# Newbie goat owner looking for feeding advice.



## jcooke1 (Apr 14, 2011)

Hi everyone, I am a new goat owner of 4 three month old Boers.3 girls and 1 whether. We have them on lush pasture and we r feeding them a flake of alfalfa per day. They also have free choice to baking soda and a print goat mineral block. Are my new babies getting enough to meet their needs or should I be feeding more hay or incorporate any grain? These four are just for pets and field maintenance no other use. I would appreciate any suggestions you have for me regarding anything that will help me give my little one's the best care possible.


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## jcooke1 (Apr 14, 2011)

Oops sorry about the typo.... they have a Purina mineral goat block, not a print goat block.


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## freemotion (Apr 14, 2011)

Lots of us prefer a small bin with loose minerals and no other salt source (so they eat enough minerals) and keep the minerals fresh every 2-3 days.  Otherwise, go by their condition....sounds like you have plenty of good food for them.

I don't leave baking soda out full time anymore because I ended up with some pretty severe copper deficiency when some of the does ate the salty bs and not enough of the minerals.  They didn't need the bs.  I keep a box in the barn in case someone looks like they could use a bit, then I hand feed it or leave a little mound of it in a clean spot and show it to whoever looked a bit uncomfortable so they know where to find it to self-medicate.  But no longer do I leave it out all the time.


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## 20kidsonhill (Apr 15, 2011)

Unless you are getting free alfalfa hay, or your pasture is gettting dry or used up, the alfalfa is probably not needed, but just my opinion. We don't feed any hay in the summer when the girls are on pasture, as long as there is enough pasture, but they do like an occasioal treat of hay. We just feed mixed grass 2nd cutting hay to all our animals, unless they are nursing then we add a little alfalfa to the mix, for increased calcium and milk production.


Infact if you ar planning on breeding them. the steady supply of alfalfa hay is probably not very good for them and may increase their chances of getting milk fever.with that said, some of the dairy folks on here do feed alfalfa year round and don't seem to have a problem with it. 

You probably would be better off investing in loose minerals, make sure the mineral you buy have copper sulfate, and iron sulfate and not iron oxide in it, which isn't as digestable.

IF you aren't planning on breeding them, the minerals arn't quit as important, you can really start to see the impact of low minerals on pregnant and milking does, and new borns.  

IF you decide to breed the girls, invest in a bottle of Bo-Se (selenium and vitE), it is only sold through a vet.  

Did you vaccinate the girls? CD&T vaccination


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## jcooke1 (Apr 15, 2011)

What type of loose mineral do you recommend? I am not sure if the kids have been vaccinated and wormed or not. We bought them off of someone who bought them from the breeder and when I asked about that stuff I didn't feel like is was a reassuring answer or maybe I am just paranoid. Lol! I plan on worming them and vaccinating them this weekend just to be on the safe side. How many cc's of CDT do I give to each and since they are only 3 months old do I give them a booster at 6 months? Will it harm the kids if I vaccinate and worm them even if it was already done? As for worming I have seen a lot of people recommend the injectable ivermectin, but it is suggested to squirt it in the mouth instead of injecting it, is that correct? Is it safe to squirt something in their mouth that is originally created to be given as a shot? Plus how much do you give them? Do I worm them about every three months? In addition to the wormed would it hurt if I dust them for mights? They are a little scratchy every now and then and once again it might be my new mommy paranoia kicking in, but would it be to much for them if I dust them, worm them, and vaccinate them all at once? 

Thank you everyone for all of your help.

-New mommy with lots of questions.


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## 20kidsonhill (Apr 15, 2011)

If you aren't sure about the vaccinating, I would do it. and no it wont hurt anything. we give our show whethers extra booster shots.

You give 2cc sub-qu, no matter the size of the goat, once and then again in 21 days and some people do a  3rd shot another 21 days from that, or if they get enjured you can rebooster them, otherwise it would be one time a year after that. 


It is normal to use injectable wormers as oral, goat farmers do it all the time, because goats need to get the wormer right in their stomach for best effectiveness of stomach worms, you would use the injectable as an injectable fo mites and lice.  

As an oral dose you would give 1cc per 25 lbs as an injectable you would give the amount recommended on the bottle.


Safeguard is a good wormer for tapeworms, ivermectin will do nothing for tapeworms, You would treat with safegaurd orally at 3x the recommended dose for sheep and for 3 days in a row. 

