Weaning Goat Kids

How we Wean Goat Kids
When kids are offered a good quality hay and/or pasture, plus started on creep feeding, they can be weaned as early as 60 days, but 90 days is preferred. Another measurement for weaning a kid is when the kid weighs at least 2 times its birth weight and is eating a significant amount of dry food.

 Intact bucklings need to be weaned to keep them from breeding their Mothers, sisters, or other females in the herd. Doelings can stay with their dams longer. Doelings grow better if they are weaned and if possible moved away from their Mothers no later than six months old. This gives the Mothers time to rebuild their strength after pregnancy before the next breeding. 

Before weaning kids they will need to be Dewormed, given a booster of CD/T and pneumonia vaccine, also ear tagged if not already.

When you start weaning, separate the Mother and kids from each other, preferably out of sight from one another, although it is not absolutely critical.

 If you have intact buck kids, you will need to have two pens available and separate your buck and doe kids after weaning. This will reduce the chance of them chasing the does and to prevent unwanted breeding.

There will be about 2-3 days of adjustment and will usually be a lot of calling out from one another, there is no need to be alarmed this is normal and will pass as fast as it started.

 If possible, allow the kids and their dams to walk around in the pen you plan to use for a few days before weaning. This allows the kids to be more familiar with their new area and can help reduce stress. Kids are amazingly flexible and can get through tiny spaces. If you are using Cattle panels, consider putting some additional fencing with small openings along the panels.

 We wean kids early in the morning, this gives them time to settle in with their new surroundings before nightfall. We try to keep the stress down for Does and kids. At weaning, provide plenty of leafy hay and a feed.  Bucks should be kept on a low grain high hay diet to help prevent Urinary calculi, which can be caused by too much Feed or from an unbalanced Calcium to Phosphorus ratio Feed. 

Dairy kid weaning - We start separating the doe from the kids around 2 1/2 months old. We milk the doe out in the morning and turn into the heard during the day. By the time the Dairy kids are 3 months old they will be fully wean off the doe. Because kids are escape artists and can get their little heads through almost anything, we suggest you do not put them in a pen that shares a fence with their mothers or is even close enough for them to stick their heads through, their mothers will back up to the fence and allow the kids to nurse and you will come out in the morning to milk and find empty udders and babies with full bellies.

Boer kid weaning - We try to have all Kids weaned off the Does by the time they turn 3 months old, but will sometimes leave the doelings on the does allowing the does to wean them naturally. When weaning kids completely off Boer Does watch for signs of abnormally large udders, redness, hot and/or a painful udder. This is a sign that the doe has started to develop Mastitis. If the udder is not cared for soon there may be a problem of future Milk development. Check the doe’s udder to determine if the udder is abnormally warm and/or has milk that seems to be infected by a mastitis. It may be difficult to determine the difference between infected milk and milk that is being reabsorbed after drying up. Usually, infected mastitis milk will be clotted or stringy and may have a foul odor. There are several treatment for Mastitis, but if you are unsure please consult your Veterinarian for recommended treatments. Once the Doe has recovered, Identify and watch them closely at the next kidding to insure they do not have problems with milk production.​

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Blessings,
Margarita & Stace