# skinny goats not eating pasture



## hillbillycitygirl (May 31, 2011)

so I had my goats at the vet the other day and she told me they are too skinny. They are nubian does 2yrs, 4yrs and a 3mo old...the vet said the 3mo old looks a good weight but the 2yr and 4yr need more weight on them. They get some alfalfa once a day, get grain when I milk them twice a day and are free to roam a large pasture and eat as they please...only they dont really eat the pasture...its so over grown now......and then they just about inhale the feed I give them when I milk them and get all crazy at me when they run out. What is going on? what should I do to help them gain? the feed is Noble goat feed for dairy goats. they eat about 3 cups each/twice a day. (the 3 mo old gets about a quart of milk a day and just pasture and hay) 

I have only had them for about a month, I dont want them getting sick


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## Roll farms (May 31, 2011)

Up their grain.  
Try adding calf manna and  / or black oil sunflower seed to their milker ration.
It can be hard to get a doe that's underweight up to good weight while lactating (I'm having issues w/ this myself).  

If they get to realllllly looking bad, I'd dry them off earlier than planned and keep their feed up until they're looking better...then keep them that way until breeding.


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## babsbag (May 31, 2011)

My goats don't eat pasture like sheep do. The grass just keeps on growing and they keep eating the alfalfa and the grain. They nibble here and there, but if it isn't growing on a tree or shrub they aren't really interested.

The ones I am milking get about 6 cups of grain (local feed mill dairy mix) and some BOSS, beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, and maybe some whole wheat or corn tossed on top. They only get that when I have them on the milk stand.

Last year I was adding some extra nutritional support for one that I thought was getting skinny. There is a goat balancer pellet by Manna Pro that seemed to work well.

Were they checked for worms while at the vet?


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jun 1, 2011)

Annual rye grass is the only grass I've found my girls to really go for during the Spring.  They eat the fescue in the Fall but won't touch it the rest of the year.  They much prefer to browse.  I have a friend whose herd is on pasture though and they do great.


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## Roll farms (Jun 1, 2011)

If I leave out free choice hay, they won't go out at all...that's why I cut them back on hay in the spring once the pasture's doing really good.  
They prefer hay, but look MUCH better w/ big pasture bellies.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 1, 2011)

I am actually bringing in a poo sample today to check for worms.  I am thinking about using the molly's herbal wormer from fiasco farm. have any of you used that?  Thank you for the info. 

Its my two that I am milking that are low in weight and I dont want to dry them both off because then I will be out of milk...

should I stop giving them hay to encourage them to pasture? I will look into the manna and other things listed! 

should I be concerned that they basically inhale their food at milking time and then get all pissy and start stomping at me? One grunts while she eats too, its weird.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 1, 2011)

I think it is the alfalfa and the grain, because you are milking you need to feed them. Mine don't get any alfalfa this time of year, just grass hay and they don't touch the grass hay, they browse all day.  A few of mine get 3 cups of grain a day, but they still browse just fine, ofcourse when I bring the grain out they go crazy over it. 

They sure do love that alfalfa hay.

Edited to clarify: it is early in the morning, when I reread this I realized it isn't very clear. I don't milk. I was just commenting that goats love love love alfalfa hay,  I know mine would prefer it, but since I don't milk I don't feed alfalfa hay, and they eat pasture/browse all day long. Once and a while I put out a bale of 2nd cutting grass hay and it will sit out in the barn for days and day, even though in the winter that wouldn't be enough to last them even one day.   

I was wondering about worm load, that will keep them skinny, no matter how much you feed them. Make sure they also check for coccidiosis.


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## Roll farms (Jun 1, 2011)

My 'rule' is they get as much grain as they want while I'm milking...if they hoover it down and they are too fat, then I put something in the feed pan to slow them down (like rocks, they have to 'work around).  If they're too skinny, they get more.  I'll also let them stay and eat more if they 'need' to.

You might try cutting back on the alfalfa and seeing if they'll go out, but don't let them lose even more condition by doing that....if it's not working after the 1st day or so, give them the alfalfa back and offer more.

