# Got my new baby ND today! Need advice...



## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

*Finally!!!*I picked up my new Nigerian Dwarf doeling from Anna at Camanna's Petite Paradise today! We have decided to name her Bambi(on account of the white spots on her body and her white tail(like the deer)).She is exactly 9 weeks old(tomorrow) and is the cutest thing! She is just full of jumps, twists, and flips. And don't even get me started on her bleat! She is so small...I don't know if it's just 'cause I haven't had smaller baby goats, or if she really is tiny. Anna said she was one of her more refined does and shouldn't be bred until after her first year, which I am perfectly fine with! I might already have 4 pregnant does, I don't need another! Her mom was the same way, she wasn't bred until she was two! Bambi was a bit scared of me at first, not totally freaked out, but wary. After the car ride though, she loved me! She took to me instantly. The only problem...she has a fit when I leave! She settles down though after about 10 mins. She is now sleeping quietly in our laundry room(will move her in with our adult does when she gets a bit bigger).

She has grown out so well! She is long, deep, wide, and just overall very nice  Her pasterns and brisket have improved a lot, perfected even! The only thing I am unsettled with is her rump, which is a bit steep and short. However, the goats in her lineage have fairly level and long rumps, so this will probably improve with age.

She is already doing well with handling, I am able to touch her rump, hind legs, and belly with rarely any issues. The only time she struggles is when I surprise her. She is also doing fairly well on a collar. I am using a leash currently so she has the need to follow me(she won't let me more than 5 feet away before chasing after). Anyone have any suggestions as to collar training efficiently? Or am I doing the right thing by using the leash? My first show will be at the end of August and I want her to not have to be dragged around the ring.I'm not having high hopes for her behavior though, she will be in the show with a bunch of kids, so I probably don't have to worry too much lol!

Also...the bottle. If I hold her down and force it in her mouth, she will suckle a little, but I noticed she was hardly drinking any. She's not spitting it out, it's just that when I look at the before and after, there isn't much difference. I assumed that after the first few times she would get the hang of it...the milk and bottle was warm, and it is Nigerian milk(Anna gave me loads of it! I was so happy I would be able to feed her better!And by the way, I tasted the milk, love it!). But she just doesn't like it. I was thinking that she might have just not been hungry due to stress, or she ate late or something. However she is eating(more like nibbling on here and there) grain and alfalfa, so I'm not sure this is the case. Anna said that if she wouldn't take the bottle she was old enough to wean anyways, she is eating hay and grain well, as well as drinking water. She was dam raised, however she has taken a bottle before when Anna offered it to her(about a month ago). I would really like to keep her on milk. I'm also a bit worried that she won't eat enough of the grain and hay to make up for the lack of milk. Anyone know how I can get her to take the bottle without a huge struggle? It wears both me and her out and she really hates it.

Also I have 4 adult does in a pen that I plan to put her in soon. Two Boer does(horned) and two Pygmy/ND does(no horns). Does anyone have any suggestions of when I should do this? When she's bigger or when she's weaned(if she takes the bottle)? Also, the two bigger ones tend to bully the two little ones. I don't want this to happen to the baby, is there any way to introduce them to make sure that they don't bully her?

One more thing..she likes to eat dirt...we have these spots in our backyard where I guess the grass just died or something, so there is a thing of dry crumbly dirt there. _Just dirt._ There is no grain or anything there. I will catch her munching at it sometimes. Any ideas?

Promise I will get pics of Bambi Blue as soon as I can figure out what to take them on! Thank you guys for any information or advice! It is very much appreciated!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Since you just brought her home, I would give her Probios daily for a week. I also wouldn't bother pushing the bottle. If she was dam raised, it will be very hard to get her on the bottle. I would just keep grain or alfalfa pellets out.

Is there a way for her to get away from the big girls? Maybe make a creep feed place so she can get food and hide from the other girls.


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

The creep is a great idea! She has a kennel that's her safe place now, I wonder if there's a way we can block that off from the bigger does. 

I got her to drink her whole bottle this morning! Of course I had to force feed it to her, but she got it all! I even had put her medicine and supplements in there halfway through and she still drank it  I'm going to keep trying at least until the first bottle of milk is gone. She has her grain and alfalfa free choice, but she only really nibbles on it here and there, so either she'll just get hungry and give up, or she's going to start eating more regular food.


