Hi !

I bought my first goat today - first unless you count the one I had when I was six... Anyway, she is a one year old doe. Pygmy goat. She has had her first kid, a single, eight weeks ago. Her previous owners sold her kid last night, so when I met her this afternoon she was really full of milk. I milked her (as best as I could since I'm just learning) when I got her home. I'd like to keep milking her, and I do plan to breed her again. When is the best time?

Her previous owners raised show lambs and were feeding her Ringmaster lamb food. Is this ok to continue, or is something just for goats better? She is somewhat overweight in spite of having a two month old kid. I've also got hay, water, and a dry place for her to stay that is hopefully goat-proof. What am I forgetting??

She has been wormed about every three months. What are your recommendations? As far as I know she has had no other medical care other than treatment for an eye infection when she was a kid.

Thanks in advance for the benefit of your experience! Do you have a good goat book to recommend?

Also, what about milk - filtering, pasteurization etc. Any pointers?

-- txcountrygirl (nancyk@icsi.net), August 08, 2000

Answers

Be sure to see the next thread (chickens goat feed) for important info on this topic! Sounds like lamb food for goats is a bad idea!

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), August 08, 2000.

Overall, sounds good to me, except that if you wanted milk, it would be more practical to get a dairy breed. Pygmies are usually potbellied, so don't go by the size of her belly to determine if she's overweight. Instead, feel along her spine, if you can feel it, and the bones in it, she's not truly overweight. I would feed her a dairy goat ration, her needs are not those of a lamb, of you could feed her COB with molasses if a good goat ration is not available. I have no idea how much grain to feed a pygmy, but don't feed more than a pound a day. Books- I still like JD's book- Raising milk goats the modern way. Goat Husbandry is good, but technical and geared toaward the british goatkeeper.Subscribe to both the Dairy Goat Journal, and United caprine news. They are worth it and you will learn a lot. Milk filters can be bought at a feed store,put it in a funnel and pour the milk through it.We like the raw milk. Be sure to practice good sanitation while milking and cool the strained milk, in a glass jar, in a very cold water bath. It will not get cold enough, fast enough, in the fridge.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), August 08, 2000.

Hi! I applaud you for wanting to milk a Pygmy! The milk is great, but I've found their teats are usually so small it makes them hard to milk. It also doesn't help with them being so short. You need a short bucket to get underneath them. I usually breed mine in October for March kids. If that's your plan, you need to dry her up about 2 months before she kids. Purina makes a goat chow. Goats need more copper than sheep, so I'd find a feed made for goats. Ask a vet about the wormers you use. Some have a milk withdrawel time so you'd have to dump the milk or give it to your cats, dogs, pigs, whatever. As far as wormer to use, take a fecal sample to the vet & they can recommend a wormer specific for whatever worms they have. Drinking the milk raw or pasteurized is up to you. I pasteurize mine just to be on the safe side. That's you're choice. Strain the milk & cool it down quickly. You can also sit it in the freezer for about half an hour to cool it down fast. In a fix, coffee filters work, but I'd suggest buying a strainer from Caprine Supply or Hoegger Supply. If you want their #'s or websites, email me.

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), August 08, 2000.

Thanks for the info! I'll run to the feed store tomorrow morning and get goat food! As far as her weight goes, I can feel her spine a little, but her ribs are nowhere to be found.

I'll also check out those two books at the library. I must explain something here - I normally am one who reads up on everything first and has all the pens, houses, whatever built before getting the animal. Not this time though. I walked in to work this morning and someone told me about this goat. I wasn't quite ready yet, hence all the questions, but she was just what I was looking for. I wanted a goat for milk, but not so much milk as a full size dairy breed would give me. I was afraid since her kid was gone that she would dry up if I waited to get her.

