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12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
4 H FRETTER-ER
A BUCK GROWS UP
ADAPTING
AGAIN, THE SKY IS FALLING
ALL YOU NEED IS ... CARDBOARD
AMANNAMEDJED
AND THEN IT GOT COLD
AND THEN IT WARMED UP TO ZERO
ANGRY GOAT FARMER
ANTIQUE GOAT FARMING
ANYTHING BUT THAT
ARE BUCKS EVER BABIES
AROMA THERAPY
ARTFUL DODGERS
ARTIC FRONT
AUTUMN BOQUET
B U B - B U B - B U B
BABY BACK EXCUSE
BABY MONITORS
BACK TO NATURE
BAIT
BARKING AT GOATS
BARN SOUR TRUCK
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
BE HAPPY
BEAUTY MISTAKES
BEHAVIORS
BEHIND THE GATE
BIG 10-4 GOAT FARMER
BIKINI WEDNESDAYS
BILLBOARD GOAT FARMING
BILLIES & STICKWEEDS
BLIZZARD OF 92
BLONDE GOAT FARMER
BLONDE HUMOR
BOTTLE BABIES
BOTTLE BABY TALK
BOTTLE BABY WITHDRAWAL
BOXING SUNBEAMS
BRONCHITIS.
BRUISE OR DIRT
BUCK LOVE
BUCKETHEAD
BUCKS IN STOCK
CALLING YOOOOU
CAN'T TOUCH THIS
CANE I DO IT?
CARPAL TUNNEL HAY
CATCHING PEARL
CHICK CHICK CHICORY
CHOCOLATE PLUM
CHRISTMAS KIDDING
CHUCK
COLD IS OUR FRIEND NOT
COUGH DROP WORMER
COUNTING
CRUMPLED
CUD CHEWING CONTENTMENT
DAYCATIONS
DEAR FAVORITE RELATIVE
DELOUSED
DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW ...
DOES ON KIDDING
DOWNSIZING
DRAMA QUEEN
DRENCHED!
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
DUCT TAPE.
DUMPSTER RAIDERS
EARPUGS
EGG SHELL MASSACRE
EMMITT
EMPTY NEST SYNDROME
EQUIPMENT OPERATORS - DANCERS
ESCAPE ARTIST
ESCORT SERVICE
FALLING SKY
FARM WALK
FARMER C S I
FEEL LIKE A NUT
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
FIRST YOU TAKE YOUR SOCK
FLOATING MUSHROOMS
FORKS IN THE ROAD
FULL OF BULL
G G
GATE ATTACK !!!!
GIRL WATCHER
GLIDING
GLOBAL SUPPORT CENTER
GNAWED AND BASICALLY CHEWED
GOAT ADDICTION
GOAT CELEBRATIONS
GOAT FARMER SONG
GOAT FARMER WEIGHT TRAINING
GOAT FARMER'S CREED
GOAT FARMING CAMP
GOAT HOLIDAY GIFTS
GOAT HUNTING
GOAT KLEENEX
GOAT LANGUAGE
GOAT OLYMPICS
GOAT PROFILER
GOAT SCIENTIST
GOAT WHEELS
GOAT WRITER
GOATS RULE
GOOD GRIEF
GOT RUNS?
GOTTA WORK KIDS
GRAND CANYON OF CHILDRESS
GREAT KIDDERS
HAULING GOATS
HAVE MILK WILL TRAVEL
HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE
HAY MONITOR
HE-BE-GEE-BE'S
HELP! HELP! HELP!
HELP! I'M IN THE BATHTUB
HELPING HOOVES
HERD OF TURTLES
HERE COMES KIDDING TIME - A CHRISTMAS TUNE
HOBBLE, HOBBLE
HOLIDAY TRADITIONS (A GROANER)
HOME DECORATOR
HORNLESS
HOT CHOCOLATE
HOW TO BUY GOATS
HOW YOU FEELING?
HUGS
HUNDERD YEARS
HUNTING LUMBERJACKS
I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE
I FEEL PRETTY
I PREFER LONG EYE LASHES
I REALLY DO HAVE A HOME
I'LL HOLD HIM BACK
I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT
I'M STILL HERE?
INDIAN SUMMER
INNOCENT 1ST TIME KIDDERS
INTERNET AUCTIONS
INVESTMENTS
IRON WILL
IT TOOK TWO
JINGLE BELL GOATS
JOKE - GET A JOB!
JOYFUL
JUMPY LITTLE SNOWBIRD
JUST 1 MORE GOAT
KEYSTONE KOPS
KID CATCHING
KID IN A BOX
KID SENSORY OVERLOAD
KIDMARES
KNUCKLE SANDWICHES
LADYLIKE BUCK SELLER
LAST BUCK STANDING
LEFT OVERS
LETTERS
LETTERS FROM THE FARM
M. D. GOAT
MAD AGGIE
