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2 Baby Saanen Goats???
I just bought a brother and sister Saanen goat. It says that they are milking breeds. But some sources say they DO NOT HAVE to be milked, and some sources say they HAVE TO be milked?????? Help me please, does the female absolutely have to be milked???? They are only 3 weeks old now, so I am bottle feeding them, so i have a little time to figure this out. If there are any suggestions for what to feed them at this age and how?, feel free to share with me, PLEASE
3 Answers
- 5 years ago
OMG, I run into the same problem here! Something tells me that dis-budding a baby goat is in itself a inhumane thing to do! I had three kids last spring and opted for not dis-budding. I was convinced everything was gone be okay. Well, they are now about a year old and here is the scene: when the young buck wants to chase away the young does, he is very aggressive and he CAN hurt them. He also goes after people. Even if he knows you and kind of respects you, he will be still aggressive to you when they are new people around (who by the way get terrified, fearing to be head budded). When he is in heat (although he wears an apron (olol), if the goat runs away from him, he attacks them with his horns, hoping she'll submit. The two does never go after people, but when they chased each other away to get to the hay (can be grain or bottle or anything that they want), I see clearly that they can hurt each other too. These goats are pets and I hate to separate them. Most goat people separate the bucks from the does and I understand perfectly their reasons. My goats are turned loose around me and I am starting to rethink this ''beautiful'' philosophy. I came to the conclusion that for my next batch of kids, the young buck WILL BE dis-budded, but not the females. In the meantime, I filed off JUST THE TIP of everybody's horns, I'd say about 1/3 of an inch (to be safe from getting to sensitive matter) so that they are round. They can still play or protect themselves from possible predators... I am not sure if this will be a solution, but for now, this might seem to work for me... I still strongly feel against the dis-budding method but I dont' know what else to do. Hopefully time and experience will teach me a better alternative.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
The Saanen dairy goat originated in Switzerland, in the Saanen Valley. Saanen does are heavy milk producers and usually yield 3-4 percent milk fat. It is medium to large in size (weighing approximately 145 lbs/65kg) with rugged bone and plenty of vigor.
I think you have a choice whether you want to milk them but they are definitely dairy goats.
