This is what you will need to bring with you when picking up your kid:
When you come to take your kid home there are a few items you will need to have with you. You will need a pet carrier if you are not planning on holding your kid on the trip home. You may also choose to bring a leash and harness. Your kid will need a goat harness/collar or a dog harness/collar will work often. Please make sure you have prepared for your kid BEFORE picking up your kid. Kids/Goats are smart and NEVER under estimate them ;) ***Note if you have not paid in full when picking up your piglet we will only accept CASH!
Housing
Goats are very easy to house because it just needs to be be clean, dry and draft free. You may use a dog house, barn stall or even just simple 3-sided shelter. It is VERY important to have a good strong fence to keep them in and to keep predators out. Goats get board so make sure you give them toys or things to climb on. You can use logs, plastic toddler slides, picnic tables or even build something yourself for them to play on. We use pine shavings in our calf hut, dog houses and coops. We always spread DE in our pine shavings.
Food & Water
Goats are members of the Caprine family. They are ruminants which mean they are cud-chewing animals. Ruminants have four-chambered stomachs. You will feed your goat grain each day. *** 1 cup a day, divided equally between two feedings (morning and night). Pregnant does, during the last four weeks (and lactating does) should have their grain ration doubled. Do NOT overfeed and goats will not eat grain or hay that has fallen to the ground. We buy all our feed for our goats at Bob's Feed here in Crossville. We use two different feeds for our herd. We feed Homestead 16% Goat Feed with Decoquinate to kids for the prevention of Coccidiosis. We feed that same feed to our bucks because it also contains Ammonium Chloride to help prevent urinary calculi (stones). We feed Homestead 18% Dairy Pellets to our lactating does along with a bit of Alfalfa pellets. We use what we call Chicks -N- Giggles Goat Helper as a feed topper we make a mixture of Calf Manna, beet pulp, black oil sunflower seeds and rolled oats. Loose minerals should always be available for your goat to get the minerals necessary to promote its health. We feed Sweetlix 16:8 Meat Maker from Bob's Feed. We feed kelp and parsley as natural supplements for anemia. We also leave out baking soda free choice. We feed a high quality Timothy hay and it is available at all times. Make sure you avoid moldy hay! You must provide fresh, clean water on a daily basis. Goats will not drink stagnant, poor quality water. We add 1-2 teaspoons of raw apple cider vinegar to bucks water. We use animal crackers, raisins, store bought goat treats and carrots for treats here. We believe it is best for kids to be dam raised. We rarely will sale bottle babies. We may have bottle kids from time to time due to a dam having multiples. Even with dam raised kids at about two weeks old we start supplementing kids with bottles. We do this to so we can begin socializing the kids and be able to separate them from the dam for hand milking. Please know that anytime that you make a feed change no matter what age that you do so gradually to avoid illness or stress.
Bottle Babies: We recommend if raw goat or cow milk is unavailable to use store bought cow's milk (Whole Milk) or even using this old farm recipe below.
Make your own goat milk replacer using a cow’s milk based recipe that you mix up yourself (recipe below).
1 gallon whole milk (homogenized)
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup buttermilk
Take the gallon of milk, and pour out about 1/3 and set it aside
Pour in the 1 can of evaporated milk and the 1 cup of buttermilk into the gallon then pour to the remaining milk that you set aside until you reach the top. Mix gently each time before making up a bottle.
The goal is 4 oz. per 5 lbs of weight of kid every 4 hours!
We always warm our milk before feedings. Just remember to shake it before feeding.
This is a basic bottle feeding schedule:
MANNA PRO GOAT KID COLOSTRUM
It really isn't a big deal what type of bottle or nipple that is used as long as the kid is able to nurse from it. Many breeders swear by using the Pritchard Teat Nipple and it can be used on a 16oz or 20oz soda or water bottle. We use just regular baby bottle and it works just as well. We typically buy the cheap ones from the dollar store ;)
At 4 weeks, you can add .5 cc's of Poly-Vi-Sol to a bottle everyday for additional vitamins and minerals.
At 4 weeks, you can start introducing water, hay, and goat feed. At first they may play and make a mess but they will eventually get the hang of it.
Bottle Babies: We recommend if raw goat or cow milk is unavailable to use store bought cow's milk (Whole Milk) or even using this old farm recipe below.
Make your own goat milk replacer using a cow’s milk based recipe that you mix up yourself (recipe below).
1 gallon whole milk (homogenized)
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup buttermilk
Take the gallon of milk, and pour out about 1/3 and set it aside
Pour in the 1 can of evaporated milk and the 1 cup of buttermilk into the gallon then pour to the remaining milk that you set aside until you reach the top. Mix gently each time before making up a bottle.
The goal is 4 oz. per 5 lbs of weight of kid every 4 hours!
We always warm our milk before feedings. Just remember to shake it before feeding.
This is a basic bottle feeding schedule:
- Day 1 thru day 3 feed 2-3 oz. goat colostrum every 2-3 hours.
- Day 3 thru day 7 feed 3-5 oz. 4-6 times a day.
- For weeks 2-3 feed 6-8 oz. 3-4 times a day.
- For weeks 4-6 feed 8-10 oz. 2-3 times a day.
- For the next 6-8 weeks feed 10-12 oz. 2 times a day.
