Sale of Goats/Lambs

Once per year our goats have lambs, usually toward the end od the dry season may/june, so that the milk will be sufficient at year's end. With goats the gestation period is about 145 days. This means the bucks get a great Christmas gift: they are allowed to mount all the girls.
In the middle of the year we go full throttle. About 40 - 50 lambs are born. No goatmother is left alone at the time of birth. It is not often that a goat gives birth in secrecy. Triplets and quadruplets are no rarity on our farm. Although not desired, our mothers often surprise us with multiple births thanks to our good care!

Now this means work. Not only is Josefa present at all the births, she also supervises the after-care until the first steps of the lambs.The first intake of the lamb from the udder of the mother is vital. The content of valuable antibodies in the milk reduces already several hours after the birth. Therefore the lambs have to drink this milk as soon as possible and as much as possible.

At multiple births one lamb or the other often does not get sufficient milk from the mother. Then the mother has to be aided. We like to have equally strong lambs and none should stay back in its development. A baby bottle is used as substitute. Furthermore, our lambs stay longer than usual with their mother. We think that one cannot speak of "proper animal husbandry" if one separates the lambs from their mothers after a scant two weeks and bottlefeeds them.

Till- born 10.6.2006	Farina- born 5.2.2006
Nils - born 24.5. 2006	Nariva- Nil's sister
Feli- born 2004 1st Prize Anglo Nubian Female *Worl Food Day 2005 * NFS