Nat,

Patrick's right about getting a good book. There is A LOT to learn and it would be very difficult to deal with all your questions properly in a thread like this one.

Could the folk your getting your goats from do the disbudding or have it done for you? My experience is limited. But I haven't heard of it being done much more than a week after birth.

Is there a local dairy goat club in your area? If so, consider joining. Nothing takes the place of good mentoring. Even considering just bottle feeding technique, there are so many little details, that it would be best if you could see it and/or do it under supervision. If you drop me an e-mail (to do that, click on my profile) I can send you a link to an Oklahoma Goat raising forum. I'm sure you'd be welcome there, even if you aren't in Oklahoma.

George
Tahlequah, OK

PS. Our mentors all recommend either true goat's milk or else goat milk replacer (not just lambs' milk replacer, but GOAT milk replacer) which can be purchased at some feed stores. We buy it by the large sack and save money over the smaller pails.

I used goat milk replacer for my Nubians. I used clean, boiled beer bottles with lamb nipples on them for feeding. I use a five strand electric fence to contain them and have a stall in the barn for them to come and go from as they please. Hope this helps.

I have raised lots of goats on whole cows milk. I have never ever had a problem with weight or anything else. I don't know why people think its so bad? Goat milk replacer is cheaper but.. is that the reason. I am a little upset by the goat owners on this thread right now. Lots and lots of goats are raised on whole cows milk, check out UC Davis, CA with their goat program, its JUST FINE.

OT I don't care if I have proper English. I live on a farm and my animals could care less if I write to you in a "proper" way.

You can't burn your goats horns now, they are too big, you need to visit a vet or talk to the people that are selling your goats to do it. You may end up with a skull/brain infection or serious brain damage if you try this now. Your too new to goats to do it yourself.

Acorns.... you can do research but I think you will be just fine. Don't starve your goats :) and they will free range on all the good forage. They will have some respect of the brush that isn't good for them. On a side note I hope your buying the goats from the same general area. They will be less likely to venture on the new toxic food they see on your property. I bought a goat that was brought to me about 7 hours south, first thing the goat did was test all my ferns. I had a 600 dollar vet bill for a goat I ended up selling anyway. Its all in the research. There are also some goat video's for newbies if you don't like reading. Take notes though!

Use No-climb goat fencing with a single line of electric on top. This is good for the predators that like to jump or if you have a line of Nubians that want to jump. You can also ask the breeder if they are jumpers. They should be honest with you on that one.

Thank you all so much for the info! I have wanted goats for about 3 years now and i am finally getting them! we (family) were going to have someone else disbud out two goats, we know some people who would do it happily for us! snycal, thanks for not caring about proper english too much, i dont care that much for it too. Also, thanks for saying whole cow milk is fine, i read some web sites about it and they said it was ok, but i still wasn't totally sure, it was reassuring that you and a very fine college (where i want to go to school in a few yrs) said that whole cow milk was fine to feed kids with!

Niffer fit a lot into a little space. I'm referring to the bottle feeding info. I have to differ with you Niffer,... we use coke bottles. Just joking!

Syncal, I don't believe I stated anything incorrect. We agree on a number of things. I was accurate in stating that no one in our dairy goat association mentions cows milk. We either use goat's milk (pasteurized, as Patrick mentions) or goat milk replacer. I wasn't saying that you can't use cow's milk. I have simply not heard of it.

Nat, here's a link to a good book on raising dairy goats. This could be of great help. Still, I'd encourage you to find some local club or at least one real live mentor and learn all you can from them. We started on goats in 2005 and cannot speak too highly for the benefits of being able to talk with people, visit them, have them visit and be able to call when questions come up. Goats are great and hopefully you will have a wonderful experience. But make a study of them. Every kind of creature has its special needs and challenges.

George

Here is a link that might be useful: Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats: Breeds, Care, Dairying

snycal' we use whole cows milk when we bottle feed also.
yea i got bad grammer to' but it beats being a igmurangus moron like patrick.

Don't you mean ignoramus?

I think your english is just fine, I don't know who made him the post message dictator. I don't post many messages but I can't stand a bully know it all. Needs to get his head out of......Better leave it at that.

I lived on a farm with massive oak trees and the goats eat the acrons like you would eat popcorn, they are smarter than we some times give them credit for.

Thanks again! Some of the books that i got at the libray said that oak leaves and acorns and things like that were poisonous. It may be b/c we live in a small town (pop:3000) and the books were out of date, like 1950, 1970, and 1980. So....maybe things have changed in the last few years. I have spoken w/4 differnt goat owners, help tons! I thank most of you for your information!

spread the love and give a hug!
natalie

ps: Patrick, i saw this really great bumper sticker in mexico with my family! it said "if only closed minds came with closed mouths"

oh, would you like some ice for that burn?
:-D haha
ok, ill post pictures soon!