Goat Kids are so Entertaining
We are having so much fun with the goats. The kids keep us entertained 24/7.
They all know now that people = FOOD! As soon as we approach their enclosure they demonstrate how happy they are to see us.
Registering Kiko Goats
We plan to register all 4 of this year’s kids. The National Kiko Registry (NKR) is the registry we have decided to use.
One of the things they require is the weights of the goats at birth, 30 days and 90 days.
Kiko goats are not judged in shows, but by their performance. The performance criteria include:
- weight gain
- mothering ability and multiple kids
- conformation
- parasite resistance
How to Weigh a goat
We were at the 30 day mark this week and had to figure out how to weigh our kids. We managed to do it by hanging a large IKEA shopping bag from a luggage scale and putting each kid in the bag.
It was not easy, and definitely takes two people! I tried to do it by myself, but failed badly. Luckily Melissa came home as was able to help me out.
Other people suggested holding the goat and weighing yourself and the goat on a bathroom scale, and then deducting your own weight. My scale would not read accurately while it was not on level ground, and I did not really want to take the kids into the house…
For adult goats, we will use a measuring tape to approximate the weights. One day we may be able to justify the cost of a livestock scale.
Our 30 day weights
All of the kids are growing really well and I am happy with their weights.
I hope they will still fit in the Ikea bag at 90 days!
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