- To wean, cut back to smaller amounts 2x a day for a few days, then to once a day for a few days to encourage the kids to eat 'normal' goat rations.
MANNA PRO GOAT KID COLOSTRUM
It really isn't a big deal what type of bottle or nipple that is used as long as the kid is able to nurse from it. Many breeders swear by using the Pritchard Teat Nipple and it can be used on a 16oz or 20oz soda or water bottle. We use just regular baby bottle and it works just as well. We typically buy the cheap ones from the dollar store ;)
At 4 weeks, you can add .5 cc's of Poly-Vi-Sol to a bottle everyday for additional vitamins and minerals.
At 4 weeks, you can start introducing water, hay, and goat feed. At first they may play and make a mess but they will eventually get the hang of it.
Grooming
- Brushing: Brushing removes dandruff and loose hair that some goats get and increases blood flow — improving the health of the skin and coat.
- Bathing: You don't have to bathe goats, but doing so helps remove lice, makes clipping easier, and keeps your clipper blades sharp for a longer time. Use a goat or animal shampoo.
- Clipping: An annual clipping is a good idea for all goats. Shorter hair helps goats stay cooler and allows sunlight to reach their skin, which drives away lice and other critters. Choose a warm day to bathe your goat.
Bottle Kid in the House
If you are choosing to bottle feed a kid there are some things you need to consider FIRST! It is very time consuming at the beginning and you must make preparations to your home before bringing you kid home. If you intend on your goat being free roaming in your home (supervised of course) you will need to child proof your home. You will want to pay special attention to wires and anything paper you may have on coffee tables and end tables. Surprisingly a goat kid is a lot like a dog. They do like to snuggle on the couch with you and even lay in dog beds. Remember they can jump! When we have bottle babies we put regular baby diapers on them. We find them very easy to change and there are no messes in the house. We use baby wipes throughout the day to clean them and in the evening before bed give them a good washing with a wash cloth (this where saving all your old wash cloths comes in handy). We have found that we can keep the diapers on by placing Onesies on the kids (yes cute but functional too). For at night and when you are away you will need a Pack N Play, kennel or dog pen. It is simply not safe to have them out when you are unable to keep an eye on them. Just as with feed changes you will want to slowly transition your kid to the outdoors. You will want to make sure when you put them outdoors they are in a secure area with sufficient fencing. Each day you will want to leave the kid out a little longer. Build up to where they are out during the day and bring them in at night. Once you have made a slow transition to the outdoors you will just want to following our housing suggestions above. You will slowly introduce kids to your existing herd.
Health Care
Your goat should be dewormed 3-4 times a year. It is not necessary to have a vet do the procedure. Our anti-parasitic of choice is Manna Pro® Positive Pellet Goat Dewormer™. You can also use Safe-Guard® Goat Dewormer, 125 ml. for kids. It’s administered orally at 1 cc per 10 lbs. per kid. We simply follow the label instructions on both dewormers for our adults. You can find these at your local feed store or at your local Tractor Supply Co. This is the way we treat our goats. We are NOT vets so please consult your local vet :)
Goats need to have their hooves trimmed every 4-6 weeks. You can learn to cut/file their hooves yourself or have your vet do it.
Producer's Pride® Burgon & Ball Eze Trim Foot Trimmer
We do vaccinate our goats. The following is what we vaccinate for but, you need to check with your local vet, and for any laws requiring vaccinations in your area!
Goats need to have their hooves trimmed every 4-6 weeks. You can learn to cut/file their hooves yourself or have your vet do it.
Producer's Pride® Burgon & Ball Eze Trim Foot Trimmer
We do vaccinate our goats. The following is what we vaccinate for but, you need to check with your local vet, and for any laws requiring vaccinations in your area!
- CD/T - Kids get their CD/T vaccinations at 4 weeks & 8 weeks. The bucks get an annual CD/T booster in late summer and the pregnant doe's get a CD/T booster 4 weeks BEFORE kidding so that it transfers to the babies before they're born. We give all a 2 cc dose.
- If you get a kid from a non-immunized doe (that won't happen from us) CD Antitoxin 5 cc dose and Tetanus Antitoxin 2 1/2 cc dose at birth and at 4 weeks.
- If you do vaccinate for Rabies, a vet will need to give it to be recognized from the state. It will be a 1 cc dose annually.
- We administer Selenium & Vitamin E Gel or injectable BoSe (RX 1 cc dose per 40 lbs./kids 1/4 cc dose) and Copper Bolus' multiple times throughout the year, especially one month before breeding season. We have determined that maintaining proper Selenium/Vit E levels and copper levels in our herd has helped with breedings, coat & hoof condition, overall confirmation, improvements in ease of kidding & stronger healthier kids too.
- Horns can be very dangerous to other animals and people. Horns can also get stuck in fencing and cause harm to the goat itself. We chose to dis-bud our goats so they do not grow horns. Electric Dehorner X30
You can go to our Pinterest page and go to the Goat board to see some items we use on our goats/suggest. Just follow the link on the top of the page :)
If at any time you have questions please feel free to contact us and we will help you all we can!
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~Chicks -N- Giggles Farm 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED~
~Chicks -N- Giggles Farm 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED~