advice please - new does

[Suburbanfarmer]

We just brought our does home this weekend. We got Bella on Friday and Penelope on Sunday.
Bella is pregnant and due (probably, the lady we got her from is guessing) around this Wednesday. The problem is that she is not eating well. The lady we got her from was feeding her 3 C of dry cob 1 C alfalfa pellets morning and evening. Now she is hardly eating 1 C total. I'm worried about the baby/babies (she isn't very big).
She isn't drinking very much either. I dump and refill the water when I feed in the morning and evening. I also dump the old food and put in new food morning and evening.

Is this just her not having settled in yet?

Neither one is really eating, but Penelope is not pregnant and is a bit over weight anyway, so I'm not as concerned with her.

I have raised just about every other animal, but I am new to goats and these are our first ones.

Thanks for any help!
-Kristin

 

[elevan]

Welcome to BYH!

Are you feeding their same feed or have you made changes since bringing them home?

Bella may be getting ready to kid. Mine will often seem to eat less just before their time. Also when they are close to kidding they often look "less pregnant" because their kids have dropped into birthing positions.

Do you have hay available to them all the time? Loose minerals? Fresh water?

You should also consider a quarantine deworming . The stress of "moving" to a new place is often enough to bring about a worm bloom. Couple that with kidding and you've more than doubled your chances of a worm bloom. Just don't use Valbazen.

There's no need to dump the food unless it's getting wet or soiled. We provide alfalfa pellets free choice to our goats here (available all the time).

 

[SheepGirl]

Is she active or is she lethargic?

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

Welcome to BYH!

Are you feeding their same feed or have you made changes since bringing them home?

Bella may be getting ready to kid. Mine will often seem to eat less just before their time. Also when they are close to kidding they often look "less pregnant" because their kids have dropped into birthing positions.

Do you have hay available to them all the time? Loose minerals? Fresh water?

You should also consider a quarantine deworming . The stress of "moving" to a new place is often enough to bring about a worm bloom. Couple that with kidding and you've more than doubled your chances of a worm bloom. Just don't use Valbazen.

There's no need to dump the food unless it's getting wet or soiled. We provide alfalfa pellets free choice to our goats here (available all the time).

The advice I got was to give her Ivermectin the day she kids. Should I worm before that?

She has plenty of hay (Orchard grass). I'm going to the feed store to pick up alfalfa hay today to see if having the hay instead of the pellets might work better. I'm also picking up minerals.

She has fresh water, dumped and filled twice a day (dirty or not - just to encourage drinking).

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

Is she active or is she lethargic?

Really she is neither. She was active Friday and Saturday because she was not happy about being alone. We spent a ton of time with her. Now that she has a goat buddy she is laying down in their shelter most of the time. Penelope (the not pregnant one) has not been handled very much, so she prefers to stay in the shelter.

She doesn't look sick or lethargic the way I've had other animals look when they are sick. She is still bright eyes and will come around for attention when I am out there.

 

[elevan]

I would deworm her with Safeguard or Panacur now (It's a gentle dewormer) at about 1ml per 10# and then use the Ivermectin the day she kids.

Other than that it sounds like you're doing everything good. She's probably just preparing to kid soon. Just because she's "due" Wednesday doesn't mean that she won't go a few days before or after. They range from day 145 to day 155.

 

[SheepGirl]

Is she active or is she lethargic?

Really she is neither. She was active Friday and Saturday because she was not happy about being alone. We spent a ton of time with her. Now that she has a goat buddy she is laying down in their shelter most of the time. Penelope (the not pregnant one) has not been handled very much, so she prefers to stay in the shelter.

She doesn't look sick or lethargic the way I've had other animals look when they are sick. She is still bright eyes and will come around for attention when I am out there.

Okay, I was thinking pregnancy toxemia or ketosis, but it doesn't sound like it any more.