SteepedInSheep
Overrun with beasties
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I wasn't sure where to put this so my apologies if it should be moved elsewhere.
We had our sheep and goats give birth all in the same 3 week window... about 2 months ago now. It occurred to me yesterday that the lambs are far bigger than our goat kids. I'm sure breed has something to do with it as well as what they're eating so let me fill you in.
Goats are boer/Kiko. Sire is about 130 lbs and dams about 100. (Sire has had worm issues and lost weight last year and we are still working at getting that back up)
The goats get free choice grass hay and I've been supplementing the dams with a ration of alfalfa pellets and goat pellets. Really not much, probably a cup of alfalfa and a cup or pellets for the dam who had a single and 3 cups alfalfa and 2 cups grain for the dam who had triplets.
The sheep (katahdin and other hair sheep mixes) I was supplementing similarly when they were pregnant and for about a month after giving birth but now we move them to fresh grass every couple days. I can't get over how fat and solid the lambs look.
And don't get me wrong, I think the goats kids still look good and healthy, they are just a bit smaller than the lambs. I know goats and sheep are not the same animal but I was thinking there were enough similarities that I would have seen a similar growth rate. But perhaps the diets and breeds are different enough... as well as one of the breeding resulting in triplets, which leads to smaller ones.
The goats do have pasture in their paddock that they eat but it's been picked through... not nearly the same as giving them a fresh patch every few days.
We had our sheep and goats give birth all in the same 3 week window... about 2 months ago now. It occurred to me yesterday that the lambs are far bigger than our goat kids. I'm sure breed has something to do with it as well as what they're eating so let me fill you in.
Goats are boer/Kiko. Sire is about 130 lbs and dams about 100. (Sire has had worm issues and lost weight last year and we are still working at getting that back up)
The goats get free choice grass hay and I've been supplementing the dams with a ration of alfalfa pellets and goat pellets. Really not much, probably a cup of alfalfa and a cup or pellets for the dam who had a single and 3 cups alfalfa and 2 cups grain for the dam who had triplets.
The sheep (katahdin and other hair sheep mixes) I was supplementing similarly when they were pregnant and for about a month after giving birth but now we move them to fresh grass every couple days. I can't get over how fat and solid the lambs look.
And don't get me wrong, I think the goats kids still look good and healthy, they are just a bit smaller than the lambs. I know goats and sheep are not the same animal but I was thinking there were enough similarities that I would have seen a similar growth rate. But perhaps the diets and breeds are different enough... as well as one of the breeding resulting in triplets, which leads to smaller ones.
The goats do have pasture in their paddock that they eat but it's been picked through... not nearly the same as giving them a fresh patch every few days.
