This is my first time with goats that weren't older than 2 months. My doe had triplets and she rejected 1 and showed signs of aggression towards the baby. So I now I have a bottle baby. They were born on Jan 27th 2025. So 7 days old. My question is regarding feeding amounts and times. I'm currently feeding 3 oz every 3 hours. 5-530 because that's what time I wake up everyday so if I'm up the baby is up because she is in the house with me for safety reasons. Then every 3 to 31/2 hours till bed time and once at midnight cuz I'm in bed usually by 9 and 9-5 feels like a long time for her to without eating. I've ready the bottle baby chart that has 10,15,20 percent of their weight in ounces divided by the number of feedings. She is a 6pound boer goat..so the chart gives about 19 oz for her weight. Ive looked up videos of ppl talking about taking care of bottle babies and they always feed so much more. So idk if I'm doing the right thing or if I should be feeding her more cuz it seems likes shes always searching for more food about 90 min after she eats. She's on whole cows milk with a mix of heavy cream 8:1 ratio.

We used to have goats in the country, had to sell them when we moved to town. Now purchased a 5 acre property along a river in town, zoned Z-4 multiuse, we would LOVE to have a couple goats on the place. I only have 2 neighbors, only one with a residence, and over 100’ away, probably could get permission from both. Codes say agricultural animals are illegal 🤔 Correction; Z4 zone, not Z2

For those that sell their goats how do you do so without bawling? I’m in no way judging. I had to downsize my herd by a few but then cried all night

Hi, I was gifted goats and apparently the female goat was pregnant. This is all so new to me. She gave birth yesterday. Where I live it is currently 40°F and will drop to 29°F. Some nights are colder than others. Should I bring the baby goat inside? Can I let the male goat and mom goat be together for warmth if I do bring the baby goat inside? Again this is all so new to me so I apologize but I can use any and all help.

https://preview.redd.it/cmuq4jf8ylge1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9767cc0528afc937effa9f5779dc87b45d34592f

It took a couple hours or nudging his nose toward his mother's milk before he got the idea that he needs to drink it. After several failed attempts, he finally grabbed on, liked what he tasted ... and a few seconds later started waging his tail. Since then he's become quite adept at getting milk when he wants it.

A sincere thank-you to everyone who helped me when I felt he was on his way out of this world. Nature kicked in along with his mother's patience and we had SUCCESS!

Hi! My goats this year did horrible in breeding, some didn’t breed, one’s came too early and we have yet to see for our last three. (Mini Nubians and Myotonic Fainters) so I was thinking about getting my own Boer baby. I obviously know the basics of a goat and care taking and im willing to spend my own money aswell but are there things I NEED to buy and should look into? - I most likely will be keeping the boer and showing it in 4H. Id also be needing to know feeding suggestions, shaving and walking tips! I know how to shave and walka typical dairy goat but I do need better work on walking my meat doe so tips would be appreciated!

TL;DR Wanting to get a boer goat for 4H, tips on feeding, walking, shaving. Should I get one? What are the necessities?

We're looking into fencing for goats but we want to be able to rotate them. Is electrical fencing a good permanent option? Or would they need like a permanent home made of stronger fencing and then be rotating only during the day? Thanks!

I just picked up two Doelings last night. They are 12 days old. The lady who had them. Put them on the goat formula, but I personally do not use that. I have a doe in milk I have been milking for them and thought about seeing it she will adopt them after a couple of days of them relaxing. She had a still born this week. 😢. If she doesn't accept them, no problem. I will keep them as bottle babies.

The problem is they have foul smelling/ yellow liquid diarrhea. I am not sure if switching to goats milk is causing it or the stress.

Is there anything I should try out to see if it helps? Or any recommendations?

My bottle babies in the past never had this issue and now I am stumped.

My goat had 2 still births during the middle of the night. We are first time goat owners. It was very unfortunate to see the 2 kids didn’t survive. Now we see our goat is on her side with no energy & very upsetting eyes.

We don’t know what she needs or what to do. It’s been a very long process for her.

I'm worried because our 2.5 week old baby is a bit apathetic, not her playful self. She was born small, but has grown at a steady pace. She drinks milk well and appetite is normal. (Mom is a first timer, so I've had to help her eat, because mom won't let her eat in peace but still she’s growing normally). Last night two new kids were born in the pack and now the dynamic of the group has of course changed. The new mother (who is the first baby’s grannie) no longer allows the baby to sleep in her familiar place. Can baby come for this reason, e.g. cautious or fearful? The birth was at night 2AM and they are all in the same pen (because the births were mother and child) so the night was quite restless. Can she just be tired? Or could she be sick even if she eats? The rumination started few days ago. She does not irritate the stomach or other parts of her body. I’m really worries because she is not herself and these are my first goats! What could I do, or how long do I dare to only keeep eye on her? Thank you so much AGAIN!!!!

