Skinny Goat

Well in a round about way I ended up with a 2 year old Nubian (X probably) After unsuccessfully trying to breed my little doe, Mary twice I said enough is enough after she bled out the second time. Bye, bye buck and ended up with this doe, Glenda. Her name was Linda, but it was just to weird for me...lol.

Anyhoo. Her condition is not that great. She has gained weight since I've had, brought her home last Wednesday, so not even a week. Apparently she had had triplets and they all died. Glenda was also in with a bunch of other does and their kids, and the kids were also using her as a milk dispenser as well. Would that have helped contribute to her condition now? Or was she just not getting enough feed?

I have wormed her and she eats and eats. I let her graze a few hours a day, plus she gets pretty much free choice hay and some alfalfa cubes and her grain.

She is only 2 years old. I have been milking her, need to get a milking stand, though. She is a sweetheart while she's eating her grain, but when it's gone she acts foolish. I am becoming a really fast milker, haven't milked anything in years, but it's like riding a bike again.

Have you wormed her? It might just take some time to get her at a good weight. I would push a lot of protein for her. My little ones got such a belly on the alfalfa hay. That might work.

Yup I have wormed her. I haven't had her a week and she's gaining weight, so I don't think worms were a problem, either.

Maybe if she is in really bad condition you should dry her up, and let her put weight back on. It takes a lot to make milk. I don't know much about goats, but we did that with a cow we got.

I know what you're saying Sara, but that would defeat the purpose of having a milk goat.

I was just wondering if having been in with a bunch of kids constantly nursing off her helped make her so skinny or if she hadn't been fed properly before.

No doubt having the kids nursing on her all the time contributed to her weight loss.

Her system was probably doing all it could to keep up with the milk production.

I'm by no means a goat expert but I've seen this happen to cows many times.

I'd be careful of how much feed, like sweet grain I gave her though and give her all the grass and or hay she wanted and supplimented with a little grain. Before you know it, she'll be FAT!

She is pretty! Glad you "saved" her!

Yes, milking a bunch of kids could have run her down, along with not having enough feed.
How much milk are you getting from her? Drying her off and reconditioning her would be best for the goat. She is young and would give you a lot of years of good milk.
If you are going to keep milking her get her on a good dairy goat feed. Follow the directions on the bag. And supply some minerals. Loose minerals might be best.
It's a good sign that she is gaining weight in just one week.
Keep getting her outside to browse as much as possible. Sunshine and good browse works wonders for all animals.
She is a nice looking goat.

She's a pretty girl that's for sure.

I personally don't know much about goats, but I do know that foals like calves can do a number on the momma even if they are getting feed properly. She just may have had to many babies nursing to keep her weight up.
I would give her free choice hay/grass and throw a little alfalfa to her. She'll pick back up quick and you milking her on a regular schedule will help her. A friend used to have milking goats years ago and always said a milking schedule keeps her girls looking good.

You say letting her dry off defeats the purpose of having a milk goat...but wouldn't having an unhealthy animal also defeat the purpose?

I have a doe I was really wanting to milk. She had a rough time with her last freshening (triplets - sent one to bottle feed and kept two) and wasn't in great condition despite good feeding and deworming when we weaned them last week. I decided it was in HER best interest to dry off and come back into condition.

If she were here, I'd dry her off, bring her back to good health, breed her once she was and try again next time. Loosing all her kids tells me something was badly amiss at her previous home...she deserves a chance to be recovered before you ask her to provide you with good milk.

Bummer. I was hoping that if I fed her properly her condition would improve and I could continue to milk her. She doesn't produce a whole heck of a lot, about 3 pints a day.

Well how do I go about drying her off without her getting mastitis?? Just milk her once a day? Then every other day? Well have to read up on it at Fias Co's website.