Damummis'- Auf wiedersehen

[freemotion]

You'll appreciate...but not NEED....a bag of shavings to go on the floor, with straw on top. Especially in the garage. Straw is not absorbent but will keep the critters above the damp. Then wasted hay will provide most of your bedding on top of this, with another layer of straw now and then depending on how much time the doe spends in the stall and how big/small the stall is. A dairy gal can pee and poo a LOT!

Here is a brilliant temporary solution http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7946&p=1

 

[glenolam]

Don't forget grain....I didn't see grain on your list. Since they're both in milk grain will be an important part of their diet.

 

[Damummis]

Don't forget grain....I didn't see grain on your list. Since they're both in milk grain will be an important part of their diet.

Yes, I will need grain.

On another note, I checked the mail today and there was something in there that made me relize DH is REALLY serious about a SS life style change. A check from selling all his stocks. When I asked him about it he just said, "I figured I get out while the getting was good." "It would be better spent making us more prepared."

As Wifezilla said, the student has surpassed the teacher. Love that man!!!!

 

[glenolam]

 

[Damummis]

Question-

With 3 feet of snow on the ground, will goats be stir crazy in the barn? How do you keep them from going stir crazy? I am getting them Sunday, it is suppose to rain Monday. Will they be content in the barn for a few days????

 

[Javamama]

Should be fine.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep. they'll just stand there looking out being glad they arent in the rain

you'll be fine

 

[glenolam]

Give them stuff to climb on if you can. Pile up wood (secured together, of course, so they don't break a leg), make a balance beam, put three logs of different heights on end to make steps they can play king of the castle on.

Of course, after you do this they won't do anything but sleep all day.....

 

[Javamama]

It's true. They will probably space out and chew cud and sleep and you will walk out there and think they are dead and have a mini heart attack. You run up to one and poke it and they whip their head around to give you this look that makes you feel stupid and want to Ah the pleasures of owning goats

 

[savingdogs]

I'm joining in late here and I'm also new to goats, but just wanted to say I've gotten such good advice here, you can't really go wrong.

I have only been milking a couple months but have had goats almost two years now. I really enjoy them and find the time spent with them relaxing even though they can "get your goat" sometimes! I see where that expression was born now.

We usually have rain and currently have snow and my goats love to be inside when it is like that. Make sure your feeder is out of the rain or snow because they will not go out to eat it.

My husband made me the stanchion at Fias Co Farms exactly like the plan there except with shorter legs and it came out awesome. My goats and all my human family are short so we just wanted it a little lower. But it was an easy construction project and he and my sons finished it up in an afternoon. I really like it and it makes milking much easier.

When I first began milking I saved the milk for soap, not consumption, so I wasn't as worried about keeping everything perfectly clean or as frustrated if it got a hair in it. I found that everyone here is right...it is a learning process and you get better milking each time you try and the goat gets better too.

I try to gentle my hands and move slowly and my skittish doe responds much better. If I move slow and get her used to my touch before I grab an udder she calms down, and I try to wash her udders with nice warm water, like a massage for her. It seems to have really made a difference and she likes me more than she ever used to before she gave birth. I nursed my own children myself and remember how tender a full breast feels and try to empathize when I handle the udders.

I have two does and found I need a totally different technique to milk them as their udders are different. It did not even occur to me that there wasn't one standard way to milk best.

For the one doe, It works best to stay on her one side and use my right hand for both, keeping the milk container under her tummy. For the second, harder doe, I have to work each udder from each side, and put the milk container behind her udder because if I try to squirt the milk straight down, it just goes to the side, but if I point her teat towards the rear, it squirts down straight. I was having a real hard time milking her until I figured that out. And I use my left hand on the opposite side on her. I also heard about standing behind the goat (with minis) to milk but mine really hated that idea! I was thinking of trying that down the road with my second doe once she gets more used to me.

OFG suggested to me that I only feed the grain on the stanchion to train the goats to get up there for me when I need them to. This idea solved the whole problem for me of encouraging them up there. We do have to lift them up sometimes but they are happier about the whole process when especially hungry for the good stuff.

I hope my "beginner" tips help....I'm a newbie too!