Goat too skinny?

[abbymckinn]

Thank you all for responding! Sorry I haven't been on in a while. They are getting (total) one bill millers cup of sweet goat feed in the A.M. And two in the P.M. She gets plenty of loving on and acts totally healthy. But I don't want her to have her babies an be in milk when she is so skinny. I wis thinking of switching her to a feed mix of barely, oats, and sunflower seeds. Does this sound like a good idea? And they also get a goat mineral in their feed. With plenty of hay, but we need to buy a hay rack for them, right now they get lots of costal and a couple flakes of alfalfa every other day or so. Thanks so much again for all the advice and everything is appreciated!!

 

[abbymckinn]

Oh, and would the worms be visible in her feces? Cause they have normal poop, the guy we got her from wormed them just before bringing them home. He had almost 100 goats, an just poured a ton of grain into various trays, so maybe se didn't get enough feed and is still gaining weight?

 

[cassie]

Worms, except for tape worms, are not visible. Most vet clinics can do a fecal exam and the price is reasonable.

 

[abbymckinn]

Ok, well I will ask the guy we got them from the last time they where wormed. Does anyone think it could just be that they are underfed? They weren't fed much at this guys place, and we are trying to fatten her up. So could that just take time?

 

[cassie]

Yes. A lack of feed will certainly make any animal skinny. Check the color of the inside of the lower eyelid. If it is not white or very pale pink I wouldn't worry about worming her at this time.

 

[abbymckinn]

Ok, I just checked her eyelids and they where pale pink, so does that mean we have to work them?

 

[cassie]

Pale pink or white is an idication that she is anemic. The usual cause of anemia is internal parasites. In other words, your doe needs to be wormed.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

It's a good idea to deworm anything you just brought home anyway, even if the previous owner said they have been dewormed. Positive Pellet Goat Dewormer by Manna Pro is labelled as safe for use in pregnant and lactating does. If you can't find it at your local farm supply store or TSC, you can order it online through valleyvet.com.

http://www.mannapro.com/products/goat/positive-pellet-goat-dewormer/
Label information here: http://www.mannapro.com/products/goat/positive-pellet-goat-dewormer/nutritional-information/

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: I wouldn't switch, since the goat feed is formulated to meet all the nutritional needs.
I would ADD the other things to the feed, and get her up to at least 1 lb per day.

Weigh it instead of using a volume measure, because there's a big weight difference in different feeds

A cup of Sunflower seeds is far LESS nutritious than a cup of goat pellets

And make sure she has goat minerals at all times.

If she doesn't get adequate nutrition for the next several months, she could die

 

[OrpObsessed]

I give Ivomec plus injectable to my goats. It covers most things other wormers do not. Since you're not sure exactly what worms you're up against, you need a really effective wormer. I had a bout of barber pole worms wipe out my entire kid crop one year...back when I used to not know what I know now. Safe Guard is not effective, you might as well worm them with water rather than that stuff. In my experience, you don't want to worm a goat just because another goat appears to be wormy. Check their eyes. If one is anemic and the other goat had dark red eyelids, don't worm the one with the dark red eyelids. The last thing you want is worms on your farm that are resistant to your effective wormers. Constantly worming goats just for prevention sake causes worms that are resistant to your medications. (Especially with the barber pole worms, they are killers!)

The black oil sunflower seeds added to her grain is good. Also there is something called Manna Pro conditioning feed that really helps get the weight on. I also sneak a few alfalfa pellets in there, but don't over-do it with the alfalfa if she's preggo. I would just do a little handful in her feed. And the manna pro will need to be snuck in a handful at a time, or sweetened with molasses and molasses is good at this point cause its got iron that she needs and its yummy Also If she looks real bad enemic to you, you could try dosing with Red Cell and Vit-B. this should help get her red blood cell count up. Also, you might want to use a grain that is medicated, this helps cover coccidiosis. (I think that's the one) anyway...it's added protection against the worms. But do the research to see what's safe AND effective for pregnant does. Sometimes I've had to risk the pregnancy by giving the right dose of not very safe for the kid wormer, to save the doe who was terribly enemic. Both kids and doe turned out great in the end. Go with your gut and do research!