grain when pregnant

[Chickenfever]

So, I'm new to goats and have two mini manchas and they are both about 10 weeks pregnant. I have been giving them each 1/2 cup of grain (purina goat chow) a day as well as free choice grass/alfalfa hay mix and free choice minerals.
I spoke with the previous owner today and she said I should NOT be feeding them any sort of grain unless they are lactating. She said I could make them fat and they will have a difficult delivery. I'm really confused about what I should be doing.
BTW they do not seem fat.

 

[jeaucamom]

I have had my goats for all of 3 hours and knew nothing before I got them, that being said.. here is a great site

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/prenatalcare.html

so much info on there it will make your head spin and I really appreciate her love and holistic approach to her goats.

 

[lilhill]

My Nigies always get grain, especially when pregnant and lactating (unless I'm drying them off). I feed Purina Goat Chow and 100 days prior to projected due date, I gradually up their gain until they are getting 2-1/2 cups of grain a day, twice a day. Mine have never had kiddings problems because of grain. They need it to feed the babies while they are growing inside her and to keep themselves in condition. So, my goats get the grain along with alfalfa pellets, free choice grass hay and loose goat minerals.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

giving our mini mancha grain was a huge mistake - now she is huge!

we started feeding grain in the fall so she'd be nice and healthy to be bred. and she totally ballooned. our breeder reminded me that the mini's are prone to this and to only feed the SMALLEST handful of grain - just "enough for her to taste it."

but now that she is preggers we dont think we should cut her back to nothing.... but we've reduced it to just a handful a day. we also found out that she has been sneaking it from our full sized dairy gal so we are watching that.

do they free range??

 

[Chickenfever]

Thanks so much for the replies. NO, they do not free range, they are only getting what I give them.

One of the goats has a very healthy looking belly, the other smaller of the two really does not have much of a belly. Should I be concerned about this. I have read a big belly is a good thing on a goat and means they have a healthy rumen.

 

[cmjust0]

The size of the belly really doesn't have much to do with whether or not they're fat.. You're right -- the 'belly' is the rumen, and a big rumen is a good rumen. For me, the bigger the better..

It's entirely possible to have a goat with a huge belly who's also too thin, or a goat without much rumen development who's too fat. Or anywhere in between, really..

What folks need to be looking at is 'body condition score' -- BCS. Anything scoring 2 or less is a problem.. I like 3-3.5. I have a couple that I'm working on individually that are maybe 2.5's, and some that are probably closer to 4's. I have one that's like a BCS 27 on mostly grass hay and a handful of grain. She's down from about a BCS 43, though, so we're headed the right way with her.

Seriously...she's large. Just a very, very easy keeper.

Here's a really good link for BCS and goats.

Here's another good one, with a video.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Since most of sheep/goat fetus development happens in the last month or so of pregnancy, I usually only give very little grain until that time. Then I slowly up it. My Ober is at a good weight. She's due March 3rd and is now getting about a lb of grain per day with free choice hay.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

aggieterpkatie - thanks for listing this strategy.... great info! definitely will do this next year.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

aggieterpkatie - thanks for listing this strategy.... great info! definitely will do this next year.

cmjust0 also had great info. It really depends on the individual animal. Some people don't feed grain until freshening, some feed year round.

 

[Chickenfever]

cmjust0,
wonderful information, thank you. I feel this will help me a lot. So, basically It's OK to give grain as needed to keep them at ideal weight is what I'm getting from this.