Tag: raising goat kids

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What Milk?

I raise Nubian dairy goats. Note the word dairy. That means they are milk goats. So, what milk? My does are all going dry.

Nubian doe High Reaches Drucilla with baby doe Opal
My Nubian doe Drucilla loves her kids. She produces plenty of milk for them and is very patient as they learn how to nurse.

Kids Are Necessary

All mammals produce milk to feed their offspring. Man decided he liked milk too and bred various mammals to give more milk. We often think of cows and goats, but camels, sheep and horses are milked too.

Since my bucks died last year, none of my does got bred. A couple milked through so I have had milk up until now.

Importance of Dry Time

Producing milk takes a lot of energy, minerals and food. Producing kids takes a lot of energy, minerals and food too. A doe trying to do both, doesn’t do well.

My does are now bred. Their due dates are hazy, but several are starting to show.

Those does I have been milking are now deciding to shut down. What milk? No milk.

The does will spend their time building up reserves of protein and minerals so they can produce milk after their kids are born.

Milking After Kids

Commercial dairies sell milk so they usually take the offspring away right after they are born. I am not a commercial dairy and leave the kids with their mothers.

Does think their kids come first. When the kids are small, I get the leftovers. As the kids get older, less and less milk is leftover.

By the time kids are six weeks old, they are eating well. I lock them away overnight and milk in the morning. Then we are both happy.

Waiting

So now I am waiting. First, I am waiting until the kids are born. That could be any time from late April to end of July.

Then I will wait until the kids are old enough to lock away at night. I’m hoping for early kids.

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GKP Writing News

Writing About Goats

My High Reaches Nubian goat herd keeps getting smaller. Although this is intentional, it isn’t easy. One way of coping is writing about goats.

Last June marked fifty-one years Nubian dairy goats have been a part of my life. Losing them will put a big hole in it as they are my milk source, my manure and mulch source, my friends.

Writing About Goats Isn’t New

My first book, “Goat Games”, was about goats. More books with goats in them followed: “Dora’s Story”; “Capri Capers”; “Hopes, Dreams and Reality”; and “For Love of Goats”.

When I wrote these, goats were in them because they fit well. I was writing about something I was familiar with. It’s different now.

Now, when I am writing about goats, I am remembering them. It keeps them in my life, even as they fade from my barn.

High Reaches Nubian dairy goat herd
At one time High Reaches had over 40 goats in the herd. Now it is down to ten counting Kingpin.

Opal and Agate: Partners in Adventure

Both Opal and Agate are real goats. Only Opal is still in my herd. Their fictional counterparts are more than they have been. They are stand ins for the many kids that have been a part of my High Reaches herd over the years.

Kids are kids, whether they have four legs or two. Goat kids are cute – just check out some of the many videos and pictures online. That makes them good subjects for picture books.

Best Intentions

I started the year with six books to work on. None of them are done and the year is racing to a conclusion. Life got in the way as it likes to do.

“Ducks Love Hats” happened. I am working my way through the publishing steps with it now.

Ship Eighteen from The Carduan Chronicles was going well. I had plans to move on to Life’s Rules and finish that draft. Instead, there is a major problem with the Ship Eighteen draft. Correcting it will take careful planning and a major rewrite.

Sketches for the first Opal and Agate book are in my sketchpad. I hope I can get more of them done soon. I will, if life doesn’t get in my way again too soon.

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New Barn Kid

All I needed was three more days to clean out that last corner of the barn. My Nubian doe High Reaches Pamela presented me with a new barn kid before I got done.

Of course, the corner still piled high with old manure was the place of choice. My only consolation was the thick, dry layer over the top of it.

Cleaning the Barn In the Heat

Heat stroke is not something I enjoy at all. July was hot and humid. By noon the sun was too intense to be working outside.

My morning routine was to milk fast and a bit early. Put up the milk. Run the goats out to pasture. Move in with the tractor and start forking out manure. Two loads took me to noon.

It still seems unreal how much bedding and manure ten goats can put down in a winter. This last winter was wet, so I couldn’t keep taking the surface layers out each week.

