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No farm. . .

Posted by Tinia Creamer on October 20, 2014

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I am bias. I know I am. . .

For I see no farm complete if it is void
of Dairy goats

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Miniature Jersey Cows: A Very Functional Farmstead Choice

I admit, I am biased. How can I not be when these lovely creatures live here?
Miniature Jersey cows vary in size and production level.
They do not usually breed true in size, so that inconsistently can make having a herd of really small Jerseys difficult, too.
Their production can range from a gallon a day to 6 gallons a day, with the larger Miniatures giving more, as a rule.
I live on a hillside with little flat land. It rains a lot here, so erosion of soil in a huge concern. My original Jersey back in 2009
Full size Jerseys actually used to be more the size of what we call Miniatures today. Commercial Dairy farming and big Agriculture slowly raised the size of the Petite Jersey (the common homestead cow) to a 900lb animal, instead. The commercial Jersey produced more milk than the homestead variety had, too.
The Miniature Jersey is essentially the Original Homestead Cow. They are 40'' - 46'' (Miniature to Mid Miniature) where Standard Jersey cows will usually…

Coccidia: What all New Goat Owners need to Know

Goats are not native to America or our climates or geography, as a rule.

Healthy goats are made, not born.

As a result, we fight parasites, like Coccidia, frequently.

They thrive in warm, wet weather, especially.

In adult goats, worms are the battle. In goat kids, it is coccidia, which are not killed by any worming medications whatsoever.

From about 4 weeks of age, especially if the weather is already warm, you need to start treating your goat kids to prevent / control coccidia. Kids born in May, June and after will struggle more than kids born in January, for instance.

If you wait until the coccidia flourish, the intestinal tract of the kid can be damaged permanently, the growth can be stunted and/or your goat kid will die.

If a kid has coccidia controlled properly from a young age, by the time fall comes or by the time the kid is about 6 months old, she will have developed a natural resistance, and you should not have further issues with coccidia as the kid grows into an adult unles…

How to Bottle raise goat babies (KIDS)

Bottle raising goat kids: HOW?

I get messages and calls SO OFTEN this time of year. . .

A goat emergency. . .someone has a listless kid that will not eat. There is a very young kid was near death and vets or breeders have told the person to raise the goat kid on milk replacer. . .or the newbie breeder or buyer can't get the kids on the bottle.

First, "Please, NO REPLACER. Take the kid off REPLACER now, if you're using it. Put the kids on Whole cow's milk (never 2%) if local, tested goat's or cow's milk can't be had."

As always, if the folks know how to feed the kid, the kid is then perfectly fine within a day or so.

Replacer kills kids at a huge rate. It isn't as good as store bought milk, and it certainly isn't as good a real (disease tested) cow or goat's milk.

I've been getting these calls for MANY years now, and the answer THAT HAS ALWAYS WORKED has been - NO REPLACER. WHOLE COW'S MILK if goat's milk isn't available. Every si…

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