# Slow growing boer doelings*update*



## RPC (Sep 9, 2011)

What am I doing wrong with my goats the does are growing so slow. From January to July all my growing kids were on an 18% pelleted goat feed with deccox. After the fair they were switched to a 16% texturised grain. When the fair was over we brought home 3 of the doelings and sold 1 market doe and 1 market wether. The wether was 97 pounds at the fair and the market doe was 67, since the other 3 were breeding does they were not weighed. Well tonight I wanted to see how they were doing and I am not to pleased. My January 8th doe Valentine is only 57 pounds. This is using a bathroom scale with me standing on it. She was growing really well till June then when the heat hit she stopped growing and was not eating much because she didn't shed her winter coat. Cashmere was born January 25th and is 73 pounds. She was a bottle baby and I think is growing really well since we have been home from the fair. I thought she was bigger then that but I guess I was wrong. Lastly Hope who was born March 26th is 50 pounds. She is only 7 pounds smaller the the oldest and 2 and 1/2 months younger so she might be on track i don't know. They get 4 quarts of feed split between them all in 2 feedings a day. They have been wormed and all seem happy and healthy with shiny coats. But I must be doing something wrong. These are all Boer percentage does and I feel like they should be closer to 100 pounds by now. Thanks in advance for feed back


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## elevan (Sep 9, 2011)

I don't know hardly anything about boers so I'm not sure about weights and such.

But...when a goat is slow growing one of my first suspicions is coccidia and / or tapeworms.  Have you had fecals done?


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## Roll farms (Sep 9, 2011)

I agree, fecals are called for.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 9, 2011)

RPC said:
			
		

> What am I doing wrong with my goats the does are growing so slow. From January to July all my growing kids were on an 18% pelleted goat feed with deccox. After the fair they were switched to a 16% texturised grain. When the fair was over we brought home 3 of the doelings and sold 1 market doe and 1 market wether. The wether was 97 pounds at the fair and the market doe was 67, since the other 3 were breeding does they were not weighed. Well tonight I wanted to see how they were doing and I am not to pleased. My January 8th doe Valentine is only 57 pounds. This is using a bathroom scale with me standing on it. She was growing really well till June then when the heat hit she stopped growing and was not eating much because she didn't shed her winter coat. Cashmere was born January 25th and is 73 pounds. She was a bottle baby and I think is growing really well since we have been home from the fair. I thought she was bigger then that but I guess I was wrong. Lastly Hope who was born March 26th is 50 pounds. She is only 7 pounds smaller the the oldest and 2 and 1/2 months younger so she might be on track i don't know. They get 8 pounds of feed split between them all in 2 feedings a day. They have been wormed and all seem happy and healthy with shiny coats. But I must be doing something wrong. These are all Boer percentage does and I feel like they should be closer to 100 pounds by now. Thanks in advance for feed back


Fecals are never a bad idea. How do their eyelids/gums look? Deep pink, medium pink, pink, pale pink, almost white? If they are pink to almost white, first things first: get some Red Cell into them! Then collect the sample/samples, and have your vet check them each out.

Now some other questions: Are these 3 littermates, or are they from seperate litters? If any of them are from seperate litters, how many kids were in each of their litters? My single chamoisee doeling is growing like a weed, while my little black doeling(1 of 4) is more petite. You could pick up some Dumor Goat Grower and let them eat free choice for a while(I know plenty of goat farmers & books on goats say to free choice feed kids up to 4-6 months old depending on the breed.... and where Boer are a meat breed, it certainly couldn't hurt the little darlings to bulk up a bit.
It is my personal opinion, living in one of our nation's colder climates(The White Mountains of NH), that for most breeds it is okay to feed kids free choice to a little beyond 6 months old so they have adequate bulk(slightly to moderately over conditioned) to keep them warm over winter.  If you want them to bulk in muscle mass and not fattiness, you could let them have peas, peanuts, and other higher protien feeds.


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## 20kidsonhill (Sep 9, 2011)

you would be right about the fact that they should be close to 100lbs.  There are some slow growing bloodlines out there. We only keep and buy animals that are  hitting 45lbs by 8 weeks of age. Atleast that is what we shoot for.  I do have one slow growing blood-line. the whether at 6months for the fair weighed 80lbs, I don't have the doe here any more from that set, but she was a little smaller than him. 

I always figure, if they weighed 10lbs at birth and put on a steady .5lbs a day, they would gain 15lbs a month, so by 6 months the better growers should be right at 100lbs. There are always a few behind that and a couple that exceed that. Anything above .4 a day average is probably pretty good. 


Do you know the history of the blood-lines and their growth rates?  

