my overnight goats and my confusion

[htcamommy]

Ok so long story short. Dh and I have been talking/researching/shopping for goats for awhile now. Well yesterday my dh comes home with a momma lamancha goat and a her 1/2 lamancha/ nigerian dwarf "baby" doe. So um I'm so confused as to this pair. The "baby" is 7 months old. The momma does appear to be a lamancha and if the baby is 7 months old would definitly be half nigerian due to her small stature (not kid just small doe) and she does have ears leading me to believe that their pedigree is correct. Now lets go back first to the fact that the baby is 7 months old. That would have put momma freshening in August when most doe's are going into heat, right??? Also she's still nursing at 7 months??? Whats up with that? Also obviously momma didn't go into heat this fall because she had a doeling and doeling didn't go into heat because she was a doe so when do you think I could expect them to actually go into heat? Also why in the heck is a 7 month old doe still nursing? Anyone ever heard of anything like this? Any advice is appreciated.

[1jooj]

Goats can be bred out of season, some breeds more successfully than others. End Feb/March is certainly late, but goat estrus can be manipulated.

Actually, Barbara Kingsolver wrote about such a thing in her fiction, Prodigal Summer. The book is a novel, but Kingsolver didn't make up the goat breeding details from nowhere. If does are housed far away from bucks and a buck is introduced, it can induce estrus.

My friend's goats kidded late June/early July last summer.

If it's still nursing, it hasn't been weaned and Mom is tolerant. Our ewes and does have weaned their lambs/kids without our intervention, but sometimes a few hang on. When this happens, we separate all the babies from moms for a couple of days and then the late nursers usually wean.

[Thystle]

Some animals EBF too. It can happen.



Go check out the goat forum on the Homesteading Today forum.

[Jane]

Total off topic comment from a suburbanite:
I am alternatively horrified and intrigued by your husband bringing home Surprise!! goats.

When I first moved to our little quarter acre of heaven, I checked with the city and they specifically forbid goats. Bah.

[htcamommy]

Originally Posted by Apricot

Total off topic comment from a suburbanite:
I am alternatively horrified and intrigued by your husband bringing home Surprise!! goats.

When I first moved to our little quarter acre of heaven, I checked with the city and they specifically forbid goats. Bah.

Don't be horrified. We moved to our home with the specific intention of a small farm. We have ten acres of land, a fenced in area for the goats, a barn (where they're sleeping at night) a chicken run, the whole works. We've discussed goats since even before moving. I would have liked to have not been feeding them cheerio's the first night because I had no feed and would have liked a little more time to prepare for their arrival and I would have liked a little more info on them but we'll figure each other out soon enough! The goats owner passed away and her daughter was going to surrender them to the animal shelter. My dh offered to take them off her hands instead and she told him he had to get them that night or animal control would be picking them up in the morning. Voila instant goats.

[Jane]

Ah, makes sense! congrats on your goats.

[kimmom]

I too became an instant goat mama! And we have had them since November now and I LOVE THEM!! We have one doe due to kid early APril the other two will be bred to kid early next spring. I have no buck and missed the last cycle

[BeckyBird]

Do we have the same husband? He wants goats too, and I keep telling him that I don't want a milk goat right now, since I AM a milk goat right now lol (breastfeeding a 3 month old) I would not be surprised if he came home from work one day, and brought a goat home with him.

I have a tip for the milk, when it comes time. A farmer told us this, but I don't know firsthand if it works. Anyways, he said to fill up a plastic bottle with water and freeze it. When you milk the goat, put the frozen bottle in the bucket, so the milk cools down right away. He said the milk was delicious, so it might be something worth a try.

[Arduinna]

Firstly, I would let them get well settled in their new home before making the decision to separate to encourage weaning. I wouldn't breed the baby this year. Many goat breeders do not breed does their first season. This one sounds like it was the result of an accidental breeding. I'd give mama some time and breed her this fall.

[1jooj]

Arduinna makes a great point. We breed @ 18-ish months. Goats grow a lot in their second year, and this allows them the time before having to put all those nutrients into growing a baby. And if you're not milking or breeding, there's no harm in leaving them to settle in.

The size diff between the one we bred and the one we bought exposed (young) is major. They are a year apart, and my bigger one was the size of my smaller one when we got her at one year old.

We do the same with our sheep. It can be hard to wait, watching them go through heat and all, but it's better for moms.