# New guy from Napa



## VineyardGoat (Apr 30, 2013)

Hi all. A few months back my family agreed to let me have some space near the vineyard to put a few goats and sheep. The babydoll sheep went out in February and my goats come this weekend. I'm overwhelmed, scared, and nervous, and excited. I've read a ton, still can't make heads or tails of many of the health conundrums such as vaccinating etc. 
Anyway, this Saturday my two mini Nigerian wethers arrive and in two weeks my mini Nubian wether arrives. Three total.

They will be 9-10 weeks old and were bottle-raised. I've got the temporary shelters ready for them, as well as a fenced yard obviously. The breeders have provided me a few feed items to continue them on.

So many questions, for example, at this age, should I plan on giving a copper bolus right away? They'll be in with sheep so no copper in the minerals. Would it be wise to put out baking soda right away or have these little guys stomachs even fully developed yet? Ammonium Chloride for young wethers. When, how much?

I'm pretty much doing this solo as I don't have any other goat friends. They are obviously intended as pets and to bring some color to our small vineyard here in Napa. Thanks for reading. I look forward to learning as much as possible.

Cheers!


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## elchivito (Apr 18, 2010)

There are some minerals that contain ammonium chloride, offhand I'm not sure which ones. I keep it on hand in case I need it to drench with in case of a blockage. 
Regarding baking soda. Baking soda is VERY alkaline. I had an old pet wether who threw stones often. He hogged the free fed baking soda like it was candy. Our water is very hard. After three episodes where I nearly lost him, it occurred to me that maybe the free choice baking soda along with hard water was a bad idea. Once I began only offering it to goats that seemed to need it, he never threw another stone. There is no research that I can find on this, it's purely my own observation. If your water is PH neutral or close to it, maybe it's not an issue. 
If they are fully weaned and chewing cuds, you can bolus them. 
By the way, hope your fences are stout. Goats ADORE grapevines. Don't ask how I know.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Wethers and baking soda free choice don't do well together. At worst the soda will cause stones. At best it's a waste of money as the soda deactivates the Amonium chloride. 
Goats naturally make soda in their saliva when they are chewing cud. The very best way to ensure that they are gettng enough, is to provide a quality high roughage diet. 

Now diet, for wethers, balance is very important. The CA/PH must be right. Too much phosphorus can cause stones much quicker and worse the too much calcium. As you can tell, I raise my wethers for longterm use. They hike and camp with me well into their teens. For your little guys I would feed the best quality horse hay I could afford. Instead of grain, I would feed 1 cup of alfalfa pellets topdressed with 1/8 cup beetpulp pellets, twice a day. This is a good balanced ration for them. Wether sheep can be fed this too. They also can get stones. 

Minerals, find a good quality sheep mineral. Look for CA/PH 2CA to 1PH. Make sure that they contain Selenium and Colbalt. They should also contain Amonium Chloride. Your goats can have their first copper bolus at 4 months old. 
Kelp, I would provide kelp free choice instead of soda. Kelp contains many micro-nutrients that ruminates need. It will also make your sheeps wool beautiful and your goats soft and shiney.

Water, you'll want to test the PH of your water. You want it neutral, right at 7. If it is higher then that, you can add a small amount of lemon juice to bring it down. Usually it only a couple spoonfuls. 

Have fun with your new babies


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## VineyardGoat (Apr 30, 2013)

Thanks both. As you're aware, all these books contain so much broad information, it's hard to tell where exactly I need to be. I'm in CA so I'm assuming I have high quality grass hay. I just bought a two bales of oat hay for $25 a piece. Not cheap! And alfalfa was a dollar more than that, but they are 110 pound bales. So GoatHiker, are you saying free choice hay, plus the daily 2 cups per goat of pellets?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Yes, goats need fiber, protien and carbs. The hay is roughage and protien, the alfalfa pellets are protein and calcium, the beet pulp pellets are carbs and calcium.
Since grass hay and oat hay are about 1:1 CA/PH the alfalfa pellets and beet pulp will balance their diet. 
My boys are given enough alfalfa pellets that they never quite finish them. Basically they are getting them free choice.
Beet pulp is measured out because it is very fattening.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Oh, and since Napa valley is much like the area I live with lots of grapes and wineries. This might be interesting to you.

A single grape leaf contains.
826 IU of vitamin A
3 micrograms of vitamin K
1 milligram of manganese
10.9 milligrams Calcium

Very good healthy treats and they love them.


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## VineyardGoat (Apr 30, 2013)

That's great to know, I'm sure they'll be clambering up the fence to get to the vines in no time! And I'll have all the prunings I can collect for them in the summer and fall when we leaf.


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## VineyardGoat (Apr 30, 2013)

*Bad News*

Unfortunately I arrived to pick up my kids Saturday morning only to be told that they got the runs the night before and the breeder wasn't comfortable sending me home with sick goats. I appreciated her concern and agree that healthy goats is our priority. Apparently she believes they had received too much bottle milk or something along those lines as they are 9 weeks old and are being weened. Poor boys. They are super-cute and friendly and I'm excited to bring them home, just home they get their system figured out so I don't have to stress!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Kudos to the breeder...it is best to have them moved when they are 100%...the stress of moving..weening and a new home can be hard on them..

Welcome to the forum...: )


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## elchivito (Apr 18, 2010)

You are buying from a conscientious breeder. Well done!


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## VineyardGoat (Apr 30, 2013)

Thanks. Finally had time to stop playing and get some pics up. Here are my crew of boys. The Nigerians are Mocha and Macaroon. The Nubian is Java and boy does he make noise! Is it me or are my Nigerians fat little boys?


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