[mariegold]

Hi All,

My  3 year old toggenburgh Enfys kidded a couple of weeks a go, she had twin boys. I leave the kids on her all day and separate them at about 9p.m. I milk her in the morning (6.30) and then put them back together.

The poor girl is really skinny and I am worried that I am putting to much pressure on her. I only take a litre of milk off her but she has plenty more.

I feed her 'fancy feeds' mollased goats mix, oats and soaked sugar beet twice a day which adds up to about 2kg total (she never wants to finish it), she is out in the field all day and has hay at night (but she never eats it). She loves fresh veg and tree branches.

What can I do to put weight on her? I would prefer not to let her dry up as I bought her to milk her but will go down this route if that's the only option.

Any advice very much appreciated! Thanks all.

[cans]

Hi,
Is she a lot skinnier than before she was in kid?

Are you able to give her more branches etc or split her feed into smaller amounts over the day but end up giving her a bit more. 

Are the kids always hunrgry?  This is not necessary a sign of no milk on the mother.  We once had a milker with twin boys and they were always hungry - we kept them on mum as it was easier for us.  Before we went down the bottle route we milked mum to see what she was producing.  Over the 24hours she was giving 8 pints.  The little blighters were just greedy.  Mum wasnt thin but not fat either.

[mariegold]

HI CANS,

She was in kid when she arrived so I can't be sure. The kids do often seem hungry and I have seen her frequently push them off when they try to feed. Having said that they are growing well, are very bouncy and seem healthy (apart from de-horning horror - please see other post!).

I think I will try feeding her in 3 lots to see if that helps. Do you think she needs more feed than she's getting?

Thanks for your thoughts so far, Marie

[tattycat]

Hiya mariegold. My milkers/kidders are on 2lb of feed twice a day. Sometimes it can take awhile for their internals to settle down nd get back to where it was prekidding. As long as she's cudding, eating, drinking nd expelling all should be good. Give her the best bits you can. Yougurt quite good, nd my Champion nanny made an idiot of herself with strawberry probiotic yogurt (only one there), nd got it all over her face nd in her beard!!
Has she been wormed/fluked?

[Anke]

Yes I would definitely worm - especially if she has loose droppings (I have just had to do mine, it seems the mild winter has not got rid of any worms left on the pasture... )

If you do, remember (depending on which wormer you use) it is 1.5 or 2 x the sheep dose that goats get and it would be best to weigh her. I have just weighed all of mine, and there were a few surprises...

You would get worried only if she starts to be choosy about her food and not have much of an appetite, which would be a sign of milkfever/hypocalcaemia.

Other than that - lots of branches, fruit/veg and a good dairy cattle/calf mix.

I don't actually weigh my feed...maybe I should.

[clydesdaleclopper]

How do you weigh yours Anke? I have visions of you hefting them onto your shoulders fireman style and standing on the bathroom scales 

[Anke]

How do you weigh yours Anke? I have visions of you hefting them onto your shoulders fireman style and standing on the bathroom scales 

I have sheep scales...., BUT we used to weigh lambs that way  . While the goat kids (and lambs) are small I now use a large canvas bag and my hanging scales (normally used for milk recording,they go up to 20kgs).

There is also a method of measuring their girth juts behind the front legs and there are tables which relate that number to the weight of the goat. My largest BT type girl is currently 86kgs and my smallest (adult) GG is 47kgs - so need to have different amounts of medications.

[mariegold]

Thanks everyone,

I wormed her two weeks ago, the vet measured the right amount out for me (she seems to know about goats so think it will be the right amount). Her poo is quite loose and has been since I put her out, our other goat seems to be doing ok weight wise and always happy to gobble her food but she also has had quite loose poo. Maybe I need to worm them again?

[Anke]

You should do a worm/faecal egg count of their poo - they could have worms that are resistant to the wormer you used.

However, it could also just be all that fresh grass...

[Daisys Mum]

Maybe poo is loose because of the spring grass, my sheep all have dirty bums, and as for the horse poo well! Think large green hills 
I certainly wouldn't worm again without doing a worm count.

[goosepimple]

No, I wouldn't worm again either, maybe get a good bit of natural live yoghurt down her to redress the acid balance in her tummy and it won't harm the kids.  We use a turkey baster if you don't have a syringe.


My girl (just kidded) is eating loads at the moment, particularly enjoying greens more than goat mix.  If you have a mineral block maybe smash up a bit with a hammer and 'season' her food with it to make sure she's getting enough salt too - sugar, salt, water is what you'd get for runny bums in humans too to re-hydrate.


Kaolin and Morphine mix is used by many shepherds on sheep with skitty bums and my vet said it wouldn't do any harm but not sure you could using it with feeding kids (?) - perhaps phone your vet if stuck.


 

[shygirl]

if she wont eat hay, have you tried feeding her haylage? you can get small bales which should last a week before going off. my goats absolutely love haylage.
i would cut down on the wet sugarbeet so she has room in her belly for more nutritious food. when we offer sugarbeet we offer it dry as they are ruminants and it think its more nutrient dense per mouthful. adding oil (soya/veg) to her feed will add calories if she will accept that.

definitely change wormer type next time.

[mariegold]

Well this evening I fed Enfys some dried sugar beet and low and behold she ate it all!!!! So the fussy thing doesn't like the wetness of soaked beet. She is a strange beast, she has decided she will only eat her food out of an orange bucket not a black one and this evening she jumped straight up onto her milking stand even though 1. she doesn't get milked in the evening 2. I have to practically lift her on to it in the mornings. What fun!

[shygirl]

thats sounds good, mine wont eat mushy food either.
 

[tattycat]

Ok confused now...kinda makes sense because they're ruminents, but I thought beet had to be soaked.....how much do you feed  them so no chance of them swelling up ?