We are feeding right at 3 % body weight up in grain a day untill they hit their teenage years and start to look chunky, normally around 7 or 8 months of age. Then I cut back to 1lb to 1 1/2lbs a day per animal, until they are bred. 

Have you concidered tapworm loads and what have you used that would have treated for tapeworms? That can really slow down growth.


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## RPC (Sep 9, 2011)

The oldest Valentine was a twin her brother was the 97 pound market wether at the end of July. Hope who is the youngest was a single. And Cashmere was a triplet but was bottle fed. I will get a fecal done with in the next 2 weeks. Kim how much do they cost you? when I last did one it was 29 dollars at my vet and I wondered if that was a fair price. If not my sister goes to Ivy Tech Marion and I could have her take them to your vet if it is a lot cheaper. Their eye lids are a darker pink from what I can see. I will show you some photos of the girls from today. This is Hope the doe that was born March 26th and weighed 50 pounds today. (Kim this is Riders granddaughter)





This is Cashmere she is the bottle baby born January 25th and weighed today 73 pounds. Not going to lie she is my favorite.




This is all 3 of them playing and eating out in the field now that I mowed the weeds down shorter then they are.




This is Valentine. She is for sure my problem doe. She is the oldest being born January 8th and only 57 pounds.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 9, 2011)

for being the lightest weight, she doesn't look underconditioned to me... in fact they all LOOK about perfect to me.


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## RPC (Sep 9, 2011)

Livingwright that the problem I think they all look good if not awesome but for Boers they should be bigger I think. Maybe I need to get a better scale or find some where to take them to get weighted and make sure those are the correct weights. As I said before the way we weighed them was I stepped on a bathroom scale and weighed myself then picked one up and had my sister read what it said then subtracted my weight. That is why I included pictures because I think they look really healthy.


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## Roll farms (Sep 9, 2011)

I agree, they "look" good.  I don't think they look much smaller than my Jan / Feb. kids.

I like Cashmere a lot, too.

I dunno what it costs, Roger, my vets just send me bills out and I pay 'em w/ out checking out the itemizing much, usually when I go there / they come here I have 'em do as much as possible so I don't have to pay for extra office visits, etc.  
I can call and ask on Monday.  But they're in Sweetser, another 10 mi. or so down 18 past Marion.


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## RPC (Sep 9, 2011)

Ok thank you Kim I am really starting to think the scale might have been off because the market doe we sold at the fair was 67 pounds and she was pretty darn close to the same size as the rest and I know they have not lost weight. I know right where your vet is because my sister used to live 1 mile down the rd from the office. I don't blame you last time I was at the vet my doe had everything done so I didn't have to get extra charges later as well. Kim don't worry about calling I can just take them to my vet and pay a little more. Thank you all for your help everyone.


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## that's*satyrical (Sep 10, 2011)

Those are some beautiful goats!!


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## Roll farms (Sep 10, 2011)

Can you ask if you can bring them in and use their scale?  They may not charge you for it...


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## RPC (Oct 2, 2011)

Well I went ahead and weighed the Jr. Does again on Friday which was 3 weeks later. I am happy to report they have gained weight but I am not sure if they have gained weight at a good rate. I am planning on breeding all 3 of these girls around June to RF Freeney.
This is Cashmere again she weighed 73 pounds and now weighs 82 pounds (sorry for the crappy picture) DOB 1/25/11





This is Hope she weighed 50 pounds and now weighs 60 pounds DOB 3/26/11




This is Valentine she weighed 57 pounds and now weighs 66 pounds DOB 1/08/11


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## Roll farms (Oct 2, 2011)

Freeney says, "OOOOH, Hubba Hubba" and "Thank you, Roger!"

He's in w/ Dallas jr. now....hoping for great things!

Glad they're gaining for you.  I'm STILL trying to get Moonie up to breeding size....ugh.


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## RPC (Oct 2, 2011)

I am sure Dallas Jr. and him will make some pretty babies!!! 
What weight is your cut off for breeding? I am super worried now to breed them before they are 12-15 months old. Last year we bred our 2 jr. does at 8 months and Joy was 80 pounds and Sky was 76 pounds. Joy had a nice small doe "Hope" and Sky had a big buckling who had to be taken via c-section and we lost him after about 30 minutes. So now I am really nervous. I think I also need to see a baby goat actually pulled from its dam so I know what to do in that situation. We tried with Sky but he was too big and she was too small.


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## Roll farms (Oct 2, 2011)

I use the 80# / 8 mo. rule.  Dallas *just* squeaks by....but her grand dam and dam did fine so I'm pretty confident she will, too.
The 3 new Nubian kids (and Moonie) are still being held over...I don't think they'll make weight / are physically mature enough to be bred.