MANIPULATE WHAT?
MASTER BLASTER
MAYBE THIS TIME
MEMBER ME
MIND CONTROL
MR. SNUFFY
MUSHROOM HUNTING
MUTTER MUTTER
NAMING GOATS
NANNY BERRIES ~ DEAR FAVORITE RELATIVE
NEW "KID" ... SHOWING
NEW HAY IN THE HOUSE
NEW KIDS.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
NORMAL
OCTOBER KIDDING
ODE TO ODOR
OH, MY
OUCH
PANIC ATTACK!
PAW PAWS
PHILOSOPHY OF HYPOCRISY
PHONE CALLS
PHONE CLASS
PICK POCKETS
PIRANHA PEN
PLAYING DEAD
PLEASED AS PUNCH
PLEASING GOAT CUSTOMERS
PLOP
POOF POOF
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
PRESENTS
PRISCILLA THE HUN
PRO WRESTLER OR PUPPY
PROFESSIONAL POO CHECKER
PSYCH ME OUT
PUTTING ON A SHOW
QUIPS & QUOTES
QUIPS-N-QUOTES II
REAP THE WILD WIND
RECORD KEEPING
REDNECK TANK TOP
REFEREE
REQUESTS
ROAD TRIP 2003
ROCK ON
ROLL'UM ROLL'UM
ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN'
RUB DIRT ON IT
S-T-R-E-S-S
SANDWICHED
SAWDUST.
SCHEDULING
SCREAMING BANSHEES
SECRET AGENT
SHAGA GOOBLE SHAGA BLIP
SHANNIGANS & KID SLOBBERS
SHORT TIGHT STEPS & OTHER ODD EVENTS
SHOTS
SHOULD EVERYONE VOTE
SLEEP DEPRIVATION
SMART GOATS
SMUDGED
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP
SNATCHED BALD
SNEAKY
SONG OF THE FROG
SPIES, SECRET AGENTS, SPOOKS, AND OTHER GOATS
SSSNAKE
STAMPEDE!
STARGATE BOERS
STEAM-IRON SANDWICHES
STEP BY STEP
STICK IT WHERE
STOMPING ORANGE STRINGS
STUCK AGAIN
STUDENT ANALOGIES AND METAPHORS
STUPID IS...
SUNSHINE BOO BOO'S
SUPER HERO
SUPER SUCKERS
SUPPER AT SEVEN A.M.
SURVEY SAYS
SURVIVING KIDDING
SWASH - BUCKLING BUCKS
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
TALKING POCKETS
TATTOOING
THANK GOODNESS FOR MUD
THE $37.50 BUCK
THE 2003 DARWIN AWARDS
THE COWBOY WAY
THE DACHSHUND AND THE LEOPARD
THE DANGERS OF GUM BOOTS
THE FARM WOOKIE
THE FLYING GOATZANIES
THE FRAGRANCE OF HAY
THE GAME'S AFOOT
THE GOAT WHISPERER
THE MOB SQUAD
THE MORAL BUCK
THE PET CHICKEN
THE PIED PIPER
THE PLAN
THE SCARECROW GOAT SELLER
THE SMELL OF MONEY
THE TALKING GOAT
THE TARP ANNIHILATOR
THE THINKER
THE TICK
THE TRUTH ABOUT DOGS
THE V WORD
THE WINDY TAX
THE WORM HAS TURNED
THEN THE KNEE DOCTOR SAID
THIS END UP
THUMP, BANG, WHOOP, AND HOLLER
THURSDAY, THURSDAY
TIE THE ROPE TO THE HAMMER
TOO MUCH FENCE
TORNADO ALLEY
TORPEDOS AND TIDAL WAVES
TOSS THE BLOCK
TOY TRUCK
TRAINING HUMANS
TRUE LOVE
TWITCHY HANKEY
UGH DAYS
UNCLE ARTHUR
UNWITTINGLY
USING CAFFEINE WISELY
WALK LIKE A TURTLE
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
WALK THIS WAY
WANNA BUY A GOAT (WINK, WINK, WINK)
WARNING LABLES
WAS THAT 65 OR 66?
WAS THAT CHRISTMAS?
WAS THAT THE WIND
WATER BUCKET TOAD
WAY TO THE HEART
WEANING WEANERS
WEE GOAT FARMERS
WELFARE GOATS
WHAT A DAY
WHAT DAY IS IT
WHAT'D YOU SAY?
WHATSTH THISTH
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU VEGETABLES.
WHERE'S THE BRAKES
WHOOWEE
WIDE LOADS
WILD GOAT MILKING
WINTER LIST
WOE, DISPAIR...
WRONG.TURN!
YOU CALL HIM WHAT?
YOU COME HERE, NO, YOU COME HERE, NO…
ZAPPED!
KID IN A BOX
by
Connie S. Reynolds
autumnfarmsboers.com
Lee & Connie Reynolds
Autumn Farm
Ravenswood, WV

