# worried about Jitterbug's size



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Jitterbug (or reg name Hope) will be 1 year old on March 24th which is 2 weeks away.

She is 1 month younger then Angie. I bred Angie back in December but kept Jitterbug dry because of her size and a promise to the breeder that I wouldnt breed her till she was a year old. No biggy I wanted to show her as a junior doe anyway.

here she is next to a 3 1/2foot high fence (to top rail not the top of post)
[attachment=0:ybfnmfab]Goats March 8th 013.jpg[/attachment:ybfnmfab]

here she is with me back sometime in the winter - she is about the same size
http://www.endofthelinefarm.com/jitterbug.htm

I am afraid she isnt growing :shrug:

How big are your 1 year olds?

She is one of quads and all were bottle raised. Was very tiny when I saw her but expected her to grow once she got to my place. She has grown but not in the leaps and bounds that Angie has who again is only 1 month older then her. Am I worrying for nothing? My mom thinks she is tiny and has said something about it twice but not recently because I keep telling her "its normal" but I wonder if it really is normal for her.

Will try to get better comparrison pictures if I can.

To me she looks like a 4-5 month old not a 11 1/2 month old.  But she is more mature in her features and such just not in her over all height and length


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

my yearling that was born 3/26/08 is about that size. i bred her to my buck buddy, because he throws small kids


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I am not breeding her till fall/winter so I have time for her to grow if she will grow. She is to tiny to breed. The little thing is really light too. I should try getting a weight on her. To bad I wont have time tomorrow but maybe on Friday.

found another picture

This was from feb 2nd
[attachment=0:46hb5jaa]Lola Febr 2nd.jpg[/attachment:46hb5jaa]


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

ah, well then she should be fine in the fall no problem.. i can try to get some pictures and measurements on my little doe if you want


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

yah that would be good .. I just want to know if she is normal 

being one of quads I am sure didnt help her but my Kitten who was 1lb when born grew really well and I havent seen her in a while but when I last did she was close to Jitterbug's size and she was half the age!


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

I have 2 one year olds and one is SUPER tiny and the other is pretty tiny also. Also my Fire is TINY compared to the other Nubie and they are 2 months apart in age.

Some lines grow extremely slow and some just are tiny. Has she ever been tested for Cocci?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

oh I just remembered that I was out of loose minerals for like 6 months as I tried to get to the feed store that carried it but couldnt due to new work schedule. Then I tried my feed store with a different product and it was a slower process to get it then it should have been, anyway they have had it for a couple months now and eat it like crazy

I feed her 1/4-1/2cup of sweet feed/BOSS mixture twice a day and once a day she gets that topped with Fastrack.


And as to cocci -- possibly. When Angie was sick a while back I was trying to get a stool sample from her to do a fecal but I just had to guess if it was hers or not as I didnt have all day to watch her poop after trying for 1 day previous. So I took the fresh berries off the milking stand where both does had been (Angie and J'bug) and the fecal showed cocci. Both does were treated for cocci. This was back in November I think.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Stacey, I'm sure she is growing normally. She is just a year old...well, not quite but she does look to be right on track. I worry about my kids as well...I know that Hope is a reg. nigi, but my little Bailey is turning a year on the 23rd, Heidi turned a year Feb 20....Bailey is bigger than Heidi but still small compared to Angel who will be 2 years in May. 

She'll be just fine, and will very likely be one of the very dairy nigi's with the refined dainty bone structure...which is fine as my Binky is built in that manner...and since you are waiting til fall to breed her I think she will do alot of growing in that time, and will surprise you with how much she fills out.

I know how easy it is to second guess yourself on whats normal or not, but not having a sister to compare her with makes it that much harder.
Comparing her to Angie's size is different Angies lines are different, therefore she's going to grow at a different rate.

I'm sure the little "beauty queen" will make you proud as a Junior Doe :wink:


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## Haviris (Oct 7, 2007)

They all grow at their own rates, I wouldn't worry until she's finished growing. I had a doe, Jade, who at 1 year was the same height as my 3 month old buckling, Dallas. She was always a smallish doe, but in the normal range (she was a triplet and dam raised if that matters). Dallas (who was a bottle raised twin) was a fast grower, he throws fast growing kids and when bred to Jade they had triplets who were also fast growers. In fact the doe I kept out of them recently turned a year old and will soon be having her first kids! 

I guess my point is they all grow differently and I don't think there is anything to worry about at this point!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I just dont want to be missing anything. Thanks for the reasurances.


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

Yep, she's probably just a slow grower.  You could have her checked for cocci to be on the safe side, but more than likely she's just taking her sweet time in the growth department. 

I've had a couple like that...I kept thinking that I was doing something wrong or that they were freaks because I would look at other goats the same age and these were dwarves compared to them. But they were perfectly healthy and eventually got to be normal adult size, they were just about 6mos. behind they others. Certain lines/ goats just produce slow growers, I guess... :shrug:


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

I'm not able to get a size reference from this picture, I guess I'm "challenged" LOL. Anyway, I went out and measured Pepper for a comparative for Jitterbug as she is having a birthday soon. Pepper was one of Izzy's quads, born March 2008. She is approx 17 inches tall (measured to top of her withers). She is approx. 21 inches long (from the chest to her hind quarters, not including her tail). Her mother is the largest Nigerian I have, but is also the oldest by several years. Pepper was the 2nd to the smallest of that litter, but I didn't consider any of them to be runts. 

I did wonder once or twice if she was growing well...as one of the younger doelings would "catch up" to her, then she'd have a little growth spurt, but seems to have slowed down lately. But, I think now, she's going to be an average size as she is almost as big as my Prairie Wood girls who are a year older then her.