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

I let the does sniff each other through the gate...and one of them started biting and headbutting her! She is a big bully to all other goats that aren't bigger than her though, so I'm not very surprised...any advice on how to get her to stop? I've tried spray bottle, yelling, pulling them away, distraction, and she keeps being just plain _mean._My bigger boer doe only bullies the pygmies when she has reason, like when they are in her way or if they are eating something she wants(she only sniffed the little one, she didn't mind her too much). The other doe goes out of her own way to try and hurt the two pygmies. I really can't separate them, I wish I could, but we don't have anywhere else fenced for goats yet. I want to get them both to be nicer before the doeling goes in, otherwise I'm worried they might seriously hurt her.

On a better note, she took the bottle!!!! :fireworks::stars::stars::wahoo::leap::dance:
Can you tell I'm excited?! She took it all on her own. I had previously decided(after trying to get her to want the bottle with no success) to just give her milk once a day in the afternoon and wean her slowly. So, afternoon came and she jumped on my lap like she'd been doing recently. I had an idea to make it easier to get the bottle in her mouth, she likes to chew on the chair so I figured that if I could stick it in while she was chewing I wouldn't get such a fight. I had the bottle in the cupholder opened because I had the nipple in my pocket to keep warm, and she started sniffing it, then licking. I quickly capped the bottle and offered it to her. She started sniffing again, then licking, then chewing, then suckling! Full on suckling! I guess she had been hungry because I hadn't fed her milk the night before, or that morning like I had before(I had only managed to get a bit in at those times, but I guess she got used to it) and decided she really wanted milk  After that, she couldn't get enough! This really makes it easier because it was exhausting. I think the reason she hated the milk so much is because her medicine had been mixed in(the milk was supposed to dilute it, but since I could still smell it in there I'm sure she could taste it!) and I'm sure it tasted awful. She is done with her cocci prevention, but still has Power Punch left that the breeder wants me to finish giving to her. I'm going to give the rest of the supplement to her, but in a syringe. Don't want her to hate the bottle now!


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## Kathy81 (Oct 16, 2012)

Kaneel said:


> I let the does sniff each other through the gate...and one of them started biting and headbutting her! She is a big bully to all other goats that aren't bigger than her though, so I'm not very surprised...any advice on how to get her to stop? I've tried spray bottle, yelling, pulling them away, distraction, and she keeps being just plain mean.My bigger boer doe only bullies the pygmies when she has reason, like when they are in her way or if they are eating something she wants(she only sniffed the little one, she didn't mind her too much). The other doe goes out of her own way to try and hurt the two pygmies. I really can't separate them, I wish I could, but we don't have anywhere else fenced for goats yet. I want to get them both to be nicer before the doeling goes in, otherwise I'm worried they might seriously hurt her.
> 
> On a better note, she took the bottle!!!! :fireworks::stars::stars::wahoo::leap::dance:
> Can you tell I'm excited?! She took it all on her own. I had previously decided(after trying to get her to want the bottle with no success) to just give her milk once a day in the afternoon and wean her slowly. So, afternoon came and she jumped on my lap like she'd been doing recently. I had an idea to make it easier to get the bottle in her mouth, she likes to chew on the chair so I figured that if I could stick it in while she was chewing I wouldn't get such a fight. I had the bottle in the cupholder opened because I had the nipple in my pocket to keep warm, and she started sniffing it, then licking. I quickly capped the bottle and offered it to her. She started sniffing again, then licking, then chewing, then suckling! Full on suckling! I guess she had been hungry because I hadn't fed her milk the night before, or that morning like I had before(I had only managed to get a bit in at those times, but I guess she got used to it) and decided she really wanted milk  After that, she couldn't get enough! This really makes it easier because it was exhausting. I think the reason she hated the milk so much is because her medicine had been mixed in(the milk was supposed to dilute it, but since I could still smell it in there I'm sure she could taste it!) and I'm sure it tasted awful. She is done with her cocci prevention, but still has Power Punch left that the breeder wants me to finish giving to her. I'm going to give the rest of the supplement to her, but in a syringe. Don't want her to hate the bottle now!


