Expert: Goatlady - 11/16/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have five goats, 1 wether and 4 does. My wether is an Alpine, one girl is a pygmy and one is a lamancha, the other two are tiny but I'm not sure what they are. I think that they are pygmy, but it doesn't matter. My older pygmy doe is six and she has a temper. Ireland(6yr.old pygmy) constantly attacks Delilah(7month old lamancha) all of the goats gang up on poor Delilah so she is forced to hide under their picnic table. We try to separate her from everyone else but she just complains until we put her back in with them. I'm not sure what to do, but I am planning on breeding her and the other females but I don't want her to lose her baby if she does end up pregnant, do you have any solutions or suggestions?

Also I am in Langley, Vancouver and I have been trying to find a pygmy or a pygmy cross buck to breed to my girls with no such luck. I don't really want to try the auction, as risk of disease and infection, but I don't know what else to do, my girls need to be bred and I have no buck.

My two little girls, Hershey and Daisy May, are small does. They are very small, but I am not sure what breed they are or how old they are. Hershey is a brown tri-color and Daisy has very loud black and white coloring. They have horns, about four in. or more in length. They don't really sound like babies and I got them about two weeks ago. If you could help me that would be wonderful.
Thank You

ANSWER: Hi DJ,
You  really need to get a little buddy for Delilah- her age and size so she has someone her size to buddy with- the bigger ones will pick on smaller younger goats when they are not related and do not have a buddy or sibling- was she the last addition to the group? :( They will follow the older (alpha) goat and do what she does, so if she beats up on Delilah they will too. Does the wether also gang up on her?

You have another year before you should breed her if she is only 7 months old. Rule of thumb is to breed your dairy and pygmy goats at 2 yrs old and angoras at 80 lbs.

Horns that are 4 inches long  sounds like under a year old- look at the teeth  on the bottom front, I will bet they have all their baby teeth.
http://goat-link.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=31

Daisy May and Hershey sound like possible Nigerian dwarf goats- they are a very colorful breed.  

The only one that should be bred this year wold be the 6 yr old pygmy. The others really should wait another year-  so they have a chance to develop  and be ready physically to create and grow a baby.

goatlady
Goat-Link.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi
I have found a new home for Delilah, I traded her for a Nigerian Dwarf buck. He is gorgeous. Bo is an agouti with blue eyes. He is around seven months old.
Today I bought a doe/kid pair. They are very small and adorable. The mother is around a year old I think, according to the page on goat teeth, you recommended. Her baby doesn't have horns, I can't even feel horns on her and I'm not sure how old she is. Olivia(the baby) is eating solid food and the doe (Morgan) doesn't appear to have much for milk.

So now I have Spock, my alpine, Ireland, my pygmy, Hershey, my pygmy or nigerian, Dairy, my pygmy or nigerian, Morgan and Olivia, pygmy or nigerians and Bo my Nigerian boy.

I am not sure what Morgan and Olivia are though. Their legs are very small, not short like Ireland, my pygmies, but lean. And Olivias feet are soo small.
I think that Ireland is bred for April babies too, so I have a great program going now.

I am attempting to pasture breed my girls but what should I do with my wether? Can he stay with the girls?

Thanks So Much

ANSWER: HI DJ,
Sounds like you are getting your herd together well-  the ones with the lean legs but small are probably Nigerian Dwarfs or a cross Pymgy/Nigerian. And of course you can leave the wether with the girls and kids, All of my wethers live with  the does and kids.  They should get along just fine. One thing about wethers, they can live well with either the does or the bucks.

goatlady
Goat-Link.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi
I have a problem now, Morgan my new girl has green diarrhea. I dewormed her because she is a little under weight. Olivia has normal round droppings though, but i dewormed her too, just in case.
But I am worried about Morgan, she doesn't appear to have much milk, I tried milking her, just to see if she had any milk and she has a tiny bit and she is underwieght and with the diarrhea, I'm kind of concerned.


Answer
HI DJ,
Morgan is probably  decreasing in milk production because of the move and because her kid is not drinking much- could also be wormload. Go ahead and let her dry off she needs to unless her baby is still nursing.
She is awfully young to have a baby anyways and it took a lot for her to make milk at all and still be growing herself.  Green scouring usually means rich hay or grass- OR too much pelleted feed- if you are feeding pellets, cut back a bit on those and let her get used to the hay/browse she is now eating. Her diet changed  and like us so will her poop. What did you deworm with?
I have a good article on deworming:
http://goat-link.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=46

Let me know if she improves in the next day or so. She should.
goatlady
Goat-Link.com