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Hi! This is Abby. I help Deborah respond to messages on social media. I'll let her know about your questions. I would like to ask: What's the breed of your baby goats? How old are they? And what is their current weight? Also, check out these articles and video. thriftyhomesteader.com/how-many-kids-can-doe-feed/ thriftyhomesteader.com/preventing-coccidiosis/ thriftyhomesteader.com/raising-baby-goats/ thriftyhomesteader.com/what-do-goats-eat-it-depends/ Supplementing Dam-Raised Kids: czcams.com/users/livedlT0Je64_Ww And feel free to give us more information that might help us answer your question. ~Abby

Hi Sarah! Deborah did a live video on what she thinks about Mineral Buffet. Here's the link. ~Abby czcams.com/users/live9FmQpVZSsGA

You're welcome! We're glad to hear you found the information helpful! Also, check out these following articles and videos. ~Abby Goat Bloat: thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-bloat/ A Beginner’s Guide to Sheep: thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-sheep/ Hoof Rot in Goats: thriftyhomesteader.com/hoof-rot-in-goats/ How to Trim Sheep Hooves: czcams.com/video/zDK1Ds7sFPA/video.html Castrating Sheep With a Burdizzo and a Side Crusher: czcams.com/video/O9_cJVZzy58/video.html

You're welcome! We're glad to hear you found the information helpful! ~Abby

You're welcome! ~Abby

Yes, Purina makes a goat grower feed that is medicated. Most feeds labeled as "grower" are medicated. Look at the feed tag, and it will say "medicated." Usually it's a different color other than white or has a stripe on it or something meant to get your attention. If there is a percentage in the name, that's usually the percentage of the drug so that's another clue that it's medicated.

A doe needs 1# of feed per 3# of milk produced -- that's it, assuming she is healthy and not underweight from parasites or anything like that. If it's a Nigerian and. she has two kids, they need about 1 quart of milk each, so that means that she is producing about 4# of milk, so she'd needs 1.3# of goat feed. If she is only on the stand once, you can give her half of her grain on the stand and the other half in her pen. it's better to split it between two feedings per day.

Worm eggs don't hatch and mature into infective larvae for about five days, so moving them more often than that is not helpful. In fact, I'm worried if you're moving them every two hours that you're probably bringing them back to grass too soon. The larvae can survive for at least 4-6 on grass, longer if it's raining a lot because they bascially die by dehydration. So the goal is to move them every 5-7 days and not to bring them back to the same grass for at least six weeks or longer. Hope that helps.

You're welcome! We're glad you found it helpful! ~Abby

Aside from dragging one leg, what are the other symptoms you saw? Also, check out this article on Meningeal Worm: A Nightmare for Goat, Sheep, and Camelid Owners. ~Abby thriftyhomesteader.com/m-worm-nightmare-for-goat-sheep-and/

@@DeborahNiemann just the one symptom, but I didn’t want to wait for other symptoms to arise. Figured that would be to late. That was my thought process

@@DIYWhitetail No, you don't want to wait. Some of the symptoms overlap with those of goat polio or listeriosis, but if this is all you saw, then that's probably m-worm.

If you can separate them with a fence rather than a solid wall, they tend to get less stressed because they can lay next to each other on the fenceline. If you don't have too many kids, you can put them in a wire dog crate in the stall with mom so they can lay down next to each other. Ultimately it gets better as they get older and accustomed to it.

Of course, there are exceptions. Unfortunately, a lot of people think that if a kid won't take a bottle, it's not hungry or doesn't need the milk. That's wonderful that she took a bottle so easily! It didn't have anything to do with covering her eyes. It's not about what they see. The movement required for getting milk out of a bottle is different from nursing on mom, which is why kids have a hard time switching. And the older they are, the harder it is.

Somewhere around 6-8 ounces a day. If you're weighing them, you'll see what the average is. You don't usually have to worry about twins, but it's still a good idea to weigh them. We had a single lamb that gained nothing the first day, which made us think there might be something up with his mom's udder, and yep, she had a horrendous case of mastitis!

@@deborahniemann2398 Thank you, and I do plan to weigh them this time around just to be sure everyone has the best possible start :)

That's great!