Nubian buck kid
Pictures in the barn are so dark. This Nubian buck kid got plopped down outside in the sunshine. He was napping. Once he wakes up all the way, it will be hard to get a picture of him standing still.

New Barn Kid

Pamela’s little buck kid wasn’t concerned. He moved right into his corner. His mother was at his beck and call.

Within a day this kid was up exploring the barn. Tractors did not phase him. Being moved out of the way was only an annoyance easily overcome by begging for attention.

Loss of manure pile was annoying. His corner kept shrinking until it was gone. Even that was fine as soon as fresh straw arrived to soften the cement.

Nubian doe High Reaches Pamela's new buck kid
This two-day-old Nubian buck kid is already to run around out in the sunshine. He hasn’t met the horseflies yet.

By three days old this new barn kid has taken over the barn. He defies any of the goats to get in his way or push him around. After all, he has his mother to back him up and she is a big doe.

The world is a bigger place for this little boy now. His mother takes him out into the barn lot every evening as she is hungry and the new hay hasn’t been cut and baled yet. That’s fine with him too.

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Good Goat Vets

Next month will be my 51st anniversary of having Nubian dairy goats. When Jennifer was born, in 1974, good goat vets were unknown in my area. Veterinary schools barely mentioned goats.

If something went wrong, the goat owner had to deal with it. So, I bought a good veterinary book for small livestock. I still have it, old as it is, and still look things up in it. It was written by a practicing vet and is a fairly reliable source of information.

I also have a clinical goat veterinary book. It’s rather technical, more a textbook than a reference book. A good dictionary is helpful with it.

goats need good goat vets
When Nubian doe kid La Nina was born, her front legs would not uncurl. She was walking on the front of her front hooves. That made walking slow and difficult.

Just Google It

What I find out now, is that most people just go online for information. When La Nina was born, my vet books weren’t much help, so I tried online. I am so glad I read up about the problem in my clinical book first.

La Nina was born with her front legs drawn back. They would not straighten. Online advice was to give a BoSe or selenium shot and brace them.

That shot is for Johanne’s disease. La Nina does not have this disease and did not need such a shot. There can be side effects from this shot, if it is not needed.

Nina’s problem was either from inbreeding or being curled up wrongly before being born. The latter usually affects the rear legs which tend to a stretched tendon the kid grows into in a few days.

Because her tendons were so tight, it did take a month of braces before the front legs straightened out. She is quite normal now – spoiled rotten and into everything.

Nubian doe La Nina
Those front legs are now straight. La Nina walks, jumps and plays like any normal kid her age.

Good Goat Vets Now

Over the past years I have had some really good goat vets. I learned a lot from them. They are sorely missed now.

Large animal vets are getting rare. Large animals like cows and horses can hurt you. Even sheep and goats can do a lot of damage. Treating them often means a farm call requiring an expensive truck set up to carry medicines and equipment.

Cats and dogs come to the clinic. They bring in a lot of money. The hours are regular. Both vet clinics in my town treat only cats and dogs.

My nearest goat vet is about a hundred miles away. I am again left consulting my vet books and doing my own work. The books are my first reference, then I go online with enough knowledge to know whether or not what I’m seeing is reliable.

New problems come up regularly with any livestock. Good vet books by practicing veterinarians should be on any goat owner’s shelf.

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Little Girl Lost

Nubian doe High Reaches Opal is a first time mother. She is verya ttentive to her little doe kid-most of the time. Yet this was the little girl lost out on the hills.

Nubian kid looking at herd
Giving practice time for a young kid in keeping up with the herd is popular with the kids. This little Nubian doe kid, now found, is out for a couple of afternoon hours with the herd. First she must find the herd.

Fencing Question

After her kid was a few days old, Opal wanted to go out to pasture. If her little kid was awake and active, Opal stayed in the barn lot crying as the herd went out.

That evening Opal came in with the herd. She had let herself out. How? Was there a hol in the fence? I couldn’t find one.

This was the pattern for several days. As soon as her kid settled down and went to sleep, Opal went out through? under? over? the fence and joined the herd.