Tapeworms is the only worm that you can see in the poop, so if you see little peices of white rice in the poop, it is tapeworms. 


Sweetlix meat maker loose minerals is a very good mineral.  Or check with your co-op and see if they make one, Our co-op makes an excellant loose mineral. Ask for feed tags, (labels) and compare ingredience so you can become familiar with what is in the minerals and feeds. 

You can dust them for mites, wont hurt anything.

You may not want to worm every 3 months, you may wish to make weekly observations to see if they are maintaining weight/growth and hair quality and then decide if they need to be wormed.

Read about the Famancha scale, this is good for understanding the barber pole worms, which causes anemia. 



consider having a couple fecal tests done, to see what kind of parasites you goats have, then you don't have to guess, It seems to range from 15 to 21 dollars, price around for this.  

there is another parasite you need to consider with such young animals. Coccidiosis, is a parastie, but not a worm, and is treated for 5 days in a row with a coccidiosis medicine, Your goats are not on goat pellets(feed), which often times have a medication in it to help slow down the cocci. but even if you were feeding the medicated grain, you would still need to keep an eye out for flare-ups of cocci. This can also be detected in a fecal.  Become familiar with someone in your area that can do a fecal at the last minute so if you have a  goat start scouring, you could have on run quickly and treat accordingly. 

did I catch all your questions?

Anymore questions? don't be afraid to ask.


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## mlw987m (Apr 15, 2011)

I do! I do!  What do you dust themwith for mites? Can I use DE, or something else?


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## jcooke1 (Apr 16, 2011)

Thank you everyone for the information, I really appreciate the feed back. I am on my way to the feed store to get the CDT and ivermec wormer, but I do have a few more questions. I think my kids might have lice... Eeek! My plan is to give them the CDT, Ivemectin orally, dust them change their bedding and dust it too. Do you think the dusting will be enough? Or should I give them the ivermectin sub qu instead of orally? I really want to treat them for stomach worms because I don't know if they ever have, but I also want to take care of the lice issue too. Can I give them the CDT, Ivermectin sub qu and orally, plus dust them. It sounds like a lot of stuff to me to subject them to all at once. I have only been a goat owner for 6 days now so what are your thoughts? Should I give them the CDT, Ivermectin orally, and dust them today; then next weekend give the Ivermectin sub qu?


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## jcooke1 (Apr 17, 2011)

20kidsonhill said:
			
		

> If you aren't sure about the vaccinating, I would do it. and no it wont hurt anything. we give our show whethers extra booster shots.
> 
> You give 2cc sub-qu, no matter the size of the goat, once and then again in 21 days and some people do a  3rd shot another 21 days from that, or if they get enjured you can rebooster them, otherwise it would be one time a year after that.
> 
> ...


What size of needle do you suggest using for the CDT vac?


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## Goatherd (Apr 18, 2011)

I use a 22g x3/4"


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## 20kidsonhill (Apr 18, 2011)

If I am remembering correctly, the 18 gauge would be quit large, and are used for thicker medicines, like thick antibiotics.

The 22 gauge is a good small size for babies, but other than vaccines, not much else will go through the needle.

20gauge works well for most things, and will be a little stronger to hold up to the thicker skin of a mature goat. 

You might want to get a couple 20gauge and a couple 22 guage and try them out. 

Sometimes I get the 3/4" length and sometimes the 1"length, depends wht I can find in the store. 3/4" would be plenty long enough for most injections.


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## jcooke1 (Apr 18, 2011)

The girl at the feed store gave me 20 gauge at a length of 1.5". The needle seemed extremely long when I got home to use it, but now I know part of the reason why it seemed extra difficult to give the vaccination and I kept poking myself. Lol! I had to long of a needle. Is the 22 gauge good for giving the CDT?


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## Goatherd (Apr 19, 2011)

> Is the 22 gauge good for giving the CDT?


That's the size that I use and have not had any problems so far.
As has been mentioned, products that are more viscous would need a larger gage.


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## jcooke1 (Apr 19, 2011)

More questions... the kids have an occasional cough or sneeze. Nothing chronic or consistent with them but should I be alarmed since some diseases have cough as a symptom? Or am I just being a nervous new mom and shouldn't worry about it as long as they are alert, eating, and have no runny nose? I am sure goats are like many other animals and humans who get an occasional tickle in the throat or nose, right? Do goats have allergys like human such as "hay fever". We have a lot of pollen floating in the air right now. Sounds kind of silly but could that be what is causing the occasional sneeze and cough?


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