That was the first thing I thought when I saw them! Somehow it seems like they would look especially sad with poop all over them -- maybe because they're trying to hard to be cheerful. LOL!

@@DeborahNiemann 😅

Yes, it does when given at 2x the dosage on the label.

Yes, it does when given at 2x the dosage on the label.

A single goat in a herd should not have mineral issues like this if the whole herd has a good mineral available free-choice. Do you have a loose goat mineral available for all of your goats? If yes, what brand? Goats should also not be deficient in A, D, or E unless they are locked inside a barn 24/7 with no sunlight or green food, meaning that they are eating old brown hay. A and E are abundant on pasture, and goats make vitamin D from sunlight just like humans. Simply giving more grain and BOSS is not a cure for what you're describing. What brand goat feed did the mom have available, and what has the kid been eating?

If they had the same sire, then it could be the sire's fault.

If you want milk, I would not use a buck that was not 100% dairy goat breeds. Some boer goats can barely make enough milk to feed their own babies, and they have terrible mammaries. I've seen boer does with teats so close to the ground that kids can't nurse -- and it is NOT because they have a lot of milk; it's because they have poor attachments, which is genetic. Remember, a bad milker costs just as much to keep as a good one, so it's better to have good milking genetics. You need to dilute the boer genes as much as possible to ensure you get good milkers.

Hi Linda, this is Abby. I help Deborah respond to messages on social media. I'll let her know about your question. We're glad to hear you found the information helpful! In the meantime, check out this video and article. When should I start milking my goat? czcams.com/users/livenNeqLwy_usA Learning to Milk a Goat: thriftyhomesteader.com/learning-to-milk-goa/ And if one of those does have a single kid, here's a video on Dam-raising a single kid. czcams.com/users/liveW7RLg5xLGvE ~Abby, Thrifty Homesteader Team

Probably wait until they're a little closer to 25# or so. A 1/4 Nubian won't be a lot bigger, but they will likely be at least a little bigger unless the Nubian is very small for her breed.

If she is 22 pounds at 3 months, that's not terrible, assuming she is a Nigerian. I expect them to be 20 pounds by 8-10 weeks, and it sounds like she hit that mark. Some grow faster like her sister. She is probably eating when you're not around, or she'd be a lot smaller. A high level of coccidia can cause a problem with absorbing nutrients in the intestines, so that could be why she weighs less than her sister. I talked about how slow weight gain is a symptom of coccidia in a video a few days ago titled "Healthy kid found dead?"

@@deborahniemann2398 yes, I saw that video. I am learning, and started separating at night to milk, before they hit 20 pounds, so now I know better. She is still nursing, so she's still getting that, and browses well. Thank you. Not milking now, giving everyone a break while we deal with the Coccidia. I'll continue to offer her feed as usual. Just don't know many goats that won't go for a treat.

You're welcome! We're glad to hear you found the information helpful! ~Abby

Deborah does not sell t-shirts anymore, but she still sells mugs. ~Abby thriftyhomesteader.myshopify.com/products/mug

I had a problem with the supplier, but I might start selling them again at some point.

So sorry to hear about your goats. Here are articles you might find helpful. ~Abby thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-worms/ thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-worm-myths-and-misunderstandings/ thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-dewormers/ You might want to check out Deborah's Goats 365 Membership, which includes six online courses with videos and printable handouts: thriftyhomesteader.teachable.com/p/goats-365

That's another option but then we wouldn't be able to see through it.

@@deborahniemann2398 ones that are not as wide

Check out this article on Goat Worms: A Complete Guide to Winning the War in Your Pasture. ~Abby thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-worms/

You can google - raw milk testing in ‘your state’ to find a lab that does testing for individuals. You want to submit for Somatic Cell Count, Standard Plate Count, and Coliform Count. It may be easiest to call to get instructions and possibly also supplies for sending samples. I highly recommend you take the free training offered by RAWMI :) You will learn about what these tests mean, what range you should be in, and how to make changes to improve test results. ~Tammy

