# Weaning



## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

So who has weaned their kids so far? 

It's that time of year when I start to contemplate weaning versus beating them to death with the lambar :bang

They fight, they push, they rip the bucket off the fence, or knock the holder over, and of course --they ALL MUST HAVE THE ONE PERFECT NIPPLE -- -GRRRRRR!!!!!!
evil evil evil goatlings.


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## KJFarm (Oct 26, 2007)

All of mine were weaned 2 weeks ago - screaming for the lambar is down to a minimal now!!! Always a great feeling to be done pasteurizing mik and cleaning those lambars for the year dance:


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## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

Not yet.....with May babies and soon-to-be July kids (long story, don't ask! :duh ), well, let's just say that I am trying to NOT think about it!

Sigh. :faint


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## [email protected] (Sep 18, 2008)

Just going to once a day today.  Youngest was born 4/12 and is about 40#. Don't want to, but...long story short--my hay guy is an a**hole and I'm looking for a new one. Can't afford alfalfa pellets AND extra milk due to the gals production going down due to hay they won't eat.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Tracy in Idaho said:


> and of course --they ALL MUST HAVE THE ONE PERFECT NIPPLE -- -GRRRRRR!!!!!!
> evil evil evil goatlings.


Yes, what the heck is that all about?!? And from the day they were born, no less. Makes me crazy!!! :crazy

Still feeding doelings born 3/15, 2xday, but have talked about cutting back to 1xday. They are just not into that morning bottle. Little guy I purchased that was born 4/10, he'll be on the bottle for a while. At least he is NOT picky.



KJFarm said:


> Always a great feeling to be done pasteurizing mik and cleaning those lambars for the year dance:


I am eagerly awaiting this day.


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

Ah Camille, I feel the pain -- I have May kids too....though I got smart and sold the pregnant doe that was due in July, LOL! 

I am still milk feeding February kids! FIVE MONTH OLDS! Twice a day at that!!! I have yet to have anyone turn away from milk, they are all pigs.

Vicki, did you go back to weaning at 12 weeks, or are you going longer this year?


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## Twillingate Farm (Oct 26, 2007)

I just weaned the last three April kids two days ago. They were following the example of the March kids and are eating medicated meat goat to the tune of over ten pounds a day for six kids. They're into the hay very well too so at ten weeks they started walking away from the lambar with it still half full... time to wean!

What a relief to put the pasteurizer and lambar away... So much less to carry and clean up after every day!


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

We are thinking about it My oldest are just now four months old. When I need the milk, they get shorted, but otherwise, since I'd be dumping milk since everybody is at their peak, I go ahead and fill them up twice a day. 

I have june babies too so it will definitely be fall before everyone is weaned. My biggest complaint is that I have to clean the darn things so much! They get yukko really fast, and I hate all the bleaching and scrubbing.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I weaned my March kids, last week was the last day of getting to empty lambars from the other pen, they are eating so much of their pellet and eating so much hay they didn't need the milk anyway...their pen is the Sahara Desert with this drought...but alas I have another group of 5 June kids and I am keeping all of them, so I will be lambaring for awhile now. Usually the March kids would already be out in the woods pen, but I am buck poor at the moment so they are stuck in the desert eating hay.
Between milk sales and soap and 3 grandboys drinking milk, we don't have a drop to spare. Vicki


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

My buckling and the Nubian doeling are weaned. Everybody else is still on the bottle or still nursing.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

The kids that were born here are weaned, Lizzie, Taylah and Buggs were weaned shortly before Michelle picked them up. The three left (4 and almost 4 months old) from our kids weighed in at 69 lbs (yes all three of them) and that was about a week ago. But I do supplement with MGP. They are off of MGP now. The two that we got from Michelle are on the Lambar, they are 2 and 3 months old, two lambars a day---BUT the 3 month old is weaning herself and only slurps and runs to eat hay. Those two are NOT on MGP, as I am doing an experiment. I dunno whats in the milk other than the grain and hay we feed the does but they are scootin up there fast. Enormous growth pattern going on here and I must be vigilant they do not grow to fast again. I will have to cut the 3 month old off and cut the 2 month old down to once a day. 
Or I can just take the hay away...JJ :rofl.
Tam


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## DostThouHaveMilk (Oct 25, 2007)

Looks like dad is still offering a small amount of milk to some February/early March kids. The December/January lambar kids have been weaned for a bit and the next group is following quickly in their hoofprints. The March-July babies are still on fullfeed. 
Our dam raised kids are all still nursing. None of dams have weaned kids yet (the oldest were born 12/3). We'll start shipping kids within the month and they are force weaned at that stage.
We are a bit shy on milk with the drop in production from the cows due to the heat. He is currently milking four-five does to bottle feed the bull calf since there is not any extra from the cows. The babies aren't getting quite as much as they might normally, but still more than a lot are fed.


