The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: langdon on April 25, 2010, 03:40:11 pm
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is there a special type of wipes that you need for cleaning the goats udder before milking
or will any brand do.
langdon :D :chook:
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any dairy type will do, from a agri / smallholder supplier. not sure thay'd appreciate baby wipes or something!
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Langdon,
I would never recommend milking an animal that hasn't had babies yet. If it becomes absolutely necessary, then yes I would, but not before then. It would only be absolutely necessary if her udder was too hot, hard or bright pink.
Beth
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thanks beth,
if we cant( i shall make sure before i try) what shall we do?
what is this thing about you are lucky if you have a goat who has a phanthom pregancy cos you get free milk,
free as in you dont have to pay for stud fees.
this is getting abit ???
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Maiden milkers are goats that have a phantom pregnancy and produce milk. A blessing when you live on an island with few goats.
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It can be a blessing, but in a goat that is still under a year old, it is also a drain on her calcium levels. If she was 2 or 3 years old I would say go for it. But remember, she should still be growing and calicifying her bones this year. Also, you will never get as much milk from a maiden milker as you would from on which has kidded. I know people who have successfully kept maiden milkers for 12-15 years milking away.
Beth
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just felt mollys udder this morning and it does seem to be abit hot :(
what does this mean now beth?
what is the best way of treating her.
im ??? cos the vet who seen her sworn that she didnt have mastitis.
he could see the milk was free from clots, not smelly etc.
im a bit at my wits end with this, but i know it will sort its self out some how :)
any help beth will be very much app ;) :goat:
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Heat in the udder can indicate mastitis.....but don't panic yet. I have had maiden goats come into milk on their own accord, but not milked them, and never had one that went on to get mastitis. When you felt Mollys udder, had she just been lying down?!!! If so, her udder would be warm from lying on the ground. If the udder is still the same size, and feels the same as when the vet looked, then its unlikely (though not impossible) its mastitis.
How much hard feed (such as goat mix) are you feeding Molly? How much grass is she on? Too much concentrates (goat mix) for a young nanny, can cause them to get milk. All my young, non milking, or male castrated goats get plenty of hay and grass, but they do not get much goat feed, as I feel they do not need it. They do well enough on what they get and are no way skinny.
Its more important to feed fibre, such as hay than give them hard feed. I am just wondering if you are feeding a lot of that? Can you give us an idea how much Molly is having .....?
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thanks roxy for your help, and i will get that photo taken!
molly and milly are given 800grams a day.
400 in the morning and 400 again in late afternoon.
grass is little as the ground that they are on during the day is mostly gravel.
they have surrounding bushes, brambles, hedges etc to munch on.
they have their hay rack in which i make sure is allways full for them.
they are treated to munches around lunch time as a treat is well.
when they go in at night they have their hay rack in the corner of the shed.
hope this all sounds good, as we do love the girls dearly.
thanks langdon ;) :goat:
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oh, I only do pounds and ounces, unless I am baking when I can just about cope with grams!!
Is that nearly 2lbs each of feed the goats get per day, if you convert it to old money lol!! Sounds quite a lot for your goats, as they appear to be smallish? But if your grass is not long, maybe not. Just thinking they are not milking goats, so I would feed them as dry ones, ie.. not as much goat mix.
I am thinking its just they are doing well off what they are getting to eat every day, and Molly has got an udder through this. The only time I would feed a lot of feed is when a goat is either milking or feeding kids.
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I only found out today that I am overfeeding my goats - the vet showed me how much they need and its considerably less than they've been getting so I guess that means its easily done?
as for wipes, I just had a delivery from Ascott, very nice they are too :)
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hi roxy just been on the converter thats online and 800g works out about
each goat having almost a pound twice aday :o
does this sound to much now that we have worked it out in pounds.
im really surprised that this could possibly cause molly to have an udder at such a young age :(
could reducing the feed bring the udder down.
again thanks for helping roxy,
p.s. how is that milly is coping with the amount of feed ???
langdon ;) :goat:
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I think they get too much feed - my BT milker doesn't get that much, and she feeds twin girls and I take about 700ml of her every morning! My GG goatling gets a tiny amount three times a day, and only because the others get it, and she would try and jump out of her pen if she wasn't given a bucket with somehting in!
But they do have lots of hay all the time, are out on grass for a few hours every day and I will start to bring in branches for them again (we slowly have some leaves appearing here now too).
The only time I gave them really quite a lot was during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy, and also used soaked sugarbeet then.
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thanks anke for your reply ;)
two things: 1- how much feed should they get?
