A Guide to Breeding and Birthing Goats

[my spoiled chickens]

Just a comment. Even if you intend to leave the kids on the mother it is a good idea to introduce them to a nipple right after they are born. That way if it later becomes necessary to bottle feed them you can do so. If you don't, some kids will starve themselves to death rather than accept a bottle.

Yeah but in most cases they will accept the bottle.With one doe we didn't have a bottle but she just would not nurse this buckling so we had to put her in the milking stand and let the baby nurse until we got a bottle.

 

[lomine]

One thing I would add is wethering bucklings. It's an important part of breeding that so many people seem to ignore. I wish more breeders would castrate the majority bucklings, like 95%+. More care needs to be put into the quality of the animals being bred and most males just shouldn't be allowed to pass on their genes.

The same can be said for does and you shouldn't breed any with obvious issues. That being said, a doe can only produce a finite number of kids in her lifetime. A buck can potentially produce hundreds of kids. People think that the conformation stuff is just for show goats, but they are how they are for a reason. It's a guide to building a goat that will have fewer issues and be healthier in the long term.

 

[cassie]

Yeah but in most cases they will accept the bottle.With one doe we didn't have a bottle but she just would not nurse this buckling so we had to put her in the milking stand and let the baby nurse until we got a bottle.

Depends on the kid. Toggenburgs are notoriously stubborn.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

Depends on the kid. Toggenburgs are notoriously stubborn.

Like I said I have only ever bred Pygmys and NDG's so I wouldn't know.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

#7 Wethers
The easiest and least expensive way to wether a buck is to band them. You can buy bands at/on TSC,Amazon,and Rural King(like TSC)
If you let a buck stay a buck make sure he is GREAT quality for whatever breed he is,if he's not,he gets the band.
Wethers are good companion goats or pet goats. I don't recommend keeping them with intact bucks(especially during rut) because they can get bullied it depends on the buck's personality of course.