 

You know the children’s Dr. Seuss’s series of the Cat In A Hat? Well, I’ve been thinking of a children’s books series of the Kid In A Box by Goat Farmer Connie. I can see it all. Me walking through a mall and small children running up to me shouting, "Miz Reynolds! Miz Reynolds!" or "Miz Goat Farmer! Miz Goat Farmer!" And, then reaching out with their little hands holding stuffed toys of the Kid In A Box series. "Please sign my Kid In A Box stuffed toy, Miz Reynolds."

I’d answer, "Why, sure you sweet little children. And, did you know I have out now the new Kid In A Box book called Kid In A Box Leaps Out? And, don’t forget about my Kid In A Box videos, tee shirts, sweat shirts, sippy cups, CD’s, and DVDs."

And they would answer, "Oh, we won’t Miz Goat Farmer. We will tell our parents about it right now and buy dozens and dozens of each item to give to all of our cousins!"

"You do that, sweet children," I’d answer.

Okay, I’ve smacked myself out of my fame and fortune daydream. Now it’s back to serious reality. It seems to never fail that every kidding season, for some reason or another, we end up with a goat kid or kids in the house. Boxes of kids sitting here and there throughout the living room or down in the basement by the wood stove.

One year, when we were becoming very serious about raising Boers, we decided to phase out our Nubians. My brilliant plan was to sell the Nubians at the best price after they had been bred to our fullblood Boer buck and had kidded. I wanted those half blood Boer doe kids. The best time to sell these Nubians then was in the spring of the year. So, my brilliant scheme was to kid the girls out, take the kids and bottle feed them, sell the Nubian does.

That year was a very cold winter and spring. Lee and I schemed that the kids would be best kept down in our basement by the wood stove until they caught on really good how to take a bottle and then train them to a bucket that had ten -- twelve nipples on it. Then eventually move them out to stalls and heat lamps in the barn.

We bought hog panels and made two big circles down in the basement. We then bought four huge tarps. One tarp was laid down in each hog panel circle on the basement concrete floor. We then got hay and put it down on the tarp for bedding. Of course we kept this hay way far away from the wood stove.