She's doing pretty well tonight even though the kid left yesterday and she's gone to a new home today. And tomorrow she is going to get her feed changed. Lots of stress. She's never been milked before and I haven't milked before either, so that's pretty stressful too. Most of it went in my shoe today... Should I expect her to keep producing ok? Anything I can do to help her adjust?

She just had the kid 8 weeks ago. How long should I wait to breed her again? I'm in no hurry as long as she's producing milk. And when I do dry her off, what is the procedure? She was so miserable today being so full of milk. I didn't succeed in milking her dry though. Is that ok?

Her hooves don't look like they have had much attention. What is your experience with trimming?

Also, any pygmy-sized milking stand suggestions? The plans for a full size one in Countryside's current edition is too large for this little girl.

Thanks for the help!

-- txcountrygirl (nancyk@icsi.net), August 08, 2000.

J.D.'s book and Raising Goats Successfully by Gail somebody, Luttman, I think. (Just took the book back to the Lib. today) They are both very thourough and descibe how to care for the milk, etc.

Pgymy goats are actually a meat goat. They are squaty and round - someone described them as "a beer keg with legs." LOL So you could use any male kids for meat. BBQ goat meat is very good.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), August 08, 2000.

J.D.'s book and Raising Milk Goats Successfully by Gail somebody, Luttman, I think. (Just took the book back to the Lib. today) They are both very thourough and descibe how to care for the milk, etc.

Pgymy goats are actually a meat goat. They are squaty and round - someone described them as "a beer keg with legs." LOL So you could use any male kids for meat. BBQ goat meat is very good.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), August 08, 2000.

Sorry about the double post. Thought I stopped it before it went through. The second book should be Raising MILK Goats Successfully.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), August 08, 2000.

Gestation for a goat is about 5 months (150 days +/- 1 week) so if you want her to kid in April, breed her in November, for March kids breed in October, etc.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), August 08, 2000.

Just another idea about a strainer. You can use two stainless canning funnels. Take pliers and bend the handle of one flat. Put the filter in the funnel with the handle and the one other funnel on top to hold it in place. The funnels cost about $7.50 apiece. The strainers are $40 to $45. They have to have an adapter to work on a regular mouthed jar for another $6. I didnt think this up. My amish friend shared it with me and I was glad to save the money. Peggy

-- Peggy (wclpc@cookeville.com), August 09, 2000.

Howdy,

I am milking two Nigerians and an Oberhasli, but I will tell you what I know about Pygmies and milking. Since they are not actually a dairy animal, they have not been bred specifically for long lactations. If you get lucky, you will need to dry her off two months before kidding. More likely, she will dry herself off or start giving so little milk that it won't be worthwhile to filter it. The milk is, however, thick and rich and delicious!

A vet recommended, I believe, Panacur for worming dairy animals, since there is either no withdrawal time or a definite time (I'm a little fuzzy here, so check the actual wormer and withdrawal time with a local dairy farmer or online). Ivermectin is not recommended since they don't know how long it stays in the milk.

Clean milk is MOST important. I think the idea of nesting two funnels with a milk filter in between is great. Also, find Jeffers on the web. They sell milk filters at $2.45 for 100 4-9/16" filters. I think that may be less expensive than Caprine Supply or Hoeggers'. Go out and feed hay and do chores before milking so that the only thing you need to do after milking is go into the house with the milk. The bacteria count DOUBLES every five minutes the milk is over something like 70 degrees, and as you know, it comes out a lot warmer than that. So filter and chill it immediately. Freezers are good for that. I have an ice cream maker insert that goes into the freezer. I keep it there and take it out when I have milk to chill. I put the milk in a jar, put the jar into the insert, and fill the gap with water. Chills very quickly.

Dairy goat ration is definitely the right feed. If the doe is overweight, and it sounds like she is, just don't give her a whole bunch. Maybe half a cup twice a day, if that helps her take some weight off. Milking will also help. You should be able to feel her ribs.

Definitely milk twice a day to keep production up. Get all the milk each time. Also milk her for as long as she will give milk before drying her off. This is especially important with first fresheners as the length of the first lactation tends to determine their length of lactation from then on.