I just got an eleven day baby goat and she smells horribly of urine. Is there a shampoo I can use?

so my boyfriends dad has goats up at his second house in the mountains. he’s not there all the time. and turns out his female goat had babies, so we went up to check on them. and his dad had said that one of the grown goats needed their collar loosened because it was getting too tight. these goats roam in a pasture that’s pretty big, probably an acre or 2 so it’s hard to chase them down as they’re not really used to human interaction. we tried to go up to get the mama, who needed her collar adjusted, and it resulted in her running off with the dad goat and a young male goat. they got thru a section of the fencing that we thought was secure, and ended up wandering up the hill past our gates. leaving the two babies behind. these goats escape all the time, even though we fix the fence really well every time they get out, there always seems to be a new spot that they can ram their horns under and pry the fencing apart. but they always come back. so we got some colostrum replacement to bottle feed these little babies, in case the mama doesn’t come back to the pasture tonight. but the babies won’t take to the bottle, not sure what I can do to make them drink it. I read that force feeding them can cause pneumonia which is usually fatal so I don’t want to do that. the bottle we got is plastic with a red nipple, but when you squeeze the bottle nothing comes out the nipple so it’s hard to help them get some milk when it’s in their mouths. they won’t latch, just chew on it and fuss about it. it’s been about 5 hours since we had to take them in, and i’m really afraid to do something wrong. I have no idea how old they are, probably a week to two because they have their dried up umbilical cords attached still. any tips and advice would be super appreciated. we’re going to keep them in the house tonight unless mama makes her way back into the pasture. main questions are: how long can they go without milk, what signs/symptoms should I watch out for, and how can I get them to latch onto the bottle.

Hello. I am new to the dairy goat business. I am wondering why the milking machines do not need to attach to the udder a little? It just attaches to the teat. When hand milking I have to grab the udder with the teat too.

We had a momma dwarf Nigerian that delivered 4 kids this morning. Two are feisty and doing great. One is much smaller than the others but holding its own. Then we have the fourth one. It was almost dead when we found it. Ice cold and still soaking wet and dirty like mom hadn’t done any cleaning on it. I immediately wrapped it in a towel, put it between my shirt and jacket and got it in the house. When we first brought it in, it couldn’t even hold up its head. It is now standing for short periods. We gave it a small amount (less than an ounce) of colostrum formula about an hour ago. It had been sleeping the last hour and is now trying to stand again. I feel like they are all probably a little premature. This one still has very soft hooves. It has also had one round of the duravet for kids and lambs. My question is if I need to be doing anything at this point. I would think it primarily needs to be in the house until it can stand and walk successfully. I am planning on taking it out to mom to see if we can get it to nurse from her. I know we will have to give supplemental feedings to the kids until they are all eating almost exclusively solid food. What else do I need to know about our little fighter and the rest of the kids? Sorry I don’t know the sexes yet. I am currently running about 101 fever and we’ve had 8 kids drop since last night. Getting the stuff done that has to be done but nothing else. We’ve had a few other kids in the few years we’ve had goats but none with any problems. My goat “mentor” is working today and can’t answer many questions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Pics of last nights babies for tax.

Hi! I'm new to the goat game, we moved onto a property that had 4 goats. I love these little babies. Anyways, my landlord brought a new goat that he bought at an auction. After a week or so it became apparent that it was pregnant. She gave birth to 2 kids about 8 days ago. One survived, one did not. But now, it looks as though it is still pregnant. I can see the sides of it's stomach moving and it's not the goat's breathing, it is something inside that looks like it's moving. Is this possible? I read about superfetation but it said it had to be very specific circumstances.

Please be kind, I'm new to this. If you have any tips I'm open to hearing everything.

We’re building a new stall/shelter for our goaties and I’m not sure what to use for the floor. Some info:

• We’re in Florida, so heat, humidity, rain (even if we do our best to keep it out), and more humidity are things for us
• We won’t need to worry about the deep litter method for winter (obvi)
• There is concrete in their current (too small) stall. I really like that it’s easy to muck out and clean
• The new shelter/stall is currently a clay-ey dirt floor
• Unfortunately, it’s not realistic to use concrete for this shelter’s floor for a number of reasons.

What would you suggest? Stall mats? Something else?

I don’t want to leave it dirt because between the heat and humidity, it’ll just get so stinky and gross if I can’t actually clean it out.

Thoughts?

(Cute pic of baby Chad just because!)

Hey guys! I want to start rotating my sheep and goats on my 10 acres. For now they'll be together, but eventually we'll separate them. How have you guys gone using temporary electric fence? What step in posts do you recommend? I'm not keen on the electric netting. It seems like a pain, and I don't like the idea of animals getting tangled in it. Thanks!

Cool ranch doritos?

Mine lined up to get some from me. What is driving this need?