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Postby SassyCassie » August 23rd, 2010, 11:06 pm

Malli wrote:Do they need their hooves clipped or anything?

Do the mothers or milking goats need supplements moreso then Alfalfa or Timothy?

Thanks for your response :) I think I'd like to have a couple goats one day, and maintenance price or lack there of is what will help convince him ;)



Yes, i remembered later i forgot to put that in. They do need their hooves clipped, quite frequently, i've read every 4 weeks, it is more like every 6 with mine, but i got a pair of shears at a local farm store, and it is something you can do yourself (unlike with horses) I built a milking stand so i could do things like hoof trimming, clipping, shots, etc but if you had another person to help hold it, it should be okay too.

I don't really give too many extra supplements, the moms get grain, I add a little molasses for extra energy (with all those babies, they need it) they get Tums as treats (a source of calcium, b/c i was told to beware of them coming down with milk fever, so it was kind of preventative, but now i have a large container still, and they do like them alot) Alfalfa is supposed to be really high in calcium - the problem is getting it right now, no one has done second cutting yet, so I am using the alfalfa cubes in addition to their timothy hay. If you are milking the goats, they also need grain, I think several people said a couple cups a day for their nigerian dwarf does (once the babies are weaned) Right now both of mine with babies are getting more like 4 cups a day, and Bailey gets 2 cups. The one thing i did supplement with was vit E/Selenium gel while they were pregnant. Our area is deficient in selenium, and i gave them the supplement 4 weeks prior to delivery and again 2 weeks prior, and then all the babies got a dose when they were a day old. The deficiency causes white muscle disease in the babies. I also had to supplement with copper a couple months ago, b/c the mineral mix i was using was too low - you can see it in the black goats when their coat starts turning brownish, I ended up using this copper bolus made for cattle and just splitting the dose up for the 3 does. I found a better mineral mix now, and shouldn't have any more problems.
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Postby Malli » August 24th, 2010, 2:56 am

hm. Mineral mix? Like salt lick? Or powder added to grain?

Thank you so much for all this info :) I grew up in a very rural area and have been around a lot of farm animals (most experience with horses), but I never actually had any myself, so I'm all oblivious to this stuff :lol3: And since I'd like to have a hobby type farm one day I try to get info when I can ;)

anywho :rolleyes2: I won't interrogate you any futher...
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Postby SassyCassie » August 25th, 2010, 12:03 am

You can ask as many questions as you like, i love talking about my babies.

Salt blocks require too much effort, I guess they get 'salt burn' or something on their tongue, long before they get enough of the minerals, so loose minerals are recommended, otherwise they get deficiencies. You can sprinkle it on the food, but most people put it in a separate container - they have these little divided feeders, and one side is loose minerals, and the other is baking soda (apparently if they get their tummy out of balance they will eat the baking soda - mine taste it now and then, and when it gets old I just sprinkle it on the floor under the shavings and put fresh in the feeder) I noticed in early pregnancy the goats were almost constantly eating up the minerals, and then slowed down a bit (of course, i bought one 25 lb bag, then my feed store ordered another for me b/c they were eating so much, now i don't have the heart to tell them they may be keeping it quite a while for me, b/c they are barely touching the minerals)
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Postby Malli » August 25th, 2010, 3:16 am

weird. Who knew there was so much to goats? :|

But they do sound fairly inexpensive, maintenance-wise.
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Postby mnp13 » September 24th, 2010, 8:53 pm

The goats are bigger now! (well, uh... that tends to happen...)

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MOM! How many of us can you hold at once????
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Postby call2arms » September 24th, 2010, 9:08 pm

Oh, look at the little hornlets coming out!!

They are so cute, and they look adorable and mischievous!
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Postby amazincc » September 24th, 2010, 9:11 pm

I still want one SO bad... but I'm not allowed to keep "farm animals" within city limits.
Stupid rules. >( :sad2:
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Postby mnp13 » September 24th, 2010, 10:05 pm

call2arms wrote:Oh, look at the little hornlets coming out!!

Oh, they don't have horns anymore, they have all been removed. Those are the little stubs that are left.
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Postby CinderDee » September 24th, 2010, 11:45 pm

They are the cutest things ever! How did Aurora make out?
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Postby TheRedQueen » September 25th, 2010, 2:13 am

*****squeal****** :shock:
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » September 25th, 2010, 9:14 am

Holy cripes. If I had baby goats around, I wouldn't get any work done at all. I'd just watch them and squeal and giggle like a little girl!
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Postby call2arms » September 25th, 2010, 5:59 pm

Oh, no hornlets. They won't be bumping anyone around like the goat from the barn...
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Postby mnp13 » September 25th, 2010, 11:05 pm

CinderDee wrote:They are the cutest things ever! How did Aurora make out?

She's good - she's right in the middle of all of them running around!
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Postby BullyLady » September 26th, 2010, 12:04 am

Eeeeeeeee!!!!!! They are SO CUTE!!!!!!! I want a goat!! :heartbeat:
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Postby SassyCassie » September 28th, 2010, 7:21 pm

I will have 4 available. You can't get just one though, they are herd animals so you have to take two ;-)


The pictures are beautiful Michelle.
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » October 10th, 2010, 6:03 pm

That last one is my favorite. What cuties!!!
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Postby CinderDee » October 10th, 2010, 6:31 pm

mnp13 wrote:
CinderDee wrote:They are the cutest things ever! How did Aurora make out?

She's good - she's right in the middle of all of them running around!


I don't know how I missed her. :rolleyes2: She looks good!
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Postby SassyCassie » January 2nd, 2011, 11:17 pm

So sad. I finally sold a couple of the boys. Very happy about the home they went to though. Now I just have two left, the golden boy and the grey/brown boy.

After crying about the goats leaving "so soon", the kids said "when are we having more babies?"
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