Author Topic: Skinny milker (Read 4987 times)

Bumblebear · « **on:** August 10, 2012, 10:50:27 pm »

We've had our two goats for just over a week now and although neither of them were exactly "heavy" when we got them, the milker in particular is looking skinny. She eats goat mix and dairy nuts; hay and branches and seems bright enough.

When should I be worried and is there anything I can do to bring her condition up? $:-\$ She is currently giving us 6 pints a day.

trying · « **Reply #1 on:** August 10, 2012, 11:23:53 pm »

Hi, we have a goat like yours, we have stopped milking her but still bring her out of the field twice a day when we are milking and give her extra hard feed, she is slowly putting on weight but she still looks neglected and it's a long slow prosses. We do give her goat premium as we do all our goat, 32 at last count.
Ann

wytsend · « **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2012, 06:12:24 am »

Its so frustrating isn't it.....you feed 'em, give 'em the best and still they are thin.
Glad to here that dairy nuts form part of your diets....I would swap tha goat mix for a coarse calf mix. This contains the same amount of minerals/trace elements as the dairy nuts........most goat mixes contain sheep based minerals which are totally insuffcient for goats. When feeding goats think cow.....a goats metabolic rate is almost 3 times faster than a cow !!!!!!
Goats have been treated like sheep because of similar in size.....which we now know is not correct. Apart from anything else the feed manufacturers can charge a lot more money for specialised products !!
Even feeding cattle rations....I would add the Premium Goat Feed Balancer because this contains additional elements so essential to goats. Everybody who uses this product have all seen changes for the better in their goats........trouble is 90% of UK is mineral deficient in some form or another.
How much are you feeding this goat........if she is dairy bred from a heavy milking line it may not be possible to dry her off easily. Your only choice then is to up her intake gradually........you can feed up to 3kg a day of concentrate but this would need to be split into sveral feeds. The other thing to check...despite being out on grass...is she actually eating a good amount. I also use Just Grass/Readi Grass for my heavy milkers..........it keeps the gut full all the time.
Goats do suffer with tooth problems too....tends to be overlooked because of the difficulty of checking their teeth........both front & back teeth !!!!!
The telephone no for the Balancer is 01363 778792. They will deliver to your door.
Hope the above is helpful.......there are a lot of thin goats who are fed on goat mix for their only concentrate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2012, 06:51:31 pm »

My goats have goat mix and sugar beet and are getting quite rotund. I am hopeing to introduce dairy nuts to their diet and think I will have to cut down on the sugar beet.

jaykay · « **Reply #4 on:** August 11, 2012, 09:56:19 pm »

I got my skinny girl fatter by trial and error - it turned out she likes flaked maize and mixed chicken corn, both of which seemed to help in putting the weight back on. She was also getting coarse mix and dairy nuts, hay, minerals and ReadiGrass.

Bumblebear · « **Reply #5 on:** August 12, 2012, 07:36:11 am »

Thank you everyone - She WILL put on weight!

tizaala · « **Reply #6 on:** August 12, 2012, 09:46:10 am »

Be carefull with the mixed chicken corn.......not too much wheet.

Dogwalker · « **Reply #7 on:** August 12, 2012, 11:54:40 am »

Quote from: tizaala on August 12, 2012, 09:46:10 am

Be carefull with the mixed chicken corn.......not too much wheet.

Why?

tizaala · « **Reply #8 on:** August 12, 2012, 12:12:40 pm »

oats and barley are better for them , and whole grain tends to pass straight through undigested, what do you want to feed , goats or birds?

wytsend · « **Reply #9 on:** August 12, 2012, 01:35:22 pm »

Goats have great difficulty in digesting cut maize.....should only feed it cooked. Yes whole grain will pass thro......what a waste !!!!! BUT it can also cause a blockage, usually means a one way trip.
Also why feed expensive chicken corn........always feed crushed corn i.e., wheat, barley, & oats.

jaykay · « **Reply #10 on:** August 12, 2012, 03:24:14 pm »

Well, Rowan has been eating some whole chicken corn since Feb, she's absolutely fine, is thriving on it and there is never any undigested corn in her droppings - unlike the dogs when they get into the corn.

So - I don't think I believe that it isn't digested and causes problems.

Chicken corn isn't expensive and if you have chickens, you have it about. That's how it came about that Rowan wanted to eat it, when she didn't want to eat much.

Anke · « **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2012, 03:39:29 pm »

First condition score your girls, most goat books will have a description of the process. Most heavy milkers should be a 3, notmore than a 3.5. When did your goat kid? If she had triplets this spring and stil lgives you around 3 ltrs per day I would not expect her to have lots of weight on her back!
A good mix of diary nuts,sugar beet shreds (I feed mine soaked), oats and barleywill be be good for her. Try not to overfeed her on concentrate - all you will get is soft poo... Lots of branches (easy on the ash though), fresh grass when outside (or cut it for them to eat instead of hay). Frut and veg (carrots, apples, pearsmarrows etc) also good.
Mine get Caprivite, seaweed and garlic about once a week (or whenever I remember). also try and find out of your soil is deficient in any thing (your next door farmer will be able to tell you if you have any of the usual ones - cobalt or copper) and you can remedy with a drench if necessary.
But give her time, and I would continue milking unless she is really too thin. Remember - have you ever seen a fat dairy cow (as in a Friesian?) They are meant to be on the thinner side.