May 2024 Issue |
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WEANING KIDS The two most stressful times in a kid's life are birth and weaning. Goat raisers seldom give the significance of weaning a second thought. But weaning may be the most stressful because it is the first time that the kid is without the antibodies in its dam's milk that protect it from diseases, yet the kid's immune system is far from fully developed. A weaned kid is solely responsible for providing for its own nutritional needs, so it quickly becomes vulnerable to Haemonchus contortus (barberpole stomach worm) as it searches for food to fuel its fast-growing body. If the nutritional program isn't sufficient or if the kid is on the bottom of the pecking order, the barberpole stomach worm will be waiting to be consumed as the kid searches for plants and grasses to eat. Intact bucklings must be weaned at three months of age to keep them from breeding their dams, sisters, or other females in the herd. Doelings can stay with their dams longer. However, my experience is that doelings grow better if they are weaned and placed in their own herd away from their dams no later than six months of age, giving dams time to re-gain body condition before their next annual breeding. My weaning protocol at Onion Creek Ranch in Texas is as follows: All kids are dewormed, inoculated with their initial and booster CD/T and pneumonia vaccinations, and have all eartags inserted before weaning. My article titled Deworming and Vaccination Schedules appears on the Articles page of www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. Weaned kids are moved to pens/pastures as far away from their dams as possible. Stress can cause illness and even result in the kid's death, so you must work to minimize stress at all times. Kids and dams calling to each other for days is stressful to everyone. A common fence line between males and females is not good management because it allows direct access of males to females, resulting in "party girls" who get bred too young through the fence and produce unwanted matings. Males and females need to be penned away from each other. I wean kids early in the morning of a good-weather day. Extreme weather conditions such as rain, high heat, or deep cold are avoided. Morning is chosen so that kids have time to acquaint themselves with their new surroundings before nightfall. Kids are separated from their dams at the central working pens. If the distance is great, goats are trailered to their new location. If the distance is short but the alleys are dusty from lack of rain, then the route that the goats will travel on foot will be watered to avoid respiratory problems like inhalation pneumonia. The goal is always to avoid stress. When weaning kids (bucklings in particular), I never wean just one or two kids and put them into a herd of already-weaned kids. They will be harassed to the point of exhaustion as the pecking order is re-established. I establish a mini-herd of weanlings, then wait several days or a week to introduce this established small herd of at least three to five (3 to 5) kids into the larger weaned group in the morning of a good-weather day. Doelings are not as aggressive as bucklings, but they too will chase and mount each other until everyone accepts their new positions in the group. I follow the same mini-herd protocol for doelings as I do with bucklings. Polled bucklings (goats born naturally without horns) trying to establish their place in the pecking order of mostly horned goats in hot climates can collapse and die of heatstroke. Horns act as radiators to remove heat from the body. This is another reason not to disbud kids. Check your fencelines before nightfall and at daylight to make sure that newly-weaned kids haven't gotten themselves caught in fences or into other life-threatening situations as the pecking order is re-set and as they try to find a way back to their dams. Feed the weaned kids after they are in their new pastures. Eating together is a familiar group activity that will add some routine to the new herd. Kids tend to wander, getting lost from the main group, and become targets for predators. Put an older goat of the same sex in with the bucklings to create a leader for them to follow. Herding kid goats is like trying to herd chickens, i.e. they go in all directions. The older goat will give them some focus, making them easier to herd once they have bonded. The weaning process puts stress on the dam, too. I wean one kid per dam per week, starting with the biggest buckling. This process allows the doe's body to lower milk output gradually. Weaning all kids at one time can send her udder into milk overload. This is especially true of dairy and dairy-influenced goats, including Boers and Kikos, both breeds of which have significant dairy genetics in them. If you wean all kids at one time, the dam's udder is going to be uncomfortably tight by the next day. A too-full udder makes her miserable, the potential for congested udder or mastitis is increased, and you likely will have to milk the dam. Do NOT take the dam off water. Repeat: Do NOT EVER take the dam off water. Meat-goat breeds without dairy influence like I raise seldom have this drying-up problem, but I choose to be careful when drying off dams. A competent adult (preferably neutered or spayed) livestock guardian dog, although tough to find but invaluable to have, should have been with the dams as they were kidding so that kids got used to its presence. This, of course,depends upon the availability of a livestock guardian dog who isn't aggressive towards kidding dams or young kids. If not already done, introducing the livestock guardian dog (LGD) is another hurdle that you have to cross. See my article on Livestock Guardian Dogs on the Articles page of www.tennesseemeatgoats.com and in MeatGoatMania. Goats are highly subject to predation. Livestock guardian dogs experienced in working with kids are essential in pastures of newly-weaned goats. A livestock guardian dog should not hurt kids but it can initially frighten them when the dog tries to move a straying kid back to the herd by nudging it in its attempt to familiarize itself with its new charges. Remember that each livestock guardian dog is its own unique individual with challenges that you must either resolve or exchange for a dog that works under your management conditions. Recognize that growing kids require a higher level of nutrition than mature goats, so be prepared to provide quality nutrition to these weanlings as they transition to eating on their own. Do not creep-feed (free-choice) feed them grain products or you will run the risk of overeating disease, ruminal acidosis, bloat, or founder. Do not ever suddenly take any goat off one type of feed and change to another feed type. My article on how to feed newly-weaned kids is on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. This is a very vulnerable time because they no longer are receiving antibodies in their dams' milk that protect them from disease yet their own immune systems are far from mature. Just -weaned kids are very susceptible to Haemonchus contortus (barberpole worm) infestation. These worms suck blood, causing anemia, and can kill them. Doing fecals randomly monthly is essential. Just because you dewormed doesn't mean it worked. You have to find out what dewormer works on your property with your goats. Microscopic examination of fecal pellets using McMasters slides will help you make that determination. Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas 5.1.24 |
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