So, go get a tape measure and let's compare our yearlings. Sounds like something to pass the time while I wait for Jada to kid... :GAAH: :coffee2:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

ok will have to see if I can get her to stand still long enough to get a measure, she doesnt fit in the milking stand- to tiny!


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

LOL, as I said, approximate measurements! I was alone too...you have to have a measure with LARGE numbers! So, you can get it "on the fly"! Good luck!


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## mnspinner (Aug 13, 2008)

I also have a kid the same age who is very tiny, I think even more so than yours. She was 11 days premature but quite a scrapper. She has been showing a nice spurt over the past couple months and she is from a line that is slow to mature. Most kids from her mom have not been bred til their second year. And this doe was also from a very small sire.
So don't give up yet. I'd give her another six months and see where she is.


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

here's bebop.. actually standing normal.. haha progress


she's about 19 inches


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## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

Certain lines grow at different rates. I have Hallelujah who's out of my CV lines and she was HUGE at 7 months so she was bred. Actually I didn't really plan to do that one but it happened all the same. She is the largest yearling we have and kidded like an old pro. She did fabulous! I wouldn't hesitate with a doe from those lines again if they're like her. 

However, I also have 3 Rue (Little Tot's Estate Meadow-Rue) daughters who are all the same size. All 3 were bred but they're not as big as Hallelujah but not too small either. I think next time I would wait a little longer on them. 

Then I have Gwen who is doing great and will be a year old April 1 but she probably wont' be bred till the fall. I think it just depends on the lines, the methods they were raised and all. Hallelujah was on her dam the whole summer and into the fall. The rest were kept and dam's sold or were bottle babies and they're slower to mature.

Mariposa is still on her dam and is also out of the CV lines. She's 4 months old and is already the size of Gwen who's almost a year. To give you an example of the line differences. I really love my quick maturing lines.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

Stacey, harmony grew really slowly too. She was sick when she was a little baby and it stunted her growth in the first year, so she was an extremely small yearling. But she's plenty big enough now! (at 2 years)

LW


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## RowdyKidz (Apr 2, 2009)

She probably just grows slow... :thumb:


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## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

We all have some juniors who are much smaller than others. Can be due to bottle raising, can be due to lines and it can be an individual goat. I would wait it out and just show her as a junior if you want. 

I have Gwen who just turned a year old April 1st, yes an April Fool's kid from last year. Anyway, I also have Mariposa, both are black and both are the same size. Mariposa is 5 months old. This shows the difference in lines effect on growth too. My Caesar's Villa offspring grow exceptionally fast and turn out stunning. I am beyond thrilled with those results. I do tend to be disappointed when we reach a year birthday for a goat and they're small. I don't like having to wait till they're 18 months or even 2 years to breed them. That ends up putting me off and I tend to sell them. I want my herd to be productive which means being able to produce at a good age. So lines too small or too slow I don't mess with. 

Gwen however has two things going for her. One she was a bottle baby, so hence her smaller stature. I give her slack for that. The other thing is that she is my daughter's pet. She and Gwen became buddies very early on and that goat won't leave because she's Hannah's. I have no problem with that what-so-ever. If she eventually matures enough to be bred then great. If she doesn't, then she will still have a place in our herd. 

That being said, Gwen has consistantly grown, just slower than many others in her age group. She's not "small" just not big enough to breed yet. She will be big enough I believe by fall so she will freshen for the first time next Spring. That should be something to see. Hannah midwife to her precious Gwen. LOL


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## kritterkeeper (Nov 27, 2007)

this is funny because I got on this morning to ask the same question-I have a almost 11 mo old Pgymy doe named Ava (she is my baby) the other day we were weighting the 7 mo old corgi puppy and Ava was in the house visiting and we weighted her too the puppy weighted 25 lbs Ava the goat weighted 21 lbs..

so I just went and and measured her and she is 13 inches tall- I then measured her almost 3 yr old 1/2 brother and he is 20 inches tall.. the mom is not a people goat so she is hard to catch but Renny is the one closes to her size. 

I do not breed the goats till they would be 2 yrs old when they deliever so she has a yr to grow but I seen her Twin brother the other day and he is a good 18 inches...they were both bottle babies and in good health, 

could she just be Petite but how small is to small to breed- 





Donna B


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

give her time....she will grow more - goats grow for 4 years.

Jitterbug is finally growing a bit


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## bheila (Jan 10, 2009)

I suppose some goats are just destined to be small :shrug: Our wether Chester stands 14 1/2" tall and has weighed 25lbs for the last 6 months and he's 1 year old. He's like a little lap dog.


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## kritterkeeper (Nov 27, 2007)

He is SO CUTE! 

I do not mind Ava being so small I think it is very cute and she loves to be picked up and cuddled , I just wonder if she never gets any bigger by next yr would it be safe to breed her.. 

Donna B


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## bheila (Jan 10, 2009)

kritterkeeper said:


> He is SO CUTE!
> 
> I do not mind Ava being so small I think it is very cute and she loves to be picked up and cuddled , I just wonder if she never gets any bigger by next yr would it be safe to breed her..
> 
> Donna B


Thank you! We think he's adorable too!!!  I just reread your post and realized Ava is even smaller then Chester. I would be hesitant to breed her at her size too, but could you imagine if Chester was a buck and we bred them. Oh how cute and tiny those kids would be :hug:


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## kritterkeeper (Nov 27, 2007)

I thought the same thing when I read your post!  

Could you Imagine how cute and small those babies would be-my smallest baby pygmy was 1 lb 14 oz.. and that was not Ava it was her 1/2 brother Renny who is now almost 3 and is 20 inches tall and weights about 45-50 lbs now..
There is a guy I met at our fair last summer who said he raised Mini Pygmys :shrug: and said they were about 14 inch tall but I bet I could not afford his breeding prices... 

oh well -- 

Donna B


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