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The youngins are growing fast. The oldest, Ollalie, is about two months old now. Which means the nursing youngsters start to think about eating grain. During feedings they hang around their moms and when not taking the time to misbehave and rough house, they begin to stick their heads in the food bowls with mom. Farmer Steve and I watch for the moment when their heads come out with a bit of grain in their mouths. This is a sign that it is time to set up the Creep Gate.
So, what is a creep gate?
A creep gate is a structure that acts as a feeding station for the wee ones. Only critters of a certain size are able to get in. We want our cria to have a chance to eat as much as they want when they want. They are going through growth spurts and need more food for energy than the moms do.
There are a number of manufacturers that fabricate and or sell creep gates. A quick search online should bring you to a few of them. Of course, Farmer Steve and I decided long ago to make our own creep gate.
First off we find a location in the barn or a stall that we can separate easily. A space large enough for the cria to move around in and place grain away from the edges so the persistent adults cannot get to it with their long necks.
The next step is construction of the restrictive creep gate that allows only animlas of a certain size into the pen. We constructed our creep gate of rough cut pine planks. It is basically the size of a standard three foot gate. The vertical planks are held by a frame and are able to be moved by removing a few screws. This allows us to make the opening smaller or larger depending upon the cria we are working with.
Here Moos is checking out the gate opening. The first few times Farmer Steve and I have to catch the cria and place them in the gate. We place their bodies in front of the gate then take their heads and sort of put them just into the gate opening. They struggle a bit and try to go to either side of the gate, afraid to enter. Gently we will nudge them into the gate. They realize the only way to get away from us is to go through the opening. After several attempts during every feeding, the cria eventually run to hide from us by entering the gate.
In years past when we had simply one cria, we would keep the mom on halter nearby when we force the cria into the gate. We then block off the opening for a few moments. This amount of time really depends upon the cria. Yes, they will try to find a way out immediately. We watch the cria's behavior. If the cria starts to get frantic and panic, we allow them to get out immediately. We do not want to associate this space with a bad experience. We find that after a few times, the cria will first try to get back out, but then begins to explore the surroundings. Once they find the food bowl, we back away and let them come out on their own.
With two cria, we try to capture and force both cria into the pen, going through the same observations where we allow them to immediately to escape if they begin to panic. Once one of the cria gets the pen, and we find that one cria going in and out on their own, that second, or third cria eventually follows the others into the pen on their own at their own pace.
This year, we have four cria. Each feeding Farmer Steve and i would force Moos, Mike, MoMoliga, and Ollalie into the gate. MoMoliga was much less interested in the gate and feeding and would panic within a few seconds. We found that when one cria got panicky the rest would feed off that emotion and also begin to panic. Eventually we decided to leave MoMoliga out of the training program. The whole training process lasts no more than three to four minutes each feeding.
Soon I found Mike and Moos entering the gate on their own. A few weeks later Ollalie followed. Now they are in that gate several times a day eating grain. Every morning at feeding time, they run in waiting for me to add more grain and hay into the pen. MoMoliga is still uninterested in grain, or the creep gate. We are not going to force her. She is gaining plenty of weight and seems to not be missing out on that extra food.
This is one of the reasons we put up the gate. Here Nebis is trying to figure out how to get in and have some extra grain.
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