Practical Angora Goat Raising

by Unknown

THE CORRAL METHOD.

In the corral method, two or three large corrals and numerous smaller ones are necessary. First, the does should be separated from the wethers, if they have been running together, and a "wether band" made. Then every morning the "doe band" must be looked over carefully for does that will kid during the day. Such does must be put in a corral by themselves and allowed to kid in this corral. They should be fed some hay, or if that is not possible, they should be herded near by for a few hours. It has been our experience that most of the kids will come between the hours of ten in the morning and four in the afternoon. The more does which one can pick out in the morning the better it is, for the doe, after dropping her kid, is allowed to stay with it the rest of the day and all night. In this way she learns to know it. If one has hay to feed the doe, so that she may be left with her kid for one or two days, it is a great advantage.

After all the does have been selected which can be found, still some will be overlooked, and they will go out on the range with the rest. The best way to handle these is to have the herder make a straight drive to a certain point where the feed is good, and then stay around this one place, allowing the kids to come within as small a radius as possible without starving the goats. If it is necessary, quite a distance can be covered in this way, and yet the kids will not be scattered over a large section of the country.

As a kid is dropped, the doe should be allowed to remain with her kid and take care of it until evening. The herd will gradually feed from them, but it should be kept as near as possible to protect the kids from wild animals. Towards evening one must go out and gather up the kids and drive the mothers to the corral. The large herd should be driven home in advance, keeping a little apart from the does with kids so as not to coax the "wet does" away with the "dry herd."

When the wagon with the kids reaches the ranch, the kids should be put in a small corral. They should be placed a few feet apart, and the mothers should be allowed to select their own kids. They also should be allowed to remain in the corral for the night at least. In case a doe will not take her kid she should be placed in one of the box stalls and a kid which has no mother placed with her and fed.

When plenty of small corrals and good hay are available, each day's kids should be left in a separate corral until the mothers have been with the kids one or two days. It will be found that the kids are always given a very good start in this way. When it is deemed advisable, the kids are put together in a large corral, and as soon as the mothers in the smaller corrals are thought to know their kids sufficiently well, they are added to this wet band in the large corral. Thus the round is completed from the dry band to the wet band, the small corral being simply an intermediate step to insure familiarity between the doe and her kid. The dry band rapidly diminishes while the wet band increases.

The mothers are now ready to go on the range during the day to feed, but the kids should be kept in the corral until they are at least six weeks old. The does may be turned out over a "jump board" placed across the gate. A jump board is a two-inch plank, eighteen inches high, with a four-inch strip nailed on the top for the does to put their feet on as they jump over. The kids come to the board but cannot get over. If some of the larger kids bother by trying to get over, some one can stand at the gate to scare them back by pounding on the board with a stick. The does will soon learn to pay no attention to the noise.

THOROUGHBRED ANGORA DOE.

Even now there will be a few kids which will not be mothered. Every morning, before the wet band is allowed to go over the jump board, one should walk through the herd, pick out the kids that have not been nourished during the night, and select does that are not suckling kids. These does should be held until the kids have been fed. A row of small stantions is a convenient thing for holding them. After a kid gets a good start he will steal a living from different does if necessary.

To kid a band of from one thousand to fifteen hundred does by the corral method, will require at least three men—one man to herd the dry band, one the wet band, and a man to look after the kids and assist where needed. Often the wet band is divided, or when one wet band has reached the number of from five hundred to seven hundred animals, another is started.