[fifixx]

I can't remember the 3rd ingredient in the mix I give the mums after kidding - I'm sure I was given it on this forum a couple of years ago!

So - porridge oats, molasses and....?  Or, does anyone have any other special treats they give their goats after kidding?

[jaykay]

Mine loved flaked maize - they can't have too much or they'd bloat, but it's good treat for busy new mums 

[little blue]

My spoilt goats get cut maize nearly every day!!
 only a little mind you, and it persuades the milker to stand still....

Raisens are a favourite treat here, and an occassional banana

[Lesley Silvester]

Salted peanuts go down a treat with one of mine but the other doesn't like them.

[Penninehillbilly]

I can't remember the 3rd ingredient in the mix I give the mums after kidding - I'm sure I was given it on this forum a couple of years ago!

So - porridge oats, molasses and....?  Or, does anyone have any other special treats they give their goats after kidding?

Could be wrong but I seem to remember reading a warm bran mash is recommended?

[wytsend]

Definitely  warm sugar beet for fibre.... mine love the warm water.   Don't forget there is now a large 'hole' where the kids were   and goats need to fill their bellies with as much fibre as possible in the first few hours after kidding/

I usually offer my girls a drink of warm milk.... my experience has shown that if they drink it readily then they are possibly short of calcium...... top up calcium !!  This prevents milk fever.

The goat mineral mix has excellent levels of calcium in it so should prevent milk fever..... will await reports on this in due course.

[fifixx]

Ah yes, it was sugarbeet!  good idea about the milk...

[Lesley Silvester]

My 'goat' vet said that adult goats shouldn't drink milk although another one told me that it was fine to feed it to one while she was in a withdrawal period due to antibiotics.

[jaykay]

Most adult anythings can't digest milk, western European humans are unusual in this respect. Don't know if ruminants are different, do they have bacteria that produce lactase?

[Anke]

Most adult anythings can't digest milk, western European humans are unusual in this respect. Don't know if ruminants are different, do they have bacteria that produce lactase?

Adult pigs love milk, and it seems to be really good to bring condition back onto recently farrowed sows. My dog has now learned that at the end of the cream separation there is always a bit of cream left inside the centrifuge... well worth queueing up for... No problems with her having milk for he rbreakfast most mornings either...

I have heard of goatkeepers feeding a bit of milk back to nannies soon after kidding to prevent milk fever, I haven't had to do that yet, although I have used Calciject in pregnancy toxaemia and/or hypocalceamia just before kidding.

Mine get a mixture of bran and sugar beet shreds, warm, and the molasses from the shreds go into their drinking water. I would add Caprivite regularly.

[jaykay]

Here is an interesting article about milk and humans which refers early on to other mammals but doesn't go into much detail. I'm curious now 'cos I've certainly heard people feeding whey to pigs (and chickens).......

[Lesley Silvester]

That's interesting, Jaykay.  thanks for the link,

[Hatty]

Most adult anythings can't digest milk, western European humans are unusual in this respect. Don't know if ruminants are different, do they have bacteria that produce lactase?

When I did my training as an Aromatherapist one of the things we were told was, that Europeans smell of sour milk (all to do with the way we get rid of waste) to eastern people as they do not drink it at all