I bought a gallon of it about 20 years ago and still have more than half of it left. it's just a saturated salt solution. I quit doing fecals because I never did one that changed my mind about how to treat a goat. If it failed the 5-point check, the slide was covered with worm eggs. In fact, the 5-point check is now recommended instead of fecals for deciding when to deworm. There are a lot of reasons you can have a "negative" fecal -- including human error -- and I've seen them give someone a false sense of security when they had a goat that was terribly anemic and really needed a dewormer. Plus, you can do the 5-point check every day or every week and it's free. How often do you really want to do fecals? A goat can go downhill really fast with barber pole because one female can lay 10,000 eggs a day, which means they can fill up a pasture with worm larvae FAST if you're not doing rotational grazing religiously. For more on this, check out thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-worms/

You're welcome! ~Abby

As long as they have 50% alfalfa, that should be good if they are only nursing kids at that age. Their production is not going to be much at that point.

If I recall, you have kids, and they need alfalfa for the high calcium and protein because they are growing fast. I think you're in Goats 365 already, and the nutrition course goes into all of this in detail because the answer to your question changes as they kids get older and ... lots of other factors come into play when talking about what's the best diet for a goat.

Run-in shelters are totally different than a barn where animals are trapped. We use straw. It composts faster than wood shavings. We don't use stall mats in our run-in shelters. In fact, the only reason we have any is because they were left by the last owner who had horses. You don't need something absorbent if you're on dirt because the pee will get absorbed by the dirt. Plus your cows will spend very little time in a shelter, which means they won't pee in there much. This is assuming your cows are on pasture and you're not feeding 100% in the shelter. That's more like a barn situation. We have never cleaned out a run-in shelter, and we only use bedding in winter because it insulates the animal from the ground, which is why we use straw. It's warmer than shavings.

I'm so happy to hear that you're finding my content helpful! With 1/4 Nubian thrown in, I'd expect them to gain a little more -- at least 2# a week -- so if they've gained 10#, that sounds pretty good. I would expect a yealring first freshener to be able to nurse twins without any problems if she's a decent milker. I don't usually let them try to nurse triplets. As you found, they usually make than more than enough in the beginning but as the kids grow, their demand increases. So she might have been able to make enough for three in the beginning but usually around two weeks you see one of the kids falling behind.

That is so great about your babies! On the subject of plant poisoning, I wanted to add that Pepto Bismol did not save your goat. If anyone thinks their goat has eaten something toxic, you need to call the vet ASAP as time is really important. It is the pits of cherries that are poisonous, and only when they're crushed, which a goat would do -- so a person swallowing a cherry pit is okay. Your goat probably survived because she didn't eat too many of the actual cherries. My goats killed my four cherry bushes by eating all the leaves and stripping the bark.

@@DeborahNiemann I am talking about wild cherry trees. The pit of the berries is cyanide which kills a goat. I lost my favorite goat 20 years ago to it. I had no idea until well after the fact that she had ingested this. When Hope started losing weight and acting strange and got diarrhea I discovered the culprit. I gave her the pepto for stomach upset and diarrhea. Within 3 hours she was wagging her tail. I have lost my 1-2 gallons day of milk but glad I saved her. I have raised dairy goats for 30+ years and very seldom need to call a vet. I have herds of 50 but currently only a few. Too much at my age.

When I explained that cherry pits are poisonous, it was more for others who are reading this - and it doesn’t matter whether it’s wild cherries or not. All cherry pits are poisonous, and I would hate for one of my followers to think that Pepto Bismol would save a goat that had ingested a lot of them. You never know exactly how much they’ve eaten, so if someone is concerned about losing a goat to poisoning of any sort they shouldn’t waste time because the quicker they call the vet, the better the chance of saving the goat. There is a saying that the dose makes the poison, and I’m glad your doe didn’t ingest enough pits to kill her.

If they are with milkers or growing kids, they also need alfalfa. If they are with dry does, then the needs of the pregnant goats or milkers definitely takes precedence because you don't want pregnant goats getting hypocalcemia or toxemia. Dry does will just get fat if they get too much alfalfa for too long. Ideally, you figure out how to separate them at least while they're getting hay.

@@DeborahNiemann thank you for the information

You're welcome! ~Abby