hoping someone would patiently answer (without laughing too hard at me, LOL)
1. I have a Nubian doe ready to kid in October. I was reading about debudding the kids. It sounded very painful to the animal because they described using hot irons. Is this a terrible thing to do to the baby? (I told you they were stupid questions.) The books says they "scream" and that it might turn your stomach the first few times. I'm totally into being humane in how I treat all of my animals, so this is a tough call for me because it talks about all the reasons why they should be debudded as opposed to keeping the horns on.
2. I have a goat with horns and a herd without. The book says the one with horns can damage the hornless ones and says to keep them separate or dehorn the horned goat with rubber bands. It says there will be lots of blood and pain for the horned goat. Yikes! Again, this bothers me. Do you really have to keep horned goats away from dehorned? Will the horned goat pose a threat to my pregnant Nubian which is dehorned?
3. My goats make a mess with their hay and I read where they won't eat it once it's dropped to the ground. Can anyone suggest a proper manger so that they can't waste so much hay?
4. How long can you milk a goat after she's had a kid? How do you keep the milk flowing, by breeding her? (I never had kids, so I'm really dumb on this one.)
5. How often can you breed a goat and be humane to the goat and how can you tell they're in heat. I had a friend look at one of mine and she said immediately Cleo was in heat and I had no clue.
6. Why are my goats smarter than me? They can undo any gatelatch I use. haha
7. Which goats make the best milk for cheese?
8. How often do you worm goats in TX? Every month as I've been told?
9. Do coyotes and bobcats kill goats quite often in TX? I'm from up North and we don't have either critter to worry about in Maryland.
10. What is the best guard animal to protect my goats? I've heard Llamas, Longhorns, dogs, wolfdogs, etc.
11. Am I a total geek because I name all my goats and treat them like family (hahaha.)
12. Can you become addicted to goats?
Thanks,
karen
1. I have a Nubian doe ready to kid in October. I was reading about debudding the kids. It sounded very painful to the animal because they described using hot irons. Is this a terrible thing to do to the baby? (I told you they were stupid questions.) The books says they "scream" and that it might turn your stomach the first few times. I'm totally into being humane in how I treat all of my animals, so this is a tough call for me because it talks about all the reasons why they should be debudded as opposed to keeping the horns on.
2. I have a goat with horns and a herd without. The book says the one with horns can damage the hornless ones and says to keep them separate or dehorn the horned goat with rubber bands. It says there will be lots of blood and pain for the horned goat. Yikes! Again, this bothers me. Do you really have to keep horned goats away from dehorned? Will the horned goat pose a threat to my pregnant Nubian which is dehorned?
3. My goats make a mess with their hay and I read where they won't eat it once it's dropped to the ground. Can anyone suggest a proper manger so that they can't waste so much hay?
4. How long can you milk a goat after she's had a kid? How do you keep the milk flowing, by breeding her? (I never had kids, so I'm really dumb on this one.)
5. How often can you breed a goat and be humane to the goat and how can you tell they're in heat. I had a friend look at one of mine and she said immediately Cleo was in heat and I had no clue.
6. Why are my goats smarter than me? They can undo any gatelatch I use. haha
7. Which goats make the best milk for cheese?
8. How often do you worm goats in TX? Every month as I've been told?
9. Do coyotes and bobcats kill goats quite often in TX? I'm from up North and we don't have either critter to worry about in Maryland.
10. What is the best guard animal to protect my goats? I've heard Llamas, Longhorns, dogs, wolfdogs, etc.
11. Am I a total geek because I name all my goats and treat them like family (hahaha.)
12. Can you become addicted to goats?
Thanks,
karen