[cici]

Hi guys, hope everyone is well.

Recently one of my goats has been struggling on his legs. I just got the vet here today to look at him and she has diagnosed him with arthritis. We have been given virbac inflacam granules to treat this (f anyone has used this before, curious to hear your thoughts and experiences as I can't find much online) and she has said he is a bit overweight, which is exacerbating the issue.

We are trying maintenance with the treatment given as of now but does anyone have any advice with weight loss in goats? They have as much hay as they want, especially during the winter, they also get 400 grams a day of all round goat mix from allen and page as well as mineral blocks (selenium and copper) to lick as they like. I've been on the phone to them about weight loss and they've pretty much advised to keep it like this and if necessary decrease to 250 per day. Just trying to be mindful here as the feed has a balanced amount of calcium:phosphrous , which I want for their diet, and I have no idea as to the hay's nutritional value.

He isn't extremely fat, just a little overweight.

tldr: how do you guys handle feeding goats (especially boys) in winter while trying to watch their weight? What are your feed plans? Sorry for length of the post.

[Anke]

No adult wethered goat needs concentrate feed - end of story! They are not doing anything, so of course they are going fat. So, don't give him any, the feed companies will of course encourage you to feed so you continue to buy more from them. Honestly - he doesn't need it. He will get enough from the hay and grass/branches in summer.


If you are worried about micronutrients/vitamins/minerals etc - you can drench a sheep mineral drench (with added copper) two to three times per year.


Also if you are concerned about urinari calculii - give him warm water (just slightly), he will love that and drink more, and if your water is quite hard, a dash of cider vinegar (the raw variety sold in agri merchants for horses) will also help.


He will do fine just on hay, mine does! (though he does get a few (def just a few) grains of oats - nothing else - when the others are fed, just to stop him from jumping out of his pen). And even he is chunky.




How old is he?