Teenagers

We call this “Goat Therapy.” It’s good for them, and for us!

We have over one hundred baby goats born at Jollity Farm every year. When they are born, both male and female goats are called kids. A male goat under one year is called a buckling. A female goat under one year is called a doeling. But around here, we call them all TEENAGERS. Post weaning and pre-breeding.

The youngest kids stay up at the barn on the knoll either with their dams (moms) or in the nursery or a combination of both. Female kids move down to this pen when they are weaned, which can happen as early as 8 weeks, but it kinda depends on how well they are growing. Some will get milk longer for 10, 12 or even 16 weeks. When they are ready to be weaned, we move them down here so they have plenty of room to run around, get lots of love and attention from visitors, and play and bond with each other and with us.

Salvia (Born 2020) and her newborn doeling. This little girl is a mini Alpine, she was retained in the herd. She does not yet have a name.

They are fed a diet of alfalfa, free choice minerals, and pelleted feed. They also enjoy treats from visitors. If you are lucky enough to find an acorn on the ground, they love acorns! If you plan ahead, you can also feed them carrots or apples if you cut them up into bite sized pieces. Please do not feed them anything else without asking us first. Most of them have been either fully or semi bottle fed so they are very friendly and LOVE visitors. Please be aware they do have TEETH! So watch your fingers :). These girls are fun to watch as they run & jump & play. They are maturing not just physically but they are learning and developing a personality too. They will continue to grow, add weight, develop physically and emotionally for at least a year or two.

In general, these are the doelings that we plan to keep and breed. We typically breed them at around 9 to 10 months of age. These girls will all be bred to a Nigerian Dwarf buck (this year its Johnny Cash). We use a small breed buck so the babies are smaller, ideally making the first delivery for each of these girls as easy as possible. Once they pass the one year mark, females are called Yearlings, and no longer teenagers. We like to move them up to the dairy barn about a month or so before they kid.

Originally posted October 16, 2021