Nubian doe kid racing
The herd is moving away. The little Nubian doe kid runs to catch up.

Opal’s Little Girl

This is one lovely little doe. She is black with frosted ears and nose, polled and lively. Opal has trouble keeping up with her and has since she was one day old.

All the kids were out playing on the goat gym. The little girl got tired and laid down on the bottom step. Opal stood guard as the herd went out. I went to the house to put the seedlings out on the porch.

Hearing Opal calling, I looked up hoping to see where she was getting out. Instead I saw her leading her kid across the bridge to pasture. Now her kid is barely two weeks old, far too young to be out on the hills.

Nubian doe kid is catching up with the herd
Kids and adult goats run in leaps and bounds. This little Nubian doe kid is still racing over to the herd.

Little Girl Lost

Although I hurried, I don’t run any more. By the time I got to the bridge, Opal and her kid were across the hill pasture. When I got to the south pasture, Opal and her kid were out of sight.

I caught a glimpse of them going up the hill at the far end of the south pasture. They were gone when I got there. No Opal. No kid. And no herd of goats.

Nubian doe kid and mother
Poor Nubian doe High Reaches Opal has a hard time keeping up with her little doe kid. The kid isn’t concerned. Mother will catch up.

After an hour climbing the hill, I found the herd. Opal was there. Her kid wasn’t.

Little girl lost, any little kid lost is panic time.

It took a lot of searching by us and a friend to find the little girl. I like happy endings and got one this time.

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Black Spots on Nubian Kid

I’ve seen a lot of spots on Nubian kids over the years. This is the first time I’ve seen black spots on Nubian kid. They are striking against a soft brown.

White and Brown Spots

Usually, kids have white spots like one or both of their parents. Sometimes they have hazy edges. This is usually when the background color is a bit frosty.

The deep black with white spots coloring is the one people love. For a time goat owners would breed just to get this combination. The problem was that the color didn’t necessarily keep good milk production and conformation with it.

Brown spots on kids are sometimes called liver spots. Generally, these start turning white in a few months. Sometimes the main spot will be white with a brown edge.

American Nubian buck kid
At a week old this Nubian buck kid is practicing looking impressive. He is also starting to chew on everything, not for teething, but to get bacteria in his rumen and start his cud. Yes, he will be for sale in a few months.

Black Spots Are New

Nubian doe High Reaches Spring is a red brown with brown ears. Her color goes back to some red bucks like Goat Town USA Gaius. She has no spots nor any spots in her background.

Nubian buck High Reaches Silk’s Augustus is gray with frosted or white ears and nose. He has lots of white spots. Red is in his background. He is the only buck in my herd.

Both of these buck kids are definitely Augustus’ kids. He passed on his frosted ears and nose to them.

One is red brown with black dorsal stripe. He is big and bold. His stance is often that of a proud buck.

Then there is the other one. Black spots on Nubian kid surprise. These spots are jet black. His coat is brown so the spots really show up.

Will These Black Spots Turn White?

Liver spots turn white. Augustus has white spots. Spotted Nubian goats usually have white spots.

Over the next few months, I will watch and see if these spots change color. They probably will. However, it would be nice for them to stay like they are now.

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GKP Writing News

Opal and Agate Picture Books

I enjoy reading picture books and have been reading four a week to do reviews on my Goodreads blog. However, this is making writing my Opal and Agate picture books harder.

There are so many wonderful picture books on the shelves of my library. Some tell stories, fun or scary. Others tell about events or activities. They make me wonder if I can write picture books as good as they are.

Nubian doe kid Opal will star in some animal stories
Nubian doe High Reaches Opal deserves a good picture book series.

Picture Book Goats

A famous goat story is Billy Goats Gruff. It’s a cute story. Dairy goat owners tend to despise the illustrations. These are of caricature goats with shaggy coats, big horns and big goatees.

My library just acquired a beginning reading book about farm goats. It uses photographs of goats. Except almost all of them have horns and the book makes a big deal about horns.

My take is that the author knew nothing about goats, had never owned a goat or talked to many people who owned goats and never been to a goat show.

