# To wean, or not to wean lol



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I've been debating on when to wean a couple of kids. Between tomorrow and Sun they will be 10 & 11 weeks old. 
Both are from triplets.
Younger one is about 50lbs - my oldest daughters market wether.
Older one is a little over 50lbs - she'll be a percentage doe for one of the kids

My issue is...these goats are eating me out of the house lol
We have 4 weanlings in a pen <including 1 bro of the doe>.
3 are 4-H goats, the other one is a buckling that we'll either sell privately or take to auction with the other wethers who don't sell.

So trying to feed the 4-H goats well is resulting in feeding the non 4-H goats well too lol

Today I put the buckling back out with the herd. I don't think his mom will let him nurse now especially without his sister. She has been butting him away.

I was thinking this evening we should go ahead and pull the other 2 4-H kids so we can get them weaned, and start getting them on a better feeding schedule.
That'll leave the kids who will probably go to auction sometime next month, and I can give them a more limited amount of grain.

We went through a little over 100lbs. of grain since Friday!  That's a 30gal trashcan full! No way lol! I just can't do it!

Picking up grain today, and some supplements for the 4-H kiddos.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would think that would be fine but I have dairy goats and wean them around the 8 week mark anyway.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

ksalvagno said:


> I would think that would be fine but I have dairy goats and wean them around the 8 week mark anyway.


Thanks, I'm thinking 10-11 weeks is good for these kids, they have grown well, eating and drinking well. I guess I just second guess myself so much that I am confused lol









Okay so it's not that bad haha!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

It is old enough.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

we weaned all of ours at 9 weeks this year, but A lot of years we have weaned all at 8 weeks. Partly because of what you are dealing with. Easier for us to get them separated and on their own feed.


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## francismilker (Oct 22, 2011)

Great topic! I've went both ways from letting mothers wean naturally to pulling them at 8 weeks and haven't seen a significant difference in growth. When I see my kids eating well at the trough I start the process. They usually lose a little weight due to the stress of weining but quickly gain it back.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks everyone! Whew, what a busy day! We have 3 permanent stalls in the main part of the barn, our pregnant doe is in one at night, then we put the 3 wethers in one, and the back stall is full of hay.
So, I took out the pallets in the creep area that had spaces for them to go through, and fixed that up for the 2 doelings.

Tomorrow will be the real challenge, haha....


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## pierceingstarr (Nov 13, 2012)

Holy Moly, I thought I was weaning way to early. I was going to wait till mine were four months old. I think I still will. Kids are in good flesh and moms are in great flesh. No need to pull them off yet if mom can still support them. I think they grow better wile still on mom. But, thats just my opinion. Good to know that I can wean earlier if I want.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

pierceingstarr said:


> Holy Moly, I thought I was weaning way to early. I was going to wait till mine were four months old. I think I still will. Kids are in good flesh and moms are in great flesh. No need to pull them off yet if mom can still support them. I think they grow better wile still on mom. But, thats just my opinion. Good to know that I can wean earlier if I want.


If we were keeping them and the kids weren't using them for 4-H we'd probably just leave them alone. The ones we've weaned are for 4-H so the kids need to get busy on prepping them, but we can't feed them as good as we'd like if they are out with moms and other kids. 
But also 3 of the 4-H kids are from 2 sets of triplets, and those mama's need the kids off of them. They are dairy mixes, but one is just way too thin IMO - she's nursing 150lbs.+ of kids. I want to get the does dried off and back in shape soon so they can be bred in the fall. Especially with how hard of a summer we had last year with the heat, I don't want to wait and the weather stress them out even more.

So far the ones we've weaned have done just fine, they cried the first couple of days, then were fine. I expect pure chaos today though lol


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