How to Wean a Baby Goat

If you are new to breeding and raising goats, you’re going to need to wean those little goaties. This can be a hard transition, depending on your long-term goals.

I’ve been raising goats for several years now and have found the easiest way to wean them is to wait until they are 10+ weeks old, BUT in the past, when I first started breeding goats, I’d sell them at 8 weeks.

My first set of doelings I sold at eight weeks; I didn’t wean at all. I guess I didn’t realize it had a process. The family who bought the goats messaged asking if it was normal that they had been crying all day long. It was breaking our hearts.

Yes, it is normal and heartbreaking, but I found an easier way.

There are pretty much two options: wait until they are a little older and go cold turkey. Or if you want to sell them younger at the 8-week mark, start separating.

Cold turkey means just that, they stay with mom until the day they leave the farm. When they are older, it’s really not as traumatic. It’s normal if they cry for a day or two. This gives the new owners the opportunity to bond with them.

If you need tips on how to tame a baby goat, read this.

After that first set, when I wanted to continue milking my goats, I sold them at eight weeks so I could start getting milk. I would move the babies into a separate pen at night, about a week before the goats left. That way, I can milk the doe in the morning. Then a day or two before they goats leave I would leave them in a pen by themselves and milk the doe twice. (morning and evening)

This method really depends on your schedule and how often you want to milk your does.

If you are not milking, which is me now because I’m getting older HA, then you can wait until they are 10 weeks and cold turkey. Right now, I have a set of bucklings that are actually 12 weeks, holding on because I’m not breeding this year. It’s a lot easier because they are barely getting any milk at this point. You can tell just by looking at the dam’s udder.

It’s easier on me, too, with a busier schedule, and easier on them. BUT if you are selling babies, they are, in my opinion, easier to sell at a younger age. I don’t need to get into all that here; maybe that’s a separate post.

Anyways, the options are really what you can handle and do.

They naturally will wean themselves. It also depends on the goat. I’ve had some dams wean them early, and then I have my old goat, the grandma, and she lets her kids nurse for over a year! She truly loves being a mom, you can tell. Others are over it at the 9-week mark.

With all homesteading things, the natural process is always at work, and most of the time, they really don’t need much intervention from us.

Let me know if you have any specific questions on this in the comments below.