Yes, goats are usually born with horns. However, dairy goats with the exception of Nigerian Dwarfs have those horns removed. Any horned dairy goat in a show is disqualified.

Novel boring times can use friendly faces like Nubian goats
No horns. No shaggy coats. Nubian goats from my herd. High Reaches Spring is in front.

My Goats?

My goats don’t go to shows. They stay on the farm now. However, I do take their horns off and try to maintain the dairy goat standards for Nubians. These standards were set up to improve the breed to live longer, healthier lives and give more milk.

My goats are getting old now. Violet is fourteen. Drucilla, Opal’s mother, is thirteen. Goats usually live twelve to fifteen years.

The herd still goes out on good days – no rain or snow. They still climb the hills. Yes, they are slower, but they still range widely.

I want my Opal and Agate picture books to show how beautiful Nubian goats can be, no horns, no shaggy coats.

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Raising Bottle Kids

When I first started raising goats, all the books I found about it said raising bottle kids was what you should do. So I did.

That left me heating milk, washing bottles and nipples several times a day. My does were unhappy. The kids didn’t care so much as they played together.

Forget the Bottles

I worked full time. Bottle schedules just didn’t happen. I let the kids nurse their mothers. Everyone was happy, except me.

Kids, especially buck kids love milk and will drink as much as they can. That didn’t leave much for my refrigerator. However, the kids looked great and got big fast.

Bottles Can be Necessary

It seems triplets happen every year. Goats have two teats. That third kid gets shoved out and doesn’t get enough to eat. I have a bottle baby.

Some kids are born small. Some are born with problems. Sometimes a mother rejects a kid for her own personal reason. I am left raising bottle kids.

Raising bottle kids like this buck kid's sister
When a doe has triplets, she rarely can raise all three. Little buck kids like this one are usually more aggressive than doe kids and take more than their share. With two big brothers, my little doe is a bottle baby.

My Method

Since I raise few bottle kids, I have a casual routine. All my kids are bottle kids the first day. It’s often much easier to bottle the colostrum than it is to get a kid on a teat to nurse. Once the kid has had some milk and is up and active, it much easier to show them how to nurse.

If I am raising bottle kids, the kids are not shown how to nurse. If they are active enough, I do leave them out with their mother and siblings. She will often take care of that third kid even though it isn’t nursing her.

If the kid is small or weak, the kid moves into a box in the house. A heating pad wrapped in a plastic bag and old towels is in the bottom for whenever necessary.

The bottles I use are plastic soda bottles. I like them because they don’t break if I drop them and are easily replaced when they won’t clean up well.

The nipple is a black lamb’s nipple. I’ve used the lamb bar nipples and like them, but don’t often find them at the feed store. They are easier to put on the bottles.

Milk or Replacer?

I prefer to use goat milk. However, I do use kid milk replacer if goat milk is in short supply. I usually work up to almost half a gallon of milk a day.

The kids get bottles every few hours for several days, except for a stretch overnight when the kid is in the barn. This settles to four a day for a month, then three for a month, then two. The amount of milk goes up each feeding as the number of feedings goes down.

Raising bottle kids is time consuming. The bottles and nipples need to be washed out every time. The milk must be warm enough. And the job continues for close to three months to result in big, healthy kids.

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Nubian Goat Kids For Sale

Goat kids grow up so fast. One day they are so little and cute. Three months later they are big and I have Nubian goat kids for sale.

Much as I hate to part with these kids, they must find new homes. Keeping up with the work involved with the goats is getting too hard, so I made the difficult decision to not keep any kids and let my herd gradually die off.

All of my adult Nubians are registered as American Nubians with the American Dairy Goat Association. These kids can be registered as American Nubians.

My buck, the sire of all of these kids, is High Reaches Silk’s Augustus.

Nubian buck kid for sale
For a moment Nubian buck Lucky Boy stood showing off his good looks. He is usually playing chase with Favorite Girl.

Lucky Boy

When barely a month old this buck got lost out on the hills, was out through a six inch storm and found his way home again. In that he was very lucky.

