The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: McFrosty on September 28, 2010, 05:42:25 pm
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Hello All, I have taken on some more goats and they are settling in fine. However, Esme is a nine year Toggenburg x old English cross and she is very thin. She is still giving lots of lovely milk and is active and content but I can't bear that she is soo thin. She came from a situation where she was competing with lots of other goats at feeding time and I think just has not been getting enough food.
Question is.... how can I fatten her up a bit prior to winter, while obviously not upsetting her digestive system by feeding inappropriate feeds. At the moment she is on ad lib hay, access all day to a large pasture with lots of greenery, gets her concentrates when she gets milked, and i have been giving her bits and bobs of garden produce..... do I just carry on as I am or give something extra as a fatten-you-up-treat??? Only had her a week so am I just being overly precious ;)
Thanks
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VERY slowly increase her feed, maybe up the concentrate, add extra maize, try her on soaked sugar beet flakes?
we had a very skinny goat... just mind you dont upset her system as goats are quite sensitive. :)
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If her droppings are a bit on the loose side, get a wormcount done, just in case that's also contributing to her not putting on any weight? Also soaked sugar beet is good, and maybe a handful of oats in her concentrate? I also feed my heavy milker Alfa A, just a couple of handfuls on top of her concentrate.
But she might not put on much weight if she is still milking heavily.
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Hi
You could also try getting a Multi Vitamin injection from your vets, which will help! We have an old GG lady who we almost last last winter and for a cost of 90 pence she is still with us! Give it a try and see what happens.
Good luck
:goat:
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Soaked suger is good for putting on weight, and its also nice and moist, and therefore easier to eat for an old girl whose teeth maybe aren't as good as they used to be.
In fact- check her teeth, if they are in poor condition it may not be easy for her to eat.
Also, we feed flaked barley which is really good for putting condition on.
Beth
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Thank you everyone for your great advice. ;D Will try your suggestions and see what she likes. Great advice Beth about checking her teeth, thank you. Any tips as to how I get her to show me her pearly whites? ???
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Looking at her teeth may be easier said than done! I would tie her up to a fence post or a hurdle so that your hands are free, put your arms round her neck, use one hand to pull down her bottom lip, and the other hand to lift up her top lip. You should only be able to see her front teeth which are at the bottom only. If there are a lot of gaps and not many teeth, then she might have difficultly eating.
I knew a lovely goat called Esme some years ago.
PS- it should have read Soaked Sugar Beet in my other post!
Beth
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Any tips as to how I get her to show me her pearly whites? ???
as a last resort... stick your fingers in there and let her have a good chew!
might be abit painful, but as knashers go, goats are the gentlest I know, and you can feel any gaps or sharp bits.
.... maybe not, unless you're a masochist ;)