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## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

Well, God took pity on me. (I think - that or He is laughing at me!). 

5 buck kids born today. Gonna let Anika raise three of them directly dam-raised and milk her daughter Anastasia. Anastasia looks to be a very pretty FF, so may just go ahead and keep her. Last doe to kid is 50/50 (Saanen/Boer X) who will get to nurse her kids until weaned and then she will be milked and sold as a milk goat (last year she did 1 1/2 gallons/day, but when bred to a good Boer buck produces really meaty growthy kids and still mistakenly thinks she is a Saanen  so milks another 10 months).

Really really wanted some doe kids from Anastasia as well as Anika (bred to Xavier), but the workload just went waaaaaay down, so I have to admit it is a relief. Now just a couple of weeks to wean the May kids (we wean around 12 weeks or so) and then a nice break. Hopefully the weather will finally warm up (we have had 3 - count them - 3 days over 80 degrees so far this summer, no kidding) and we will go play at the lake!


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## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

We aren't done kidding yet either, I am keeping my kids and calfs on Lambar till fair which starts next week. I'm NOT dragging pastuerized milk with me to the fair all week. The kids at home will still be getting milk, but with new babies due Next week, a set of 5 week old twins, and a doe due Sept 2nd the older kids and Calfs can be weaned so the new babies can take over.


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## Josie (Oct 26, 2007)

I *just* weaned my Feb kids last week. :blush


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## Candy (Jun 4, 2009)

Josie said:


> I *just* weaned my Feb kids last week. :blush


Thats ok. I just relized we are still bottleing a Feb Nubian buck. He weighs about 65 pounds.


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## Halo-M Nubians (Oct 26, 2007)

I was going to let mine wean themselves but got tired of it so Dec-Feb doelings got weaned last month. I have a 12 week old wether who has weaned himself this last week..and a late may buckling who will be on milk for awhile yet.


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

Good GRIEF -- I just took the weight tape out and took guesstimates on the kids -- the Feb/Mar doelings were from 75-85# on the tape! Pulled as tight as I could get it too.

The smallest doeling that I have been complaining about that just didn't fit into the group -- 60#. So yeah, definitely smaller -- but not quite the runt I thought she was! That's only a 4 month old!

I need to contemplate cutting their milk off I think ;-)


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

I'm just now working towards 1x a day for my February doelings. Mainly because I'm going to have to dry up the cow. My doeling from Vicki will be getting milk for a while yet. Arg.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Tracy, your four month old is not that far off from ours Of which I figured .
Tam


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

Tammy, next to the big girls in that pen, she looks like a runt! And she may be one that I go ahead and sell just because she's going to be smaller than the rest as a yearling.


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

y March kids are getting weaned this week because I dont want to have to be bottle feeding the ones I am taking to Nationals. Weights on my March kids are 65-85 pounds. The late April/May kids will get probably milk until I dry off my does in December.


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## Candy (Jun 4, 2009)

We have 3 doelings that could probably wean as to the age/weight etc but they aren't eating pellets very good.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Ziggy they will show better if you do not wean before nationals. I would keep the ones on the bottle, on bottles until after they show, then wean. The girls do slim down all that baby bloom when weaned.


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

Thanks Vicki . My challenge is that I am only bringing one milker and 7 kids. I was planning on weaning the 5 intermediates and continue bottle feeding the 2 juniors. Maybe I will keep the intermediates on milk til I leave then if you think that would be better.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

You have to see people tanking up kids right as they are walking in the ring with a bottle at shows? It fills out that barrell. Vicki


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## Rosesgoats (Apr 22, 2011)

I have extra milk. Do you think it would be okay to feed it in a pan to the kids? Will that hurt them? I was using the lambar but now I have weaned and separated everyone. The buck kids will drink milk from a pan like it's going out of style so I am contemplating just giving them a pan 2X a day so I don't feel so bad about wasting the milk. Let me know if the pan would be a bad idea or not. I was just trying to think up ways to use the leftover milk as easy as possible.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

I don't see why a pan would be a bad idea.


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## Josie (Oct 26, 2007)

MF-Alpines said:


> I don't see why a pan would be a bad idea.


Pans scare me because if the kid associates that with feedings, what's to stop them at a show or something from chowing down on a pan sitting out that someone has just milked out of their possibly CAE positive goats? I know even a bottle fed kid might still drink it, but I'd rather have just a little hesitation that may be within my margin for error. And this may all be a very far fetched hypothetical situation, but I AM that paranoid.


