I'm having a hard time sourcing Sweetlix Meat Maker locally. I used to buy Onyx, but my local supplier stopped carrying it. My local supplier does have access to this goat mineral tub that is manufactured locally. Thoughts on this? Does this look like a good mix or should I keep looking?

https://preview.redd.it/hb3fqtuopwxd1.png?width=846&format=png&auto=webp&s=e78eb72236a71e0e9d8af73fa0cbf1c4ea8a07a7

Edit: I finally found that our local IFA has ICBM Prime Force AF 8 mineral, which looks much better. Anyone have experience with that? https://assets.unilogcorp.com/350/ITEM/DOC/IFA_Prime_Force_AF_Mineral_ICBM_PRINT.pdf

OK so this is a picture of my little FF mama after a 12 hour fill!! came from amazing milk lines and had 2 beautiful kids on her. So I bought her thinking the small udder and teets might be ok. Id breed her again and they'd get better. But now I'm second guessing myself.

I've withheld the kids and my milk machine will not get any milk. Like seriously. Maybe a 1/4 thats it. She doesn't feel stretched out and full at all. I finish up the hand milking and can hardly get a grip to milk her and have to like strip milk her. I'm working on that and getting better but my main questions are..

A. WHY is she not filling up? I've caged her and the babies to be sure they're not getting her through the fence. I've watched her and don't see her nursing on herself. She has 24 hr access to hay and browse and minerals. She gets grain, beet pulp pellets, black sunflower seeds and alfalfa pellets while milking like my other girls. But there is no udder stretch happening.

B. Is there a specific milk machine or attachment that works better for super small teets? I have carpel tunnel and really shouldn't be hand milking much.

C. Would maybe trying to milk her 3-4 times a day with the kids on her help her supply?? Or is it just a waste of time. Sigh.

She was a big investment for me. She comes from really quality lines and I'm hoping to make her work out for my small home milking operation.

Thanks guys!

I lost track of time and it’s now been 6 weeks since I gave my goat kids their first CDT shot. Is it safe to still give the booster or do I need to start over?

We've been using reusable 100% cloths but I'm sick of the smell. Do coffee filters work?

Is it possible to change an animal's name when transferring a goat through ADGA? Or can I register them with the bill of sale without transferring and name them that way? There's no other reason than I want to lol I'll be okay if it's just an unreasonable thing to do either socially or financially. Just wondering. Thanks!

I have seen dis assignment of people milking with modified human breast pump. Has anyone tried this?? Wasthinking of getting the Hantop but saw you can't adjust pressure?

We have two does that have had a bit of blood in their milk for the first month or two after kidding. Have any of you seen this before? We have not had this problem in the past and are unsure how to fix it. Thank you!

We have 3 new kids we are bottle-feeding that are all about one week old. We've been tracking their weights daily and then how many oz of milk drank by each kid at each feeding, time, frequency, etc. I know there are multiple apps for parents to track breastfeeding babies now so just curious if anyone knows one out there for tracking bottle-fed animals? I may just resort to a baby app but wanted to avoid all the "extras" that many of those have i.e. diaper changes and specifically one more flexible for tracking multiples since we have three to keep track of.

My husband wants to wash the rags he uses to clean udders at home in our personal washing machine.

We have about 50 goats and learned 4 had mastitis so now he's reusing rags. We're very new to this.

My main concern is... is this sanitary to do when I'll be washing my toddlers clothes in the same washing machine? Kind of grosses me out.

Is washing them at home in an old top load even effective?

It was fun picking the right goats out to feed them.

I was wondring will my goat reduce the amount of milk if i just keep on milking it without getting it bred. After an year has passed by.

We have this Alpine (possibly French Alpine) with these weird bumps on her udder. We did a mastitis check and it came back clean. She has not kidded yet. Colostrum came out when we did the test. We read somewhere it could be milk under the skin?? Has anyone encountered this??

Hello everyone! I'm just curious how you all handle dipping your dairy goats (for pests). Do you do it while they are lactating or wait till they're done?

Edit: I mean dipping to kill and protect against pests.

Hey y’all,

So I showed a meat goat this year through my schools FFA, he lived at the barn so I had access to wash racks, blowers, razors, treadmills, etc. I’m a senior so this was my only year showing through my school.