There are also dairy goat concentrates (ADM makes one) that are higher in fat / protein.  You could top dress their feed w/ that (instead of calf manna....I have some does who don't like calf manna).

Herbal wormer won't work for me here...

It's been my experience that it works best for folks who don't have much of a worm issue to begin with.  In the swamp where I live....we have issues. :/


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## aggieterpkatie (Jun 1, 2011)

Definitely mow back your pastures and let good grass grow in. THey don't want to eat tough old grass.  Mow the pasture to about 3-4" and then give it time to grow back to about 8" tall.  Of course this all depends on what kind of grasses you have, but I'm assuming it's a regular old cool season mix pasture.  Until the pasture grows in again, I'd offer free choice hay.


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## ksalvagno (Jun 1, 2011)

Even though you have the goats, expect to mow your pasture if it is large. I have alpacas and goats and we have to mow their pastures on a regular basis. Once the grass reaches a certain height, they won't eat it.

Also, when I had my Alpine, she was getting 5-6 cups of grain per milking.

If you have a worm load, then I would suggest using regular wormers to clean them out. Then if you want to use the Molly's herbs after that, that would be up to you. But if you are already dealing with thin animals, then you don't want it taking a long time to get rid of parasites.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 1, 2011)

I took my one goat out for a walk in a pasture that is next to their pasture and she was eating it like mad...I let her eat for about 45 min...and as I was walking her around I noticed that all along the fence, about two feet out side (as far as their necks can reach) is bare of grass....so...I went to work putting in more fence posts and I am going to extend their pasture and let the part they are in rest (after mowing...thanks for that idea) I know goats hate to be staked out but I may stake them out for a while tomorrow and let them eat a circle lol while I put up some fencing. ugh...so much work, so little time in a day.  

I am still waiting for results on the poo samples, hopefully tomorrow I will hear something. We stopped giving them alfalfa, I will wait a day or two before resuming if necessary. But by the looks of their appetites in the high grass, if I just let them out there, we will be good to go. 

also, we have a mineral block out there for them, and a salt block...but Im pretty sure they arent licking it...should I be using something different?


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## freemotion (Jun 1, 2011)

hillbillycitygirl said:
			
		

> also, we have a mineral block out there for them, and a salt block...but Im pretty sure they arent licking it...should I be using something different?


Personally, I'd ditch the blocks and go with a small bin of loose minerals in their house.  Just put enough out for them to eat up in 2-3 days, then replenish it.  At least ditch the salt block.  The minerals are salted to attract them to it, and they could become mineral deficient if given another source of salt, even baking soda left out free choice.


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## Goatmasta (Jun 1, 2011)

A note about mineral blocks for goats.  I use loose minerals, using one pen as a example, which has 7 goats (Nigerians) they go through a feed scoop(typical large plastic scoop) of minerals every 10-14 days.   Any idea how long it would take a goat to lick that much off a mineral block???


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 2, 2011)

Goatmasta said:
			
		

> A note about mineral blocks for goats.  I use loose minerals, using one pen as a example, which has 7 goats (Nigerians) they go through a feed scoop(typical large plastic scoop) of minerals every 10-14 days.   Any idea how long it would take a goat to lick that much off a mineral block???


haha! I noticed today that someone pooped on the mineral block..dont think anyone wants to lick poopy minerals, yuck!! I am working on the loose minerals. They didnt have any at TSC, so I have to go to Family farm and home later this afternoon...in between my 2yr olds nap and picking the twins up from school, feeding them and getting them off to their soccer game. ugh. busy season!!!:/


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## Goatmasta (Jun 2, 2011)

in the mean time I would wash that block off, put it inside a couple feed bags or something and go to town on it with a hammer...


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 4, 2011)

Goatmasta said:
			
		

> in the mean time I would wash that block off, put it inside a couple feed bags or something and go to town on it with a hammer...


thats great!! 

I got a call from my vet today, two of my goats have coccidia (one very mild one decent ~the baby~) and one of my adults has stronglyes too. ugh.