Try pulling the bullies ear when she is showing bad behavior, that's what I did and it worked she no longer is mean to the babies


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Hm, I'll have to try that  She really needs some kind of punishment to make her stop, it's almost to the point of me worrying she might seriously hurt them.

I'm currently in the process of switching her milk from goat's milk to whole cow's milk. I did about a 1/3:2/3 ratio of cow:goat and she took it! Whole milk doesn't taste a lot different from goat's milk(I tried it lol) so she likes it 

Anyone know why she eats dirt? I thought it was something in our home dirt that made her eat it, like a salt or something, but we went on a trip to a friends house with her and she was munching on their dirt too! She has free choice minerals, what would she like the dirt for?

And I would really like to learn a technique for training a goat to show. She should be fine on a collar, however how do you train them to stand still and be set up? She is fine with me touching her anywhere, so the moving her around part it good. She just needs to learn to stay the way I put her lol!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is what babies do, they nibble on stuff.


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Oh of course lol! She chews on everything...but she actually eats it like grain or something...oh well, it can't hurt her any!


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Update:

Will weigh her today and get pics as soon as I can! I really want to know what you guys will think of her confirmation as she's grown 

Also, since I don't have a stanchion, I've been teaching her to stand set up by holding her head similar to how they hold a sheep's in showing(under her chin and behind her head). I hold it firm enough so she can't get away, and light enough so it won't hurt her. Will this be effective enough?


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

She's approx. 7.5 lbs(she didn't sit still on the scale) at 11 weeks...does that sound too small? She's a good weight, completely healthy. The breeder said she was one of her smaller does...but I'm not sure how small. How much do 2 months old NDs usually weigh?

UPDATE: Reweighed her...did it with me on, then holding her. She actually weighs 17 lbs lol!


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## KasKiRanch (May 10, 2013)

Soooo...any new pictures ?


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Not yet! I still haven't been able to find the camera...looks like I'm going to have to use the blurry one on the phone. I _will_ get them though


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## KasKiRanch (May 10, 2013)

Kaneel said:


> Not yet! I still haven't been able to find the camera...looks like I'm going to have to use the blurry one on the phone. I _will_ get them though


ugh! I am just dying to see updates ...I actually need to update some pictures of Yoda. He is so super cute and he is the most friendly buckling I have EVER met; is it odd he LIKES to be held? Especially from being raised on mom....I find it odd how loving he is.


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Lol right? My doeling is super friendly! She was a bit skittish during the trip, but as soon as she got home she was jumping in laps, and wanting to be scratched  She was dam raised for 2 months of her life as well. I've kind of taken to babying her though...holding her all the time, letting her sit in my lap. It's all she wants to do now lol. I'm making progress with her standing still and leading! My "method" for setting up has actually kind of worked. I need to figure out a way to get her to stand like that on a collar now though lol. I've started using a mini pinch collar on her now since she struggles so much with everything else. It's worked _very_ well. Even on the first day! Before I couldn't get her to walk by my side no matter what I did. Now, I just hold the leash tight to where she can walk by me and it's loose, but if she pulls or stops, I just keep on walking and she has to walk with me  Hopefully she'll be trained enough by the Oregon State Fair to show how pretty she is.


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Got the pics! Couldn't take a lot of cute ones since I had to use an old Android phone, which won't take any good pictures unless it is perfectly still. But I got some set up ones  I am working on getting her used to being set up, so please excuse the odd angles such 

I just need to upload them and they'll be here! Will put them in both this thread and my critique thread


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Here she is! Hope you guys won't mind telling me a little about her strengths & weaknesses now that she's grown up a little. Her rump is a bit faulty right now but I noticed that other goats in her pedigree had bad rumps until they matured. I guess they all had an "awkward phase" lol. I hope she levels out as she grows


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## KasKiRanch (May 10, 2013)

She seems to changed in color a little bit, more brownish than orangy like her baby pic? She is just to stinkin cute! 

What was her registered name going to be?


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Camanna UP Bambi Blue! And I don't think she changed towards brown(that may be the lighting), she may have changed more towards blonde. I noticed today that she seems to have some kind of blonde roaning with her orange/gold coat. I thought it was white but it was too close to her actual color to be that light. She also has some grey tinging on her rump and along her spine, she's actually kind of an odd color! I think she will smooth out to solid gold after I clip her and once she gets older.


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