130 MODERN MILK GOATS 



Weight at Birth. — A few more points may be noted 

 here that may he of interest to the heginner. A new 

 born doe kid should normally weigh six to eight pounds. 

 A five or four pound doe may develop into a medium 

 size animal of merit, but the figiu'es gi^en are normal for 

 a kid that is to make a really ereditable development. 

 The buck kid should weigh seven to nine pounds. One 

 is liardly justified in jjreserving for future stud use a 

 buck kid that weighs less than se\'en pounds at birth. 

 One often hears the statement, " Sometimes the tiniest 

 infant will grow into a very large man." but consider- 

 able experience has shown that no such consoling belief 

 is to be relied upon with goats. We want them large, 

 strong, and vigorous from birth. 



Condition at Birth. — Some kids show rather distress- 

 ing weakness of the joints at birth, walking with the first 

 joint of the forelegs turned out, for instance, or with 

 the forelegs bowed out at the knees. If proper care has 

 been given both to the sire and dam such kids are very 

 rare. Still, when tliey do occur, no alarm need be felt, 

 for tlie kid, carefully tended, will soon outgrow this 

 weakness. The j^rocess of strengthening the joints is 

 hastened by the use of some simple kind of splint, a piece 

 of stiff cardboard, padded inside witli cotton, rolled 

 snugly around the limb and bandaged in place firmly but 

 not too tightly. Some kids of tlie Swiss breeds, whose 