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## Goatmasta (Jun 5, 2011)

FYI most vets don't know that ALL goats have cocci.  A mild count is most likely a very acceptable level.  If the baby has a low count you are most likely ok.  If you don't have a worm issue I would look at minerals, which we already talked about....


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## Island Creek Farm (Jun 5, 2011)

We have 4 full size Alpines and they get 6 cups (each goat) of Noble Goat Dairy each milking.  Plus I feed a 8 quart feed bucket of broken Alfalfa cubes twice a day and 2 flakes clover/vetch/rye hay once a day.  They also browse in the woods almost every afternoon.

I do have one who is "thinner" than the others, but she's negative on CAE/CL/TB/Brucellosis and Johnes.  Vets say it's because she is producing 1 1/2  to 2 gallons a day.  I'm afraid to up her grain as I don't WANT more milk!  LOL

This is our heaviest doe at 150lbs,  she has been cut down on grain ...lol








I might add, as hefty as they are, they STILL act like they are starving on the milk stand!


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 6, 2011)

I only had one of my does tested and the one baby, the vet said the doe had a slightly higher cocci count than she likes to see but she also has worms (strongyles) and the doeling has a pretty good case of Cocci. ugh. giving meds to goats is NOT fun! one gagged it all right back up, the doeling sneezed it out and kept drooling and then the other doe ... I just put it on her grain and she gobbled it up. I hope that was okay :/

I am doing a 5 day treatment for all three goats with corid, I have read some negative reviews on corid but it seemed like it was all about goats who have been over vaccinated and over medicated who didnt react to the corid, these goats are not vaccinated and have very rarely been treated with antibiotics. I noticed two days ago that my other doe (the one who we didnt test her poo) really seems to be dropping weight, I am probably going to take a poo sample over to the vet today, I think she has worms too. UGH. why is this so difficult? is it normal to have so many problems right away when getting goats? I trusted the person I got these girls from because she is the sister in law of one of my friends. Im getting so frustrated. 

Right now they browse all day, but we are moving them to a different field, hoping that will help up their nutrition, and when on the milk stand they get about 2 quarts of grain plus a scoop of black oil sunflower seeds. (its just a Styrofoam coffee cup that I use to scoop that out so I have no idea how much it is, maybe 8oz) so they get all that twice a day. Plus minerals. Their salt block dissapeared yesterday, I dont know if one of them was messing with it or what but I honestly cant find it. Have goats been known to pick them up and move them? lol 

Oh, one more thing. the goat that I didnt have tested started eating wood (like the side of the barn) what is up with that?  

@Island Creek, your goat is GORGEOUS!


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 6, 2011)

sorry, but goats and worms go together in the same sentence, and it is spring time/early summer, the worst time of year for parasite loads, many people when bringing home new goats, would isolate,worm them like crazy with 2 or 3 different kinds of wormers, revaccinate them to make sure they actually were vaccinated.  Load them up with vitamines/minerals.   I don't put any new animals on pasture for atleast 30 days, making sure they have been wormed atleast 3 times before exposing them to my fields.  

Plus the stress of relocating the goats almost always can cause a worm/cocci bloom.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 6, 2011)

My three all came from the same herd so they were already together and they are my only goats so I didnt need to do any seperation. Im just really bummed that now we cant drink their milk for the next 19 days, I dont want to go back onto crappy cows milk.  

My goats arent vaccinated, but we are definitely worming them this week!!! Im so mad at myself for not doing this when they first came to me. Do you think they came to me with worms already?


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 6, 2011)

Goats have worms, their system helps fight them and keep them to a low level.  When a goat is stressed, like after kidding, or transporting, Their system may not beable to fight the few they have and BAM, their is a bunch of them. 


When I referred to isolation, I don't just mean from other goats that you alread have, I mean from your fields, and main barn area.  If a goat breaks with soremouth, or is carrying a partivularly nasty strain of worms, it can be spread all over your farm, by allowing the animals to free range when they first come to your place. Many people pen them up, so they can observe and get some of these things under control.  

With that said,  We did the same as you, brought home our first 7 goats, 15 years ago, and let them loose on our property.  If I were to do it again, I would do a few things differently.


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