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## Rosesgoats (Apr 22, 2011)

As long as there isn't a physiological problem with pan feeding, I might keep up with giving the boys some each day. One is younger than the others so I think he would benefit from the extra milk (plus he's the one that will guzzle a pan full down like nobody's business!).


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

We depended on pan feeding all bucklings that were not reserved and which were neutered when they were disbudded. We had 12 and 15 at a time and just used those big porcelain dish pans like people use to make pickles in or clabber milk in. The would get in a circle around it and suck it down as fast as I could pour. There was no way that freezer bound was worth bottle or lambar feeding. They had no issues eating head down from very early if that was your question.
Lee


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## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

I still have my March girls on lambar once a day. They are taping at 75lbs. I brought home a new doeling that was born in April that is still on once a day as well. Everyone is growing so well I will probably keep at it for a few more weeks.


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## Grumpy Old Buck (Feb 5, 2011)

Gotta love dam-raising. They decide when to wean the brats! <G>


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Yeah and then you get to go out and chase yearlings! Not a pretty site in our old age! Vicki


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

:lol :yeahthat,
I prefer to be mauled by the little beggars myself Let the mauling begin


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

I wish there were some kind of happy medium between being ran over and running around chasing goats....hmmmmm. I guess if you dam raised and spent all day with your herd, but what about ppl who don't have that kind of time?


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## lorit (May 10, 2010)

In my VERY limited experience (2 kidding seasons) I am starting to think that the difference isn't so much dam raising versus bottle but imprinting at birth. 

Both years I was present at some births and missed some others (by less than an hour) and consistently those that I am present; help clean kids, do the whole nuzzle, smell, touch, routine are totally tame even though they never get a bottle. Follow me around, think I am almost mommy, run to see me, etc. Those that I have missed - even by a small amount of time - are more wary, not totally wild but definitely not wanting to be held, etc. Other than that initial imprinting there is no difference in raising or management and all dams are tame, milk stand trained, in your pocket goats.

I think we assume it is the bottle raising that is the difference but if you think about it, all bottle raised kids are also caught at birth and tended to by their humans so it still goes back to that imprinting factor.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

Since I only have one kid pen, all my bottle babies are down to once a day. They were all born in either Feb. or March. They will be weaned completely by the State Fair at the end of the month. I'm bottle feeding two dam raised doelings whose moms I sold. They were born in April. The main rason I've got them on bottles is that I'm working on taming them. I also have several dams raising kids.


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Lori, I have only had 2 kidding seasons as well. And this year I mostly bottle-raised my babies. Last year I dam raised all, but the herd was much much smaller and I had more time to give them with daily walks and attention. This year, I have a baby of my own and lots of work to do, so don't have a ton of time to spend. The babies from last year are all very very friendly. This year, I let one doe raise her kids and they are pretty wild. I have been present at every goat birth except one doe, and her kids were not the really wild ones. The wild ones from this year, I was present for the birth, helped dry kids, helped kids find teats, etc. I even handled one a lot, since she had a splint on starting when she was only about 2 hours old (poor thing)...and she was only a tiny bit calmer than her sister. I think it also has a lot to do with the mom's personality. Their mom likes attention, but is not one of the in-your-face goats that my others are...plus she has a really bad habit of bolting/acting crazy when you grab her collar, so the kids probably took that as a reason to be scared of humans.

Anyway, I am totally hijacking your thread Tracy, sorry.


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## Rosesgoats (Apr 22, 2011)

This is why my breeding program concentrates 75% on personality of the goats. I want the dullest, calmest dairy goats you can get. I want ones that you can do anything with and teach them anything without a fight. Many of my decisions about who to keep and who to get rid of have hinged upon their personalities. As soon as a goat starts to make my life difficult, it loses its spot in the barn and finds a new home. 

I also bottle feed all my kids but this is mostly due to space constraints. I don't have enough space to separate dams and kids for bonding and feeding. It is way easier for me to grab all the kids and put them in the same pen to feed off of the same lambar. I do spend time cleaning the lambar and setting up feeding for the kids but I don't spend any time trying to separate moms and kids for feeding or chasing everyone around to see what's going on. Plus I bottle feed so I can monitor how much milk everyone is getting. I have had problems with small kids overreating and getting sick on my large uddered does so if I bottle feed, I can avoid that problem.


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## Dav (Apr 26, 2011)

Nubian/Alpine, Apr 7 -Jul 15, 54/63 lbs, doe/buck.
Started feeding 1-cup milk mornings only, two weeks ago, now there not even finishing that, so will give them a half cup today & through Friday. Then a cup every Friday with there dewormer mixed in the milk.
I consider them weened, they'd rather have grain then milk.


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## milkmaidranch (Jun 21, 2010)

Most of mine were born in Dec and Jan so they've been weaned for some time now. I know what you mean though.


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