How do you flush your does?

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I will be breeding my Kiko does on Sep 1st and the Nigerians on Oct 1st. That is subject to change but I will more than likely stick with it. This will be my first time "flushing" a doe. I know the timeline and how to do it but what I want to know is what you do and what do you feed? Do you feed a certain kind of grain or do you just increase their food a bit?

 

[SheepGirl]

The thing about flushing is it only works on females in poor(er) condition. Animals that score a 2.5 to 3 or higher on a 5-point body condition score don't need it/won't respond to flushing. When we flush the ewes, we give them 1/4 to 1 lb of grain per head per day, based on what they needed (their BCS and how big they were). Of course you would want to work up to those amounts gradually.

ETA: You start the flushing about 30 days pre breeding and then you continue until breeding season is over and you taper off the grain until you feed them for late gestation (last 30-45 days) and lactation.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I understand that and I know the BCS system pretty well. I have a doe that is in perfect health and I have another that is just a little thin and another that does need to gain some weight. None of them are to small and they are all healthy. The funny thing is, Alona the biggest of them, but she does need to gain some weight, has kidded triplets every time she has kidded.

What grain do you give them? Barley, cracked corn, millet, bagged grain...

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

The thing about flushing is it only works on females in poor(er) condition. Animals that score a 2.5 to 3 or higher on a 5-point body condition score don't need it/won't respond to flushing. When we flush the ewes, we give them 1/4 to 1 lb of grain per head per day, based on what they needed (their BCS and how big they were). Of course you would want to work up to those amounts gradually.

ETA: You start the flushing about 30 days pre breeding and then you continue until breeding season is over and you taper off the grain until you feed them for late gestation (last 30-45 days) and lactation.

I know. That is why I am figuring it out now. There are many ways to flush goats. Most start 30 days before and continue for 30 days after breeding. I have heard of 60 days before and many others. I will do 30 before and 30 after.

 

[terrilhb]

I looked for the answer but did not find it. What is flushing?

 

[Chris]

You can use a good quality goat feed that is higher in energy than normal or you can feed a good quality goat feed then supplement with a high energy top dress like Honor Show Chow Power Fuel. If feel that the goat is really under weight you may want to add a protein supplement to the goat feed/top dress mix.

Here is a nice right up on flushing --
http://www.sweetlix.com/media/documents/articles/Goat_021.pdf


Chris

 

[Chris]

I looked for the answer but did not find it. What is flushing?

Flushing is putting weight back on a under weight animal before breeding.

Chris

 

[terrilhb]

Thank you Chris.

 

[Chris]

Thank you Chris.

Your welcome,


Chris

 

[SheepGirl]

I feed my sheep 16% textured sheep feed. But when you flush them, it doesn't even have to be grain. It could be the highest quality hay, alfalfa pellets, etc...anything that will put weight on an animal.