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## neener92 (Oct 2, 2011)

I've noticed a lot of people are having trouble getting their goats and sheep to grow this year. I've seen a few on here and talked to a few goat and sheep breeders near me, and they've been having trouble, everything has been dewormed....but nothings growing. I wonder if there is something to it?


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## RPC (Oct 2, 2011)

This has just been a really weird weather year for us. I know it effected Valentine. As soon as it got hot she only ate enough to stay alive and that was it. No matter how hard I tried she just didn't gain weight for like 3 months. Now that it is cooling off they are all eating better and getting some more weight on them.


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## Ms. Research (Oct 2, 2011)

RPC said:
			
		

> This has just been a really weird weather year for us. I know it effected Valentine. As soon as it got hot she only ate enough to stay alive and that was it. No matter how hard I tried she just didn't gain weight for like 3 months. Now that it is cooling off they are all eating better and getting some more weight on them.


Ditto.  I really think the weird weather ALL over has affected the animals.  As you know this nerd likes to read and like neener92,  I have reading a lot of problems with all types of breeds having problems.  I'd mentioned in another thread that a rabbit breeder friend of mine just lost 7 kits, plus another litter as well.  

Lots of humidity, real intense heat would throw anybody off their cycle.  Or even be in the mood to carry babies.  

Wishing all successful, safe births.  Hopefully the cool breezes of fall will help get goats motivated to bulk up for babies.


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## neener92 (Oct 3, 2011)

RPC said:
			
		

> This has just been a really weird weather year for us. I know it effected Valentine. As soon as it got hot she only ate enough to stay alive and that was it. No matter how hard I tried she just didn't gain weight for like 3 months. Now that it is cooling off they are all eating better and getting some more weight on them.


I'll agree with that! The weather has been hot. Mine are also starting to gain weight and FINALLY grow! But...tonight it is a very cold 37F outside. All my critters are cuddled up together. Poor things haven't had time to grow a warm coat.....but thank the lord for cooler temps!


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 3, 2011)

They are looking Good RPC.  As far as breeding them next June, I am sure you are headed in the right direction.  Kids normally grow better in the winter. Weigh them monthly and track their weight gain, IF it falls off really bad, you may wish to question it and do fecals. Really keep a good eye on them in spring when it starts to warm up.   

They look really nice. Congrats.


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## RPC (Oct 3, 2011)

Thank you all I feel alot better about these girls. I am still not sure/used to how goats grow. I was raised with cattle and pigs so the goats are still new to me. It has been almost 2 years that we have had them and still have alot to learn. This will be our third kidding season and I can not wait for more babies.


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## RPC (Oct 9, 2011)

Well it has been one month to the day since I first weighed them. So with the help of my sister we weighed them again the same way using the bathroom scale. I am pretty happy with them and at least they are all growing. Cashmere is now 95 pounds, Valentine is 71, and Hope who is 2 months younger is 65 pounds. Which means Valentine gained 14 pounds this month, Hope gained 15 and little piggy Cashmere gained 22 pounds. I think this will be the last time we weight them with the bathroom scale because I don't know if I can keep picking up Cashmere, I think 95 pounds is about my limit.


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## Roll farms (Oct 9, 2011)

I'm pretty disappointed, myself.  

I weighed Moonie today.  She's only gained 6# in the last month, and I am dumping the food to her.  Her fecals are ok, eyelids look good, and she eats.  She must just be the slow-growing-est goat in the world.  OR, she knows Oct 31 is her cutoff breeding date and she's NOT going to make it on purpose.

6 mos, 56#.  :/


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## RPC (Oct 9, 2011)

Ok so that makes her an April kid. Well Hope was born March 26th and is 65 pounds so Moonie is still 11 pounds less. 6 months is still kind of young so maybe just give her time. at 6 months Hope was only 50 pounds.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 10, 2011)

growth rate in meat animals can be very very genetic. No matter who we breed this one doe of ours too, we get slow growing kids from her. She herself was a slow grower.  the only reason we have kept her is even though the kids are in the lighter weight classes they do show well, with a correct structure and smooth shoulders.  But you would go broke if you had an entire herd of commercial animals from her. 
On the positive side, she also doesn't eat much, and as an adult, she is a very easy keeper. I would say she weans as high a percentage of her body weight as some of the bigger does do that are eating 2 or 3 times the amount that she is. I never have to worm her, her feet are in good shape, she always has twins.  So maybe if you take into account that the kids take a couple more months to reach 80lbs for market, maybe her other positive traits make up for it. The kids don't eat as much as some of my other kids do either, so it isn't like I am feeding them as much and they aren't growing. They just like taking their time.


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