2- do you think over feeding could have caused mollys udder to swell?
thanks for any comments ;)
langdon :goat:
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I think extra high protein food could have caused her udder to swell. What you could do is give her different types of food, like alfafa or soaked sugar beet which doesn't have the same amount of protein in it as a concentrated mix- like Spillers goat mix for example.
Ours do get quite a lot of mix- but only the milkers. We have 6 goatlings, and they get maybe 1 1/2 pounds of food between them morning and night. Most of that is the milkers leftovers as well. Fresh food is a treat for our goatlings!
However, we do feed the milkers a lot, but we expect a lot of milk from them. My Anglo-Nubian is giving nearly 6 litres a day, and she gets probably 3 pounds of food morning and night. Plus hay, alfafa, and beetpulp every second day.
Beth
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Thanks for the conversion of weights .....being old I do not understand new fangled measures ;D
This is just my opinion, but yes, you are feeding too much goat feed. Your two goats are not milking, not in kid, nor feeding kids, therefore they do not need that amount of goat feed. I think I mentioned in a previous post, too much hard feed can make them ill. They need fibre .....hay, branches, grass, whatever, and only a little feed. For two goats the size of yours I would definitely reduce the feed.
I think we may have hit the nail on the head regarding Mollys udder - you are over feeding the concentrates. It must be costing a fortune in goat mix, so you will now save some money every week.
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oh i do hope so,
thanks for all your advice through this, how am i to reduce the feed,
how much should they be getting.
funny how milly seems to be less effected than molly is ???
i cant remember if i was talking to you or beth early this morning but i was saying that i felt her udder and it was hottish,
would overfeeding cause that too in the udder.
lets hope mastitis is rulled out.
thanks again roxy ;) :goat:
p.s. have you ever seen or heared of this happening before?
thanks again langdon
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Lol, it happens all the time Langdon.
If I remember correctly though, Milly is the one that Roxy and I thought looked like she might have Anglo-Nubian in her? ANglo-Nubian's are less likely to come into milk early, they very, very rarely do. Between my sister and I we have had A's since 1980, and I've never known one to come into milk before it kidded.
Beth
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The castrated boys, and the non milkers including youngsters, get a mug of goat mix each, at this time of year, with just a little horse chaff added. Cannot begin to imagine how many mugs your two girls are having daily!!! I definitely think that is causing Mollys udder problem. I would cut them right down with the hard feed. I know you probably think thats cruel, but it isn't. I am surprised they are not both like little barrels putting all that feed away every day!!! its probably why her udder is feeling hot too. Don't expect a miracle right away, it may take a few days for the udder to go down.
You will be rich with all the goat feed you will be saving by reducing their feed!! Out of interest, why are you giving them that amount of feed? Does it say so on the bag of feed?
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fantastic reply lets hope the nail has been hit on the head!
ive been feeding them that amount with out the knowledge of how much they should be having.
to get it right from the beginning do i stop the dry mix completley from tomorrow.
will educate myself further with regarding feeding e.g. online books etc.
langdon ;) :goat:
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So, it was like an educated guess at the amount of feed? I bet my goats would like to come and live at your house, seeing as you are so generous with the feed :D
You don't need to stop the dry feed completely - Milly and Molly would wonder what had happened. Can you put your normal feed into a bucket and tell me how many mugfulls each goat was having? I was going to suggest a mugful each of feed, but of course you can mix in veg, etc. too. And if you do feel that I am being mean suggesting such a measly amount, then do as Beth suggested - next time you go for goat feed (and the amount you will be using from now on, that could be months away!!) get a bag of alfalfa, like the horse Alfa A, or sugar beet (make sure you soak this first though - if its the speedy beet, its quick soaking but the normal stuff I soak overnight. This will bulk out the goat feed and make the goats think they are getting more, and also slow them down eating it.
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will do so!
molly bless her was wondering where all the food had gone this morning since i left the bucket empty,
she was putting her foot inside and pawing at it awwww,.
will by a bag of that other stuff too.
how much of that alfa stuff do i give with dry mix and how long do i leave it to soak?
silly question coming up cold or hot water?
dont laugh remember im only still a novice, but with your help and beths help i shall master goat husbandry!!!!!!!
langdon ;D :goat:
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As I said before, Langdon, its better to ask questions than do the other, and mess it up. Incidentally, I have looked at a goat feed bag, and can see that it does say feed an adult goat between 0.5kg-1kg feed per day. What it does not say is in relation to the size of the goat!! A Big dairy goat, the large sanaan, alpine, and Nubian, yes, but yours are what I class as the smaller "pet" or utility goats. They are not made for giving a gallon of milk per day, and some are crossed with goats such as my large pygmy billy, and therefore are small in relation to the other breeds, and would not need such an amount. So, you can be excused for reading that on the bag and feeding your goats accordingly.
