NUMBER OF KIDS BORN 



MILCH goats as a rule drop two kids at a birth, but occasionally three 

 are dropped. In fact, cases where three are dropped are more 

 numerous than where only one is dropped. 



Instances are on record where very fine milch goats have dropped as 

 many as four kids at one time, but such instances are rare. 



With two kids at a birth it is readily seen how fast a flock of milch 

 goats will increase when allowed to drop kids every nine months, or three 

 times in two years. For best results in milking qualities it is not considered 

 best to allow them to breed oftener than this. Usually the twins consist of 

 one male and one female, but it often happens that there are two males or 

 two female kids. 



Some breeders are apt to believe that the kids will take care of a doe's 

 udder and' no oversight is necessary, especially if there is more than one 

 kid. This might be all right with a doe yielding a small flow, but to permit 

 a heavy milking doe to go unmilked, trusting to her kids to properly relieve 

 her udder, is gross carelessness, and will cause irretrievable injury. Often 

 young kids will nurse the same teat and not touch the other teat, in which 

 case that side of the udder must be milked clean at least twice a day. 



FEED FOR MILCH GOATS 



BY actual test it has been proven that eight goats will subsist upon the 

 same amount of feed required for one cow, and at the same time yield 



a good flow of excellent milk. 



The same kinds of feed required by^a cow are usually used, but it is 

 very essential that the milch goat be given a larger variety of feed than 

 that which the cow usually gets. 



Milch goats have the same ability and appetite for destroying worthless 

 brushwood and weeds as that of the Angora goats, and such feed may be 

 very desirable for growing animals, but for milking does, a sole diet of 

 such feed would be very likely to impart an unpleasant taste to the milk. 

 The milch-goat is a single-purpose animal and cannot produce good milk 

 and at the same time destroy brushwood and weeds to any great extent. 

 In the summer season a pasture of clover, alfalfa, meadow grass or even 

 crab grass are excellent milk producing feed, and if such pastures are com- 

 paratively free from weeds there will be no unpleasant flavor to the milk. 

 It is where does make weeds and brushwood their sole diet that the milk 

 will have the unpleasant taste that is often spoken of. When pasture sea- 

 son is over, the best results from milking does are obtained when feeding 

 is done in the barn. Prairie hay, when sweet and properly cured, is an 

 excellent feed and more so if it is made up of considerable slough grass, 

 which the goats will pick out first. Many Swiss dairymen mix straw with 

 the hay which is a good plan, as the more variety given the better pleased 

 are the goats. Alfalfa and clover hay are excellent; indeed very little grain 

 will be required when either of these are provided. Kane, kafir corn and 

 Indian corn fodder are very good feeds, and are considered very economical 

 feed for goats. The only trouble is in feeding such coarse feeds from the 



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