[princesspiggy]

our little 6 mth kid is under weight - any suggestions please
hes on ablib hay/haylage and calf rearer nuts (basically as much as he wants but hes not greedy)
sometimes he has sheep crunch but leaves the bits he doesnt like.

he doesnt like soya oil or vitamin supplement.
he has had vit jab.
he has a copper salt lick but dont think he uses it.

do goats like boiled barley?
what about soaked sugarbeet or would that fill him up with fewer calories - or shud i feed it unsoaked?

he has a tendancies to have swollen belly so have avoided whole grains.
he is inside for winter.

any ideas please?

[Anke]

Have you weighed him - how much does he weigh? What breed is he? Some of them just grow slower, and boys normally benefit from longer bottle feeding than girls.

If you feed sugar beet shreds (soaked) to males make sure that he has cider vinegar in his drinking water, to reduce the chances of urinari calculii. Most people don't feed sugar beet to males.

[princesspiggy]

hes a castrated bagot, tho very tiny, about the size of a pygmy. his mother is a shorty too. hes not greedy but keen to eat if u understand that ( )
he is lively but u can clearly feel his spine so i need to fatten him up. all my other bagots are are same diet and are fine and muscly (tho not fat)
if he was a pony id put him on a conditioning/stud mix with some milk powder added. our feed store doesnt sell goat mix so its a choice of sheep/calf. he cant manage the bigger rolls, its a long winter yet!
thanx

[jaykay]

Well, when i was trying to get weight on my milking goats the following two things made the biggest difference: cobalt/selenium vitB drench (only once a month and at least you know she's had it this way)  and dairy nuts.

I wonder if the drench plus calf nuts might help your little fella - our feed store seems to have 'early weaner' calf nuts in at the moment, which presumably are designed to help little guys grow well.

[princesspiggy]

thanx Jk
does the drench have a name?
i didnt realise there were different types of claf nuts so will try that too.
thanx

[jaykay]

The drench is Formula Co +B12 with selenium by Cox agri. Doug (Tizaala) here told me about it and it's really worked. My feedstore stocked it, I was able to buy just a litre and considering they only 5ml every month, it'll last or ages.

[princesspiggy]

thanx