The girls started kidding and before we knew it we had at least 15-20 kids in each circle. While they were a couple of days old we got them trained to the bottle. We also found out we had to change their bedding about every third day or this nice earthy, barn type aroma took over the house. Didn’t bother me, but seemed to bother visitors. Also, if they heard me talking upstairs, you never heard such a chorus of kid yells insisting they needed their bottles. I had to whisper on the phone to keep them quiet.

Then it was time to train them to the bucket of milk with all the nipples. It’s a neat gadget we got at Caprine’s catalog with a big white bucket, nipples, tubes to attach to the nipples and a holder so the kids can't turn the bucket over. The nipples were set up high on the bucket and Lee and I both studied it and thought the kids couldn’t suck hard enough to get the milk up the tubes to the nipples.

Lee and I had the same thought but he acted faster then me and when we had the bucket full of milk and the nipples and tubes attached properly, he bent down and just sucked a little on one of the nipples on the bucket. He came up sputtering. "They’re not going to have a bit of trouble," he announced. I asked him how the milk replacer tasted. "Not bad. Not bad at all." Lee was right. The kids had no trouble and caught on fast to that bucket.

As we moved them out new ones moved in to be trained to bottle and then bucket before going to the stall in the barn. When we had to change the bedding, we put all the kids over in one round circle, picked up the edges of the tarp and carried out the soiled bedding, put a dry tarp down and fresh hay and moved kids back to where they belonged. That was our major Kid In the Basement year.

Soon after that it was only kids in a box, not major numbers of kids in the basement. One thing to remember when you bring a kid in the house to bottle feed for a while, there is a written law somewhere that says however much milk you feed them, three times the amount of liquid comes out of the kid, so be prepared.

I would save big cardboard boxes to put the kids in. I’d lay down a big garbage sack on the bottom of the box and then put hay in it. Then I’d put a garbage sack down wherever I was going to sit the box to prevent any leakage on the carpet. Some people buy the big plastic tubs to use. I couldn’t find one with sides tall enough to keep the kid from bouncing out too soon. So, I’d just keep my favorite old boxes and use them for years.

I usually have no problems getting a kid started to bottle. Sometimes if they are a week old you can have problems. This year we met our Sophie. She was an Angora/Boer cross and 4 days old. An experienced friend in goats and sheep bought her and two days later was almost in tears because she couldn’t get the little thing to eat. So, I took her on.

I believe that she was the most stubborn kid I had ever met. I used all the tricks: use a pritchard nipple, put bottle in mouth, hold there and rub the throat. No way. Rub the top of her little rump while holding the bottle in her mouth. No way. Put corn syrup on the nipple. Nope. Finally, I was keeping her alive with probios, dextrose and fortified B complex drenches, and the "Magic" drench (1 part molasses, 1 part corn oil, 2 parts karo syrup) and dribbling this stuff down her throat.

She plainly said she would rather die then take a bottle. Four o’clock one morning I checked her and it looked like she had laid in some poo. How she could have ever made poo was a mystery with as little milk as I was getting down her. I got a wet paper towel, picked her up and started cleaning under her tail. She went absolutely wild begging for a bottle! I couldn’t believe it. I whipped out her bottle, forced her mouth open, put the bottle in, and rubbed under her tail with a wet paper towel. She took the bottle!!

I could have slapped myself. Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? While new kids nurse, moms usually lick under their tail and that stimulates them to nurse more. The wet towel definitely stimulated her!

The first week I still had to pry her mouth open to put the bottle in, plus hold her from flopping from my lap, plus somehow rub under her tail with a wet paper towel. I finally enlisted Lee’s help. I held her and pried her mouth open to put the bottle in and he rubbed under her tail with a wet paper towel to get her to nurse. Worked like a charm. We spent many a happy feedings this way.

Finally, the second week she didn’t need for me to pry her mouth open or for Lee to wipe under her tail with that wet paper towel. She knew what to do! As Lee would leave for work every morning he would call out, "Bye, Connie. Bye, Sophie."

I believe this is one kid in a box that Lee and I will remember for some time. Hmmmm, maybe a children’s series called, "Sophie"?

THE END


 

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