This is her first freshening, so how is she at standing to be milked? First fresheners seem to jump around a lot. Don't be discouraged if the amount isn't much or she is jumpy. She will get over it after a while. Sometimes it takes until the second freshening. Just be patient. If she doesn't give enough for you to use, but is still giving some, just milk her out and give it to chickens, dogs, plants, etc. But keep her lactation going as long as you can.

As far as a milking stand, I found it pretty much a necessity. I built one that would fit the Nigerians and my Ober. Email me if you have an interest, and I will try to get you the measurements.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), August 09, 2000.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Those books are really good - my library had both of those and three others. Knocked together a pygmy- sized milking stand yesterday. The cats love the milk but there isn't much. Either that's the way she is, being a pygmy and all, or she was already weaning her kid and had dried off some when I got her. She certainly doesn't like standing to be milked either. In typical pygmy fashion, she has horns, but she doesn't readily use them.

The feed store only had Purina goat and sheep food, so that's what she is getting. She doesn't eat much. Half a flake of hay and a cup of goat food a day. Maybe she is still upset from the move and taking the kid away. Also, she is small even for a pygmy. My concern now is her hooves. Overgrown enough to be curved under on two of them. I think I'll let her settle down a few days before I tackle that job. What is your preferred hoof trimming tool?

-- txcountrygirl (nancyk@icsi.net), August 10, 2000.

For hoof trimming, I and many others use Corona pruning shears, the kind with narrow, straight blades two or three inches long. They are strong, sharp, and easy to maneuver.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), August 11, 2000.

You can feed her 50-50 (sweet feed, usually fed horses) Being a pygmy and prone to overweight problems she does not need to be fed much. She does need a goat mineral, not sheep. Not sheep feed either. Milk her hess and less each day till you can stop and she dries off. You may encourage this by rubbing peppermint oil on her udder. If you breed her please bred her to something SDMALL, as in another pygmy or a nigerian dwaraf. Pygmies are also prone to birthing problems because of their blockiness. If she has kidded once you are passed the most danger with kidding. If you need more help, e-mail me. There is a book on just pygmies...forgotten the name. If you can see a copy of Homestead Connection, or DGJ they have books foe sale, you might find it there.

-- Barbara C.Fischer (cen12205@centurytel.net), August 15, 2000.

caprinesupply.com has a great informative catalog, shows pictures of hoof trimming and also carries everything you every will need for goats, but the goats! They carry the shear majic hoof trimmers that we all use, and also vaccinations, wormers and information. Also a new book Goat Keeping 101 which would be a great start for you. If you are wanting milk in the future I would defiently think about breeding her to a Nigerian Dwarf, and something from someone who cares about milk supply, not just a billy down the road. Then her daughters will come into better milk supplies than their mom. As far as breeding her goes it is more important for you to count 5 months ahead and see what your schedule is since pygmies breed year round. Also need to fine a buck to use, really not much use in buying one, when there are so many nice guys to lease. Unless you buy him knowing that when the babies are going to be born you are going to sell him or trade him for another bloodline. With a meat goat like you have you can just stop milking her whenever you choose to, with her metablolism geared more towards meat supply rather than milk supply you don't have to gradually stop milking her. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 15, 2000.

Yesterday I got a 3 month old pygmy doe to keep her company. She wasn't content with just the hens. She does not act friendly to the new goat - butts her with her horns and chases her away from the food and shelter. Not nice. But I suspect they will get their pecking order straightened out fairly soon. And I had to laugh last evening. I went out to the barnyard to check on the goats and couldn't find the little one anywhere. But I heard her and found her in the chicken coop which is four feet off the ground! And the door is chicken sized! This is going to be an adventure.... Thanks for all of your help and answers to my questions.

-- txcountry girl (nancyk@icsi.net), August 15, 2000.