Growing kids in goat breeding for beginners
Goat breeding is a great option for those who like to drink milk, but the area of the site does not allow to have a cow. If you have a large herd, then raising goats is a good business. In addition to selling goat milk, you can make cheeses and feta cheese. Many goat breeders are engaged in breeding goats and sell young milking goats.
To form a strong herd, healthy kids are needed, therefore, from the first minutes of life, young animals are given colostrum, this is very important for the further development of the immune system of the kids.
It is necessary to feed the kids for breeding in a special way. These kids are given milk for 4 months. They are fed bran and ground beans with corn and barley. Goats are very fond of this food, but legumes are added in small quantities so as not to cause stomach upset. This feed promotes rapid muscle growth and healthy development of the breeding herd.
Weaning kids from the udder
If the kids receive milk from their mother for a long time, it will be impossible to wean them from the udder. When the kids are grazing together, they will drink most of the milk. So after three weeks keeping kids together with the goats, they must be gradually weaned from the udder. First, the young are placed in a separate room only for the night. During this period, you can start milking your goats. About half a liter of milk is removed from each. Every morning, the kids are brought to the udder, they are given milk to drink, but this portion is not enough for them, so they are fed with vegetable feed. During this period, the kids are given oatmeal steamed with bran. It is diluted with warm water to the consistency of liquid sour cream. After a week of this content, the kids are transferred to a separate aviary, where they are fed only with vegetable food.
Artificial feeding
At this time, the kids intended for breeding are taught to drink milk from a common bowl. In goat breeding, there is a practice of feeding kids with a teat. This way of feeding is not effective, since a large number of bottles must be kept clean. In addition, you need to feed each goat separately, which takes a lot of time. If you teach kids to drink from a common container, the risk that they will begin to suck milk when grazing together decreases.
Some kids don't want to drink milk from a bowl. In this case, the kid is brought to a container with milk and a finger is dipped into it. The goat will take the human's finger for the udder and begin to lick the milk. Gradually tilt your finger towards the bowl. In this way, even the most stubborn kids can be taught to the total capacity.