Time to sell the Goat Kids
We now have 11 goat kids that are 3 months old. Most of the kids are for sale. They are all either Purebred or Pure New Zealand Kiko Goats, and can be registered. We have decided to keep two of the doelings, the rest need to find new homes. We hope they will find homes where they will be used as breeding stock, to improve other goat herds.
The goat Kids are so adorable! I hate to see them go. Check out what is for sale HERE
90 Day Weights
It is traditional for Kiko kids to be weighed at birth, at 30 days, and at 90 days. This is performance data. As a meat breed, buyers want to see that kids have put on weight steadily.
Here are the weights for our 2023 kid crop
Vaccines
All of our goats are vaccinated each spring with boosters of Tasvax 8. This vaccine prevents Tetnus, as well as a whole long list of clostridial diseases. Their mothers immunity protects the kids for the first month or two, then we give them each two doses for their own immunity. The kids should continue to receive Tasvax or another CDT vaccine each spring.
Herd Health Testing
This year, we took blood samples from all of the dams as well as our breeding buck and sent the sample off for testing. This was not easy to do. We tried to do it ourselves, but were unable to find a vein. The vet was short staffed and not able to send anyone to our farm to draw the blood. Finally we found out that one of our neighbours used to do blood draws on people. We convinced her to come give it a try. Apparently goat hides are a lot thicker than human skin, but after some trial and error, she was able to collect all the samples.
All the adult goats tested negative for CAE and Johne’s disease.
Some people also test for CL. However, this testing is controversial. We have never had any goats with abscesses of any type, so did not feel that CL testing was necessary.
For more info on these diseases, click Here
We are proud to be able to say that we have a clean, healthy herd.
