OOooo it was a wonderful morning here today... got alitte natural sprinkling goin on for the garden. All 6 kids were still in the kid pen when I went out to milk & feed... yay! I fixed their break out spot last night. They werent happy but hey atleast they couldnt break out and drink all the milk before I got out there, lol. I milked 2 quarts (4 lbs) from the girls. I've been reading the Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats (a friend let me borrow it, I've got to get my own copy soon), very good book, I'm learning so much more about goat. I want to be the best goat owner I can be... so I take advice here & there then do what works for me & my herd. I've learned its good to wean your kids by weight instead of age, heres what the book says... "Wean by Weight Kids can be weaned by age or by weight. While it's possible to wean kids as young as 4 weeks old, 8 weeks is considered optimal. Later weaning costs more in milk and labor, and it retards rumen development. But weaning by weight is better because it prevents unhealthy or undernourished kids from being weaned too early and can reduce weaning stress. Studies suggest that weaning at a total body weight that is 2.5 times the birth weight produces good results. This is usually about 19 to 22 pounds." So I weighed all the kids yesterday & they have all atleast doubled their birth weight. They are all doin so great, that makes me happy and proud. The 4 that are leaving Our Little Farm to go to their hopefully forever homes will be leaving us this week. I will be checking on them since they are goin to friends farms, I love that too. I can go visit them from time to time, this is exciting. Boots & Cocoa are stayin here.
Tulip & Star waiting for me to let their kids out for the day...
"We Want Out, We Want Out"...
Hurry up lady... we want some milk!
& there off...... feedin frenzy. (Star with her kids Toby, June, Boots & Tulips kid tryin to steal some milk... Knuckles, lol)
I love it... (Tulip, Knuckles & Cocoa)
Good Mornin boys (Ringo, Peanut, Dolly, Star, Boots & June)
Strong healthy kids... (Boots, Toby & June)
Milk face ;)
Birth Weight (BW), Now Weight (NW)
Tulips kids... (the 8th they were 4 weeks old)
Dolly (leaving soon, doeling) BW 5lbs. NW 17.2 lbs
Cocoa (staying, doeling) BW 5.6, NW 15.8
Knuckles (leaving soon as a buckling) BW 7.4, NW 20.4
Stars Kids... (the 12th they will be 4 weeks old)
June (leaving soon, doeling) BW 5.2, NW 13.8
Boots (staying, wether) BW 6.7, NW 17.4
Toby (leaving, wether) BW 7, NW 17.6
* I love that these kids are so beautiful, strong and healthy.
** Linkin up to Homestead Revivial: Barn Hop # 65
** Linkin up to Homestead Revivial: Barn Hop # 65
Weaning by weight does sound like it would be better for the kids. I'll have to remember that for next year. All your babies look GREAT!! The moms are gonna miss them when they go. (sniff, sniff)
ReplyDeleteThey look great. Congratulations! :o)
ReplyDelete