Now this three month old (born March 3, 2023), frosted black, disbudded and friendly fellow needs his luck to hold and find him a good home. He does love the does which is a problem as he can soon disrupt my breeding plans.

Lucky Boy’s Mother is High Reaches Natasha. She is frosted gray, calm, friendly, an easy and good milker.

Nubian goat kids for sale includes Nubian buck born March 1
Little Nubian bucks become a problem in the herd by about four months old. This good looking buck is starting to think he should be in charge.

Brown Boy

Juliette’s buck kid has perfected the classic Nubian buck pose. His sleek brown fur glistens in the sunlight. His frosted ears and nose have a little white smile between them.

This buck is disbudded and was born March 1, 2023. His mother, High Reaches Juliette, is an old doe retiring after this year so he is her last kid. She was a spoiled little house goat when first born and was the model for the “Capri Capers” cover.

Lovely Nubian doe for sale
People notice the long ears. I see the smooth, glistening coat in golden fawn brown offset by the black dorsal stripe, those long legs, and wish I could keep what should become an excellent milking Nubian doe.

Fawn Brown Girl

High Reaches Spring’s beautiful doe has good milking background. She is disbudded.

At almost four months old, this doe would draw attention at a goat show with her looks and bearing. She was born February 28, 2023. Her mother is a very good milker.

Polled Nubian doe kid is for sale
Favorite Girl loves to play especially when it involves jumping and climbing. It’s hard to get a good picture of her as she never seems to stop and pose.

Favorite Doe

All right, I’m not supposed to pick favorites. However, this doe adopted me when she was born on March 13, 2023 and demands attention, being jealous of any other goat getting what should be her petting and scratches.

High Reaches Drucilla, Favorite Girl’s mother, has been one of my best milkers. This doe is her last kid as she will retire this year.

This doe is special for more than being friendly. She is polled, born without horns.

Reaching Me

I do check my emails through this site a couple of times a week. And the Contact Page is working as the various spams I get prove.

These Nubian goat kids for sale are also listed on Craig’s List for the lake of the Ozarks area with additional email and phone information.

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Goatkeeping Nightmare

Goat kids grow up too fast. They want to go out to pasture with their mothers. That can be turn into a goatkeeping nightmare.

There are four kids here. The oldest ones are close to a month old. They are lively and their mothers want to go out to graze.

One Consideration

Later in the year I would not let them go out as the grass blooms with stalks taller than they are. They get lost in the grass.

These stalks are so tall, only the ears of the adults are easy to see. Hunting for a lost kid is close to hopeless as I have to almost step on the kid before I can see it.

Second Consideration

One evening my herd came in minus two kids. The grass wasn’t very tall yet, so that wasn’t the problem.

Kids, even when they know me and my voice, will often not answer me when they are lost. So I put a lead rope on their mother and drag her back out to where I think the kids might be. It is important to know where the herd went that day.

We went out across the bridge and up to the hill pasture. The doe was bellowing and Nubians are very loud.

Reaching the edge of the pasture, we stopped to look around. I looked down and those two kids were curled up sleeping totally oblivious of their mother’s bellows from three feet away.

Goatkeeping Nightmare

This last week one of the four kids did not come in. I’d noticed earlier he was missing and had been out looking. I didn’t find him.

I dragged his bellowing mother out. We went to the areas I thought the goats had been. We heard and saw no sign of her kid.

That evening I went back out looking and found nothing. It was starting to rain.

This storm continued through the next day dropping six inches of rain. The temperatures dropped to forty, not real low, but dangerous for a young, wet kid.

Goatkeeping nightmare of a lost kid
The little black Nubian buck, the friendly one, the one that stands on me (not good, but cute) went out one morning and didn’t come in. The debris is from the small flood from the rainstorm he was out in.

Surprise

This kid was lost. I had no ideas where to look and thought he hadn’t survived.

As I mentioned, Nubians are loud. I heard a kid calling. It kept calling so I went to investigate.

My lost kid was standing at the pasture gate. He was hungry, but fine. His mother was glad to see him. So was I.