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["SISU!" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Robert Walton wrote:

> The two Alpine-Nubian cross doelings that I just bought should 
> freshen in March. I've had them a week and it's been a tough week for
>  them, what with the new herd and all. I think that they are doing 
> fine. I can just describe them as skittish. They still won't eat from
>  a feed bucket.  I'm interested in how ya'll would work them towards 
> letting me milk them in the spring.
>
> Also, they are already bred to the Boer buck,

As you know or are at least figuring out, how you raise a goat makes a
big difference in how easily they are handled.  Meat goat people
generally don't milk and therefore a hands off, more natural approach is
fine...Dam rearing is natural, but the dam reared goats will generally
be more skittish.  I know some will disagree, but this is my experience.
People who raise dairy goats will generally bottle feed their doelings.
Bottle raising, aside from other benefits, will produce tamer goats that
trust you and when they grow up, it's a breeze to milk them.
But that's neither here nor there for you right now.  I would venture a
guess that your ANX's were dam reared-either that or their previous
owner did not spend much time with them and they developed a strong herd
mentality to the point that they are unsure of you.  You may have to
force the issue, more on that in a sec..
I got a couple of goats once that had been dam raised.  They were twins,
and like yours, I got them already bred.  Moon and Zoe were just as you
described yours and when I first got them, I couldn't get them to eat
out of a bucket.  Zoe never really calmed down to my liking, but later
did for someone else(I sold her and her kids the day after she kidded)
Moon became one of my favorite goats.
Here is what I think..
If the rest of your goats are 'wild', separate the girls if you can to
get them away from the meat goats and out of the herd mentality.  It
will be easier on them if you do this now rather than later.  You may
have to tackle one to catch her, but catch the goat and put a collar on
her if she doesn't have one so you can easily lead her around.  Treat
her just as if she were a dog and take her for a walk.  She'll protest,
but soon learn that going with you is good because you take her to new
browse and she will associate going with you to pleasurable food.
Groom your girls.  Give them baths and/or brush them.  At first you may
need to tie the leash around a tree to do it, but later you should do it
on the milkstand.  As time goes on, you can expose them to various
things...hoof clippers, clanging milkpails, electric clippers, etc. Be
sure to give them treats or feed to distract them.  Goats are very food
oriented and respond to positive reinforcements of food offerings.  Talk
to them and try to stay as calm as possible, even if you are mad or
frustrated.  Your goal is to be able to walk up and easily catch the
goat, and then lead her onto the milkstand for milking and care.
Eventually, they will understand the routine and they will beat you to
the milkstand and jump up there.  If you do it right, you may not even
have to close the stanchion. :)  My goats would practically knock me
down getting on that milkstand and would fight each other to be the
first one out the door to go to the milkroom.  Sometimes, if two slipped
 out instead of one, I would have to wrestle the other one back in the
pen.  They wouldn't run off, because they knew what good things were
waiting for them in the milkroom.  I also kept my feed in there and the
smell to them was like candy..
The important thing is to handle and spend time with them over the next
few months.  Put your hands all over them, especially on their udders
and feet.  Like I say, in the beginning you are going to have to force
this and the does will protest to the point that you think you will
strangle them or that they will strangle themselves, but they should
eventually come around as they are creatures of habit and they like a
set routine.  Always get the same goat first, pick whichever one is the
boss.  If you can catch and tame the queen, you have won half the battle
with the others. It's gonna take time, but you might be amazed at how
quickly they will adapt once you start the program.
With Zoe and Moon, they would never come when I called them like my
other goats would, they would simply follow the queen when she came.
Zoe eventually got to where she wouldn't run when I approached her, but
would never make the effort to come to me.  If she was 100 feet away, I
had to go and get her.  I hated that, and that's one of the reasons I
sold her.  I didn't want the others in the herd to think that was
acceptable behavior.  Moon, on the other hand, did calm down and while
she never approached me for loving, she eventually allowed me to walk up
and grab her to be led around.  After she kidded, I took her babies so
they would bond to me instead of their mother.  Moon suddenly realized
that I was the queen, and after that, she developed a suck up attitude
and I never had a problem with her.  It was like she trusted me more
after that, so I think it is important to be there when they kid, to
both enhance the trust factor with the doe and to remove kids for bottle
feeding, which is something I practiced all but one year.
Since I had a closed herd with no CAE, and my health was poor, I allowed
the goats to dam rear one year.  It worked for me at the time, but I
ended up selling that crop of kids because I just couldn't tame them
down enough in a reasonable time period with my own reduced capacity for
working with them.  It did not tear up udders like I had feared, and I
had no problems with mastitis like I had feared....those fears and
worries were unfounded, but I must say that I simply got lucky since
most of the kids that year were doelings instead of bucklings.
Bucklings are harder on mom.
I don't have 25 years with goats, but I have done it both ways.  I
prefer bottle fed goats for milkers.

Bev


--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky