The birthing stall doesn’t need to be large five feet by six feet is plenty large. The mother can be very nervous at birth, and while trying to protect her newborn kids, she can step on them while she circles about, chasing the other goats. While many does have kidded in the herd, you always run the risk of having one of the kids injured, either by accident or because of an aggressive adult. Have a birthing stall ready for your pregnant doe. Goats are very clean and will not drink water with dirt or manure in it until they are just about dying from thirst. A constant fresh water supply is also necessary. Without it she will not milk well, nor will she have large, healthy kids that will go on to make great milkers or meat for the family. A simple injection for the doe before birth, followed by one for the new kids a week or ten days after birth, will prevent this.īe sure that especially during the last month of her pregnancy she gets a good mixed goat grain. This causes newborn kids to lose control of their legs and often die. In some areas that are selenium deficient, white muscle disease is common. It’s a good idea to give her boosters on her enterotoxemia and tetanus vaccinations at this time and make sure she is wormed. You’ll most likely notice this around four months. This spring one of our does had triplets.Īs she gets advanced in her pregnancy, her sides will begin to round out and protrude. If not, simply leave her udder alone the more you milk her and fool with her teats, the more she’ll be stimulated to produce more milk. If she has had mastitis in the past, evidenced by chunks in the milk like small bits of cottage cheese, it’s a good idea to use a dry udder infusion as she goes dry, to help prevent a flare-up of mastitis.
#CAPRINE SUPPLY GOAT FEEDING NIPPLES FULL#
Her bag will enlarge, but unless it gets really full or seems hot, she will soon absorb the milk and the udder will shrink down in its rest mode. If she is a heavy milker, you can switch to only milking her once a day for a couple of weeks, then simply stop milking her. There are several different opinions about how this should be done. About two months before her due date, she should be dried up. Care of the pregant doeĪ doe goat’s gestation time is about 150 days or roughly five months. This is the natural way a goat’s body prepares for the next pregnancy and freshening, letting the body catch up on nutrients and rest from the stress of milking. While some does have milked for years following a birth, it is not common milk production usually starts to slack off after about eight months. In order to have a doe milking, she must be bred and freshen (give birth). In order to keep a supply of milk, I breed my does to freshen at different times. I have two adult does, three doe kids, our pet wether, Oreo, and a big Boer buck.
Now days I’ve cut back to what is enjoyable for me. At one time I had a commercial dairy, milking nearly a hundred does and selling milk to a cheese plant. When our goats occasionally get out they don’t run away down the road looking for more cowswe’re more apt to find them up on the porch, peering in the windows, wondering when we’ll come out to take them for a walk.īecause they are such a beneficial animal on the homestead, I’ve always kept them. They’re smaller and easier to handle than cows, eat less, and they really like people. Not only do they provide milk, cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese, and meat, but they also give us manure for our gardens and provide entertainment, too. Dairy goats form one of the cornerstones of our homestead.
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