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Article: Dairy goats nurse calves. (The goat barn).
- Article from:
- Countryside & Small Stock Journal
- Article date:
- March 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Countryside Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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According to the December 1993 issue of The Stockman Grass Farmer, near Macon, MS, Tom Miller's primary operation used to be to buy newborn dairy calves and then raise them on milk replacer and pasture to market either as stocker calves or replacements to local dairies. However, he found the high cost of the milk replacer, and the poor calf health it produced, kept profits low.
Enter the dairy goats! After reading an article on their directly suckling calves he acquired several and now uses them to suckle calves until they reach 150-200 pounds. At this stage they are readily drinking water and consuming hay and about 1-1/2 pounds of grain per day. They are thus ...