# Watering Goats?



## mylilchix

I don't think my new goats are drinking enough or at all.  I tried a bucket of clean water with them.  They'd sniff it and walk away.  This morning I've tried a smaller bowl and I still haven't seen them drink.  I'm not sure what do?  Anything else I should try?

Thanks, Sonja


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## no nonsense

If they're new to you, it sometimes does take them time to adjust to your water. Try adding some molasses to cover up the taste. I've always done that through the winter anyway, to encourage them to drink more, and the molasses will be beneficial toward the end of their pregnancy too. It's probably not practical to obtain water from the source of the goats, but doing that, and gradually changing it over, like you would do with new feed, is an idea too.


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## mylilchix

Thank you very much!  I bought the same feed they've been eating, and I bought hay from their owner, so they're eating just fine.  I didn't even think that the water taste would be an issue.  I learn something new every day.  Going to add molasses to their water!

Sonja


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## lilhill

When mine aren't drinking enough water, I put Koolaid in it and they love it.


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## mylilchix

I added some molasses and Cinnamon started drinking.  I'm hoping Spice will soon.  They're eating really well, I'm just afraid they'll get dehydrated.  Thanks for the kool-aid idea!  We've got that here too.

Sonja


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## helmstead

Mine prefer the red koolaid, of course, to have kissable lips!


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## lilhill

Yep, mine prefer the red, also.  Bucks look a little strange running around with red lips, but hey, you do whatcha gotta do.


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## mavrick

Try some acv they love it its also good for them, Apple cider vinger


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## cmjust0

If there's clean water available -- or _any_ water available, really, even if it's dirty -- they won't let themselves get dehydrated.  They may ration themselves on it if they're weirded out or if it's maybe not the cleanest water or whatever, and molasses or kool-aid or gatorade or something to entice them to drink certainly won't hurt....but any goat in its right mind would drink whatever's available before becoming truly dehydrated.

Generally speaking, goats don't use much water anyway..  We carry a few gallons down to the barn at night and across 10 head, they'll drink _maybe_ 2gal after they finish their grain and start in on the fresh hay.  We fill it back up to the top and leave, and the next evening, it's usually still full from the night before.  They also have a stock tank with a de-icer in the barnyard, but it's rare to see any of the goats drinking out of it.  It was scrubbed and sanitized after the weather dropped off too cold for algae and all that good stuff to have come back, so it's crystal clear water...they just don't use it.  

If it would help to make you feel any better, it's pretty easy to check a goat for dehydration.  Just like parasitic anemia, dehydration shows up in the eyelids first.  All ya gotta do is pinch their upper eyelid between your thumb and forefinger and then let it go...  If it snaps back, they're fine; if it's stays tented up for a bit, they're dehydrated.


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## FarmerChick

Yes they will drink when they are thirsty.  No goat will let itself die without drinking when water is available.  I wouldn't worry.  All drink when they must.

and yes mine seem to drink tons one day and practically skip the next.

my goats always drink after feeding, and usually one time during the day I see them hit the automatic waterer after they come in from the pastures.


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## stano40

Being new to goats also I would like to ask what molasses & apple cider vinegar does for the goats?


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## ThornyRidge

molasses is like candy!!!  goats love it that is why a lot of feeds and even minerals contain it.. also makes a good binding agent. as far as the acv, it acts as a urinary tract maintainer.. could prevent urinary stones in males (wethers and bucks) .. I personally don't use it but many do..just be careful if you use the acv and put out baking soda - not a good idea!!  a lot of people (myself included) put out free choice baking soda that the goats lick now and then which helps with rumen acidity and problems..some people may also think that acv flavors water enough but yuck have you ever tasted it?  gross!!  try the kool aid route.. if you are concerned with urinary stones mix some ammonium chloride in minerals or top dress grain with a small amount.. in the cold weather times providing some warm water works wonders.. mine love it.. I have two water heaters I got from TSC that I heat up 5 gallons of water and pour into their buckets and they actually wait for it!!  but then again you will find out how spoiled goats can become!


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## mylilchix

Well, they are getting spoiled!!  They seem to like the molasses in the water.  I do need a new heated bucket though, ours broke.  

Sonja


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## stano40

My pygmy's & wether alpine get free choice baking soda, sweet feed, pellet's for kid's, & dairy goat pellets.  So if they are getting sweet feed with molasses in it wouldn't molasses in the water be redundant to give.


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## no nonsense

True, a normal healthy animal with access to water will generally not allow itself to become dehydrated, but there is a difference between being simply hydrated and being well hydrated. Probably one of the best things that we can do for our animals during any time of stress is to encourage them to drink as much as possible, not just the bare minimum that they need to keep from being dehydrated.

Regarding what molasses does for the goats, other than a flavor enhancer used to cover up different smelling and tasting water, it is valuable in helping prevent ketosis in does during the last weeks of pregnancy. Propylene glycol is the best preventative, and also a main component of the cure, but molasses is cheaper and easier to give. Sweet feeds may help, but I don't think that they are generally fed in large enough quantities to be as effective, and the sugar is more quickly and easily available to the bloodstream when dissolved in water than when given in the feed.

Although an oversimplification, ketosis is partially caused by low blood sugar, when the developing kids sap more of the nutrients from the doe than she needs for herself. Any sugar will help, but in the form of molasses it's more readily available and easier to administer. Nothing irks me more than this anthropomorphic mentality which leads people to misunderstand a valuable managemnt tool for something associated with a treat, like candy. I can asure you that professional nutritionists do not develop livestock feeds with molasses simply because they want to give the animals a treat. The dangers associated with this kind of thinking are evident here by the thought process which leads some into thinking molasses=sugar=sweet liquid=koolaid. As any sugar will help give the doe the boost needed to prevent ketosis, actual koolaid with a sugar base will probably work. The problem becomes that today we have a high number of koolaid like products on the market  which contain artificial sweeteners which do not contain the vital sugars necessary in ketosis prevention. I would hate for someone to make the unfortunate association with molasses simply as a sweet treat, use a koolaid type product instead, with an artificial sweetener, and lose a doe or kids as a result.


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## stano40

Don't mean to hijack this thread but this is very good information I'd like to get more of.

I have two does that may or may not have been impregnated by my buck, so giving them molasses in the water would that be a benefit for them as well as the other males I do have?

How much do you give in a gallon of water and How frequently would you give this to them?

bob


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## mavrick

this doesn't have any thing to do with watering, but since allot has been said about molasses, I have saved a lot of my goats with this magic syrup as you know or will find out if you keep goats for very long acting fast is very important when it comes to treating a sick goat. This is for weight gain, does in the early stages of toxemia, anemic goats, if there sick and not eating as a support treatment to keep them eating and drinking, and when they are down or off their feed. Give a 50# plus 50 or 60 cc every other day or so. (1part molasses,1part corn oil,2parts karo syrup)


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