With that being said I’m showing a dairy goat next year independently. I have found a ranch of someone who has goats to rent space out for my goat to stay while I’m at college so she’ll have a heard and shelter, I’ll be going over their twice daily to feed, water, etc.

I’m trying to figure out what supplies I need to get that I don’t already have from my other goat, and what I need that’s different from meat goats. Any info helps, I’m going in completely blind knowing nothing about dairy goats and I have no advisor to guide me.

Thanks in advance.

Here’s what’s in my kidding bag, what’s in yours? https://youtu.be/-MMeQfQSAnM?si=ASLMjMnz1eU3icIr

Hi everyone! I wanted to see why everyone chose dairy goats! What type of dairy goats do you have and do you use them for dairy or are they just pets? I raise registered Nubians for milk and show and absolutely love it! If you are ever interested in seeing how we run things in our farm we are on most social media platforms at full moon farm or full moon creamery and we are on YouTube! https://youtube.com/@fullmooncreamery?si=HaSSka3c2YevMQGv Please share your farm name with me and what platform I can find you on ♥️

I'd love to get your opinion of my video Our farm is trying to promote itself for our forthcoming kidding season and keep a high interest as we produce out cheese and lotion for the coming year. Thank you so much! https://youtu.be/BK1hygpycUA?si=kd0MlwN6QfP-zGR1

Has anyone has experience with pseudopregnancy with their goat? My female goat hasn’t been bread yet and she hasn’t been exposed to an in tact male but her utter seems to have filled up and is firm. Any advice on this? Our vet that sees goats won’t be reachable until Monday so I just want to make sure it’s not something that needs immediate attention. Thank you so much!

Hello,

I do not have goats, but I’m hoping to have a few in the next couple of years after I get land and have all of the provisions they need all set up. I’m doing as much research as possible so I can decide if this is a good animal for me and if I can provide them with a good life. I hope to raise primarily dairy goats. All goat kids that don’t make the cut will be for meat.

While doing my research there seem to be some conflicting information on goat diet/ nutrition.

I understand that goats are browsing animals, they need their minerals, look out for parasites, etc., all the good basics.

What I’m wondering is do goats actually need grain in their diet? I read some studies/ articles/ first hand accounts that are very pro grain and pro feeding mostly grain. Then on the flip side there is a lot of information saying ‘no grain, they’re ruminants and too much will give them bloat’.

In the same theme, while looking at browsing material (I hope to silvopasture) I see ‘goats can (and love eating) poison oak, ivy and all sorts of sumac’. Then there are a bunch of sources saying ‘sumac is toxic and bad, don’t let goats injest it at all’.

I’m trying to stick to more research based articles about all of this, but at the same time who am I to deny the experience of a farmer that’s been dealing with goats since they slid out of the womb?

Any thoughts or experiences that you guys have on the matter are appreciated.

So we got our Great Pyrenees as a 3mo old puppy and she instantly clicked with our pure white alpine. They would snuggle and clean each other. She’s now full grown (not fixed) and our white alpine has 2 kids (4mo old) and we’re trying to wean them. Here are the warning signs that I’ve noticed -Dog is sometimes NOT hungry for days -When she doesn’t eat for a day I’ll put a very tiny amount of milk on her kibble and she’ll eat it right away -Goat was separated from her kids all day yesterday and she had a fraction of what she usually produces -I caught dog licking her teats yesterday and the goat did not mind one bit. My husband thinks I’m crazy, but I’ve got no other explanation.

Does anyone have a small business outline for starting a small herd goat dairy

Nowadays milk delivery often conjures the image of a young boy working part time who is a goody two shoes. However I learned the first James Bond, Sean Connery, worked as a milkman in his first job. Sean Connery is often seen as the icon of the working class especially in the UK and to this day even outside the UK as a symbol of the rags to riches story of anybody who made it big as a movie star. COnnery is seen as one of the most masculine icons of the entertainment industry back when he was still active.

So it makes me wonder, how hard is delivering milk as a job? Is it as easy as people often assume nowadays? Connery despite working as a milkman in his first job was never mocked for it in the UK and was doing that dairy job even already made the average Brits feel like they had an affinity with him especially those living in farm regions. I'm really curious.