My pygmy goats have three quarters of a mugful each morning and night, and that is what is recommeded for the pygmy sized goat. You have to keep a happy balance to get minerals and vitamins in.
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This was a wipes thread, and now we are discussing feed?!!
Anyway, forgot to reply to the sugar beet question.
Right, if you get the sugar beet pellets, they need soaking to be on the safe side. Ruminants can have them dry, but I never do. Must be the horse owner in me, when you have to soak for horsea!! The pellets need soaking 24 hours, the shreds you can get away with overnight soaking.
But you can get speedibeet, which is soaked and ready within 10 minutes, and we use that for ease. About the same price as your goat mix, but will last ages.
Obviously the one that needs soaking long time, you would put cold water on. The other, speedibeet, you can use warm if you want, but we use cold water. As to quanitity .....well, with any new feed, I introduce cautiously. You goats will like it I am sure, but although dry it does not look much, one soaked you get a lot more soaked sugar beet than you started with. So, think about what to soak it in, or you will have it overflowing!! I would suggest no more than a mugful of dry beet between the two girls, morning and night. Depending on what you buy, you will need to add between two and three mugs of water to that, its got to be well covered, and the pellets soak up lots of water.
Do make sure that you keep the bag of dry stuff well away from your goats - they will eat it dry, and the whole bag would not go down too well.
I do not want to suggest more that this quanitity, because it can increase milk production, and we do not want that, do we?!! See how you go on with that amount, added to the reduced goat mix.
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there is only four of us in the family so i am hoping that we can gat a decent bit of milk from them both.
as that is why we bought them for, yes they are nice pets and the kids do love love them, but we do live on a smallholding
with the idea of been as selfsuffecent as possible.
im sure you know what i mean.
i measured the feed that i was given them and it worked out to be four cup fulls twice a day.
now it two, is that about right???? please say yes!!!
langdon ;D :goat:
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MIne are on Allan & Page All round goat mix (I prefer mixes to pellets), BT gets about 600 - 700g/day (1.5 pounds) in two meals, plus out on grass and clover for about 4 hours each day, also have very good meadow hay. Used to feed soaked sugar beet (I buy the shreds and feed it to the sheep, goats and pigs) in the winter, but now with the grass coming through have stopped, only on rainy days as a treat. GG gets about 400g of concentrates per day, she gives just around 2l milk per day. Don't know how much BT gives, she's still feeding her twins during the day and I take 700 - 8ooml off in the morning, kids are away during the night.
The BT does look a bit skinny, but her stools are quite loose at the moment, and I think she gets lots of clover at the moment. I like to feel their backbones, and judge them from that. Seems to work.
Also if your goats are fat they might have difficulty getting in kid and more difficulties during birth, especially if its their first time. So slim them down now, so they get into good condition for the autumn.
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We use the beetpulp shreds and soak them in warm/hot water, for about 1/2 an hour and then feed them to the goats. They have no trouble with them not being soaked for 24hours as horses do. The pellets need to be soaked for ages- I hate them!
Beth
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Thats why we use the speedibeet - so much quicker, than waiting all that time for the stuff to soak. The feed merchant put in Allen and Page goat feed, which I thought is good. I like their horse feeds (well, not to eat myself!) but some of the goats are turning their noses up at it!!
Goodness Langdon, your goats will be a bit miffed having their feed halved. You will notice a difference in how long a bag of goat food lasts now.
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hi roxy hope you had a great day, mine was frutrating,
one of those days where nothing goes right for you and you have to do things 2nd or 3rd time.
never mind anyway ;D
i bought a bag of that speedybeet today, do i just give them a cup each with the 1 cup of dry mix each?
milly and molly are deffently noticing a change in their food as they keep looking into the feed bucket, having a sniff
and walking away.
thanks once again for helping me get this right ;)
langdon ;D :goat:
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Yes, but I would definitely soak it, as it says on the bag ....more palatable.
Fussy girls your two .....in a huff cos you have reduced their feed. Langdons weight watchers club.
I have had a frustrating day too. Range Rover was in for MOT all week, as was the van. Van passed and back, good, as we were walking everywhere. But RR not been tested yet. Not happy, as we are due up in Durham for a horse show tomorrow. Looks like we will be going without the ponies as nothing to tow trailer with.
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they are fussy you should come on holidays down ere and see them for yourself!
your more tyhan wlcome ;)
so what about this new stuff!
just the one cup?
im deffently going to pay a visit to a local goat farm and just actually see everything to understand better.
as said i love my girls and i want to look after them well