how do I tell if they are overweight? [pics added]

[Vickir73]

I've wormed them and their coats are looking MUCH better and they appear to have gotten some well needed nutrition - but how do I tell when I need to back down on their feed? Momma Goat - nursing 1 1/2 month old twin bucks is getting about 10-12 cups per day (sometimes I take her before she is finished because she takes so dang long on the stand) and Daisi (FF - nursing almost 2 month old buck) gets about 12 cups. Daisi (never freshened) gets between 2-4 cups a day. But I've been looking at them the last couple of days and they are starting to look plump. I can tell a difference in Momma Goat's back bone - it's not as boney as it was and her ribs are as bare as they were - but . . . .

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Some pictures would be great. If there were pictures it would be very easy and only take a sec to figure everything out. Also what kind of goats are they, how old are they, how much do they weigh? btw 10-12 cups is pretty crazy unless you are on a dry lot and they have nothing else top eat.

 

[Vickir73]

I'll try to take some pics this evening and post tomorrow. It will depend on the amount of light (I don't get home from work until 7:30). They are Nubian crosses (no idea what the cross is - but they've got some blue in their eyes??) Momma Goat is 2 years 4 months old - 2nd freshening (am I spelling that correctly?), Daisi (and Dafni) is 1 year 3 months old. When I got them (May 2012) they were pregnant but their coats were very dull and coarse and they weren't getting any feed only a small sized area that was eaten down. After they dropped their kids, Daisi seemed to improve, but Momma Goat got sick (fever, diarrhea) and after she recovered seemed to just droop and coat got courser and she seemed more run down and seemed to be losing weight instead of gaining. This week she gets her third round of Ivomec. This has helped tremendously!!!! Her coat is shiny and softner and I can feel some "meat on her bones" now, but how do I tell when to cut back? Momma Goat weighs (per weight tape) 135 lbs, Dafni about 100 lbs, and Dafni less than 100 (but I can't remember off hand and my record book is at home - and also, Dafni is quite a bit smaller than her twin sister (Daisi) and I don't know if it's because she's got some Drawf in her (blue eyes) or if it's because her previous owners said she almost died at birth and they had to fight to keep her alive)

I'll get some pics this afternoon.

 

[Chris]

It is really hard to have a milking goat get fat or over weight wile milking. All there food go's into producing more milk.
I would say that the "plumpness" that you are seeing is just the rumen working properly.
As for the doe, '' Dafni ", Did the previous owner say she had a dwarf breed in her? I ask this because, just because she has Blue eyes doesn't mean she has a dwarf breed in her. Both Fainting and Angora goat can carry the Blue Eye Gene and neither are a dwarf breed.


Chris

 

[Vickir73]

Momma Goat 1

Momma Goat 2 -yes, she has a blown (and double teat)

Daisi 1

Daisi 2 (it was already getting dark when I was able to take this)

Dafni 1 (she would not stand still)

Dafni 2

And here's my Pikachu just for fun

Now that I look at the pictures, they look kinda skinny to me. In and in the one pic it looks like I'm pressing down on her back but I wasn't. I was just about to reach over and try to place her legs when he took the picture - and these are NOT show goats. Yes, they have faults, but they also don't know how to "assume the pose"

And the previous owner didn't know what they were missed with, she just assumed Dwarf. I'd like to breed her, she still just seems so small.

 

[dhansen]

They look thin to me.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Yeah they do seem pretty thin, esp. because they are getting that much food. Couple things. 1. Do they need wormed and if they have been already what kind was it? 2. If they have been wormed already and they are eating that much food and still that thin, then you might want to check for mites. If they have mites then the mites could be sucking the blood from them and keeping their weight down, even with that much food. Some of it might also be that the are in milk so they do need increased feed.

 

[BlondeSquirrel04]

Also, what kind of feed is it? Is it dense in nutrition and calories, or just filler to keep their bellies full? They're definitely not emaciated, but not nearly as heavy as they should be with that much feed.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

I agree. They are dairy goats and their build is naturally a little more lean looking, but they seem like the could use just a tad more weight on them (not much from what I can see in the pics but a few pounds more).

x2 on what StrawHat said on the worming and such. That would be the first place to start. What do they eat besides the feed?

 

[Vickir73]

Momma Goat gets her 3rd dose of Ivomec this week and Daisi and Dafni get their second dose.

I am feeding Purina Goat Show (16% protein), Sweet mix (12% protein) (but only because they are eating so much Goat Show I have to do something different (and they seem to like it better - duh - it's got more sugar in it and alfalfa pellets. I'm mixing it this way: Up until a few days ago Dafni and Momma Goat were eating 12 cups each per day (4 cups of Goat Show, 1 cup of Sweet Mix, 1 cup of alfalfa pellets) on the stand and Dafni was getting 3-4 cups per day (1 cup of Goat show with a 1/2-1 cup of Sweet Mix and Alfalfa mixed together). The boys were getting 3 cups (1 1/2 cups of Goat Show and 1/2 cup of Sweet mix and 1 cup of alfalfa pellets).

The last couple of days I have been mixing everything together and feeding them in the main feeder - 8 cups of Goat Show - 4 cups of Sweet mix and 4 cups of alfalfa.

I'm very uncomfortable with feeding them all together in the main feeder (I feel like I'm neglecting them), so I'm going to feed individually in the mornings and put feed in the main feeder in the evening and see how that works.

They also get 2 flakes of hay a day (or more or less depending on how much the eat) and are on about 60 X 40 (and we will be doubling that this weekend). I've noticed since I've started worming them their coat is getting shiner and softer so maybe I just haven't given them enough time to start putting weight back on since worming? (They had never been wormed and I think Momma Goat was pretty bad off by the time I figured out what was wrong.)