Scouring Kid

I've had a bit of a bumpy time with Julius. He has always been the biggest eater...gobbling up everything he's given, which right now includes milk replacer, lamb starter, hay and grain. He kept getting scours. Worrying green, foul smelling scours. He would seem to get better and be fine but a day or two later would have another bout. This last bout was the worst. He's on deconquinate for coccidia so I thought I'd better look for other reasons. One thing I found over and over was worms being behind some scours so the first thing I did was worm him and the others with Ivermectin. It was time to worm anyway at eight weeks old.

Next I went to seek advice from a feed store owner who has boer goats. She recommended Sulmet (Sulfamethazine sodiam 12.5% and I read that yogurt is good for helping keep a good balance of healthy bacteria so I added yogurt and the Sulmet to the milk in the afternoon (a small feeding). True to form, Julius hogged all the milk and got a good dose of Sulmet. By evening feeding he had cow patty droppings instead of scours and by the next day he was normal. I gave everyone Sulmet in their milk the next day in the morning and yogurt at night. Now I've been adding yogurt for two days without any more Sulmet and things are going great.

The kids are eating plenty of lamb finisher which I'm feeding free choice, greens and hay. They seem much more playful and happy.

Spring Mtn Nubians

We got our herd name registered with the ADGA today: "Spring Mtn Nubians" We live on a mountain side that has springs all over it (which has been a problem lately!) The ground is finally drying up but the springs will be running for a while. They don't normally cause a problem but with the little stream beds full the water has no place to go and the low lying pasture is full of standing water...just lovely for bugs! When we set posts inside the shed we would dig down six inches and hit water and I had to use four bales of wood shavings in the babies stall to keep them high and dry. I am told we are expecting rain. Great.

Oh well, I guess I will stay inside and work on a logo for our new herd name.

Settling in

The babies are settling in to their new home. This is Orange Julius (out front), Rocky's twin. He will be company for Rocky when the boys move into their own space.

Most of the goats are still pretty shy...it's only been three days. This is our herd sire "Rocky Top Romeo". He is very curious and sweet and not at all afraid to come over and get pets.

"Hey, what's in your pocket?"
The girls...Pims (black) and Mustang Sally. They are still a little shy.
Pims will be a lovely doe...don't you love the heart on her side?


Julius, up close and personal...he likes to cut hair. If he can get your hair in his mouth he will give it a trim. He's a little devil! But very sweet. One of the reasons I chose Rocky over Julius as herd sire is personality. This is the most forward little goat ever. I thought testosterone added to that personality would not be good!

Rocky eating his breakfast.
One thing that I love about having the goats is that the kids want to get up at 5:30 am so they don't miss feeding the babies.

Goats are home!!

We picked up our starter herd from Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle, New York yesterday and I couldn't be more tickled. It rained hard for the entire trip but for the time we spent on the farm the rain took a break until the moment we left! I'm taking it as a good omen.




Jeff runs a model goat dairy with a large loafing area in one barn where all the girls hang out. Udders were mostly empty so I took some head shots, but all the does are long, deep and look lovely. All the does were standing in the doorway because of the rain so we got to meet everyone.







The bucks live in modern luxury in a beautiful stable a little way down the drive where the kids stay as well. I was in for a surprise when I saw my babies

I underestimated the size of the babies I was coming to get (by a lot!). The rule of thumb I found said that average birth weights for goats is 8-10 pounds and that by eight weeks they should be triple that weight. Since my babies are six weeks old I subtracted a few pounds and decided they would be between 20 - 25 pounds each. I brought a crate that could carry a great dane thinking it would be all the space in the world.

Jeff estimated that they were more like 30 pounds each and brought a weigh tape so we could see. We measured the smallest doe -- 33 pounds! I was flabber-gasted. The two bucks and the older doe are at least two or three pounds more. A grand total of 40 pounds more goats than I expected! They did fit in the crate and they still go into the crate freely now that they are home and slept in it last night but WOW!

Jeff has a unique set up for feeding that I've never seen before. It's free choice milk from a little machine that sits outside the stall. I think the kids are so big because they can have as much as they like -- which happened to my single babies if left to nurse. They would always be much larger than the others who had to compete with siblings.

Below is Samba (one year old) from Kastdemure in California. I can't wait to see what he's going to ad to the Cossayuna herd genetics.



It was a long drive home and they were pretty stressed out and at first, just stood in the corner in a scared little knot. I thought feeding them would help them relax but the first feeding didn't go too well. I mixed up the milk replacer in the lamb bar and brought it out. The boldest little buck who we call Julius came over and practically jumped in my lap but they had forgotten how to get milk out of the lamb bar and just nibbled my hair and coat. The rest of the goats wanted nothing to do with me.

I went to plan "b" and put the milk into bottles with lamb nipples. No deal. Even a squirt of milk into the mouth had no effect...it was like giving medicine to a baby. We brought hay in and when we left they nibbled the hay. I went back inside and moved the milk replacer back into the lamb bar and went and sat with the goats for about half an hour. The boldest buck and the boldest doe (Julius and Sally) started poking around me to see if I had anything better than hay. Julius found a nipple and started sucking and Sally heard the noise and shoved him off and got onto the nipple. There are six nipples but for fifteen minutes Sally and Julius took turns knocking each other off of the lamb bar for that one coveted nipple. Finally our future herd sire (Rocky) who seemed to be protecting the shyest of the babies (Pims) came over and took a swig or two himself. I could not get Pims to try it at all so I just held her for a while. They drank half the milk, crawled into the crate and went to sleep. It was 10pm and they were done and Pims hadn't had a bit of it.

In the morning when I tried again I had four hungry goats that knew exactly what to do to get their breakfast. Pims didn't eat much but she had enough that I'm not too worried. She is still the shyest but she ate as much as she would and when they wouldn't eat anymore there was still about a pint left in the bottom.

I've got hay, lamb and kid starter pellets, dandelion greens and milk replacer on the menu today and I'm pleased with how things are going.

Barn Ready!

The barn is finally ready. I will post pics soon with before and after shots. Nothing is ever as easy as you think. We are ready for goats now with the sliding door all fixed and the pens closed in. I will be using large plastic dog crates for the kids to snuggle into in case we get a cold snap and have a heat lamp - that I don't (hopefully) think I will need to use if the weather gets really bad. I've used the crates to keep newborns warm in negative 12 degree weather and it works wonders. It allows the kids to harden off by playing out in the cold barn when they feel like it but still have a warm spot for a nap. They catch on to seeking warmth in the crate instinctively.