Here are the three doe kids I kept this year. They were born between March12th and15th. They are15 weeks old in these pics.
Lilly
Seal
Josephine
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Bringing up Baby
This year I set up a new feeding system for my kids, and wow did they grow!! I bred 9 does this year and had 3 sets of twins, 5 sets of triplets, and 1 set of quads. There were 12 doelings and 13 bucklings for a whopping total of 25 kids!!
Here are the three doe kids I kept this year. They were born between March12th and15th. They are15 weeks old in these pics.
Here are the three doe kids I kept this year. They were born between March12th and15th. They are15 weeks old in these pics.
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8 comments:
Those are beautiful little does! I especially like Josephine. :)
Christie, what happened to all the others? Have a great weekend
I sold them Paula. I need to keep my farm small and manageable :)
Your babies are beautiful!!!
On your feeding system, where did you get those nipples & the tubes that fit into them? How do you keep the nipples from being pushed through the dog dishes? Also, what size hole did you drill in the dog dishes for the best fit?
I raised 4 bottle kids this year....All with pritchard nipples & soda bottles. Fed 4 bottles a day until 7-8 weeks....then 3 bottles per day until 12-14 weeks, then cut back to 2 a day! It was A LOT of work & since I'll have more kids this year, I want to simplify things a bit.
I've tried the black lamb nipples you stretch over a pop bottle & hated them....hard to put on, & the kids seemed to have a harder time nursing from them. Are the grey nipples you use eaiser to get on a pop bottle than the black stretchy ones?
Thanks in advance for the help.....
You will LOVE this system Crystal! The grey nipples fit on a pop bottle too. I get the nipples and tubes from Caprine Supply,
It you pm me on HT I can send you the link :) The holes for the nipples are 5/8". The nipples can not be pulled through the holes. There has been no wear on the feeders at all! I'll never go back to lambars but I always bottle feed the first few days. Caprine supply also sells check valves. They hold milk in the tube so very young kids don't have to suck so hard to get their milk.
Thank you! Will shoot I a PM on HT!
Only had two does kid this year & bought bottle bucks......trying to make sure the kids had as much milk as comfortably possible & feeding them all individually multiple times a day really had me on the run! Especially since I'm a firm believer in not weaning until 16 weeks.....longer for does!
I'm planning on breeding in October & have to find a better solution before kids arrive, lol.
I'm breeding in October too! Well, I'm going to CIDR one this week to kid in December. I am trading her for a bunch of bee hives and honey equipment :)
I got your PM and sent you the links. Let me know if you need anything else!
Thanks so much, I got all the links & book marked them! I'm exited to try it all out!
Good luck with the CIDR....and how exciting....more bee stuff!!! :-)
I had one doe kid early December last year.... I was stuck in the barn at 2am on an icy night & it wasn't much fun at all! Mini's are being bred for November/December kids, but they will all be kidding at my mom's house so I won't have to worry on those, lol
February kids for my Alpines is ideal....had March kids this past year, but that was hectic because I was planning my son's birthday party...and sure enough, the momemt I run to town to pick up a few things she kids with triplets in under 2 hours while I was gone!! Though before I left she was playing queen of the mountain looking as if labor would never come!
So October breedings should make things a bit less hectic, lol Not to mention the weather is so much easier on the kids....not too cold, & not so warm that all the summer bugs are out.
How many does are you breeding this year?
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