Need advice on growth- UPDATE- animals were extremely ill

[SassyKat6181]

I purchased two bucks last weekend, and had the vet out today to assess them. Nigerian Dwarf, 10 months old and weigh 30 pounds. Their heart girth is 20". The woman I bought them from never wormed them and says that they got into bad hay back in August, causing the whole herd to bloat really bad. She said it was about a month before they realized what was going on. The vet says they are stunted, won't be full size and I shouldn't use them to breed. I am new to this and need opinions from everyone who has one. They are not returnable and the woman says that with good hay and grain, that they should grow normal. That they won't be full size until 2 years anyway. We want to have milk for our family and sell the kids to pay for farm costs. Please help!!!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I would think that they would be ok to breed when they are full size.

HOWEVER, you will need to disclose their past info to any potential buyers of the babies to let them know, and even possibly sell the babies at a discounted price, depending if they are having growth problems too.

JMHO.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

It is hard to say. They will continue to grow for a few years but when nutrition is poor early on and if their digestive system was damaged from poor management, it is kind of toss up as to whether they will actually grow to their potential full size.

However, an no offense to your vet, that has nothing to do with be able to BREED---the bucks' genetics were not damaged by poor nutrition, their bodies were just unable to take full advantage of their genetic blueprint They can be used to breed and their kids will, with proper care, grow to full size and be healthy.

Edited to add that a) they are old enough to breed now, and you don't need to wait two years, and b) the only reason I can see that they wouldn't be fine to breed is if they are sterile because of all that they have gone through but I doubt that is the case.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Bad hay and bloat wouldn't have caused them to be stunted.

They are small.

I have a 4 month old buckling that weighs 25 pounds and 2 junior does who are 10 months old and weigh 43 lbs. Yours should probably weigh in the neigborhood of 50lbs.

Like Pearces said, bad nutrition wouldn't affect their offspring. And, they can breed now.

It depends on what you are trying to do. If you want milk and offspring, they can accomplish that unless the poor nutrition caused a long term problem, but I doubt that.

 

[SassyKat6181]

They are doing ok. I am going to weigh them tomorrow and see if they've gained weight in the week since I brought them home. I am suspecting a selenium deficiency. Would it hurt to give them Bo-se if I can get some from the vet?

 

[mjgh06]

It wouldn't hurt to give them Bo-se. But I am more of a naturalist, I treat for whats known. Are you in a selenium deficient area?

As for the weight, many breeders are breeding a mini version of the ND nowadays with adults only weighing in the 40-50 range. So I don't think the weight will be an issue as long as he developed normally which bad conditioning would not cause deformities or malformed structure. They are old enough to breed, but I'd personally wait until they hit the 40lb mark because of their history.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Why do you suspect a Selenium deficiency? BoSe can be great if it is needed but can also be deadly. See what your vet says and talk to him about any cases of deficiency he or she has seen in your area. Here is a link to a map listing average soil content in the U.S. but other things do influence selenium intake and absorption---this is just a reference point.

http://tin.er.usgs.gov/geochem/doc/averages/se/usa.html

Edited to add that goats require 0.2 ppm, but less than 0.5 is deficient. Above 3.0 ppm is toxic.

 

[2goats8kids]

Why do you suspect a Selenium deficiency? BoSe can be great if it is needed but can also be deadly. See what your vet says and talk to him about any cases of deficiency he or she has seen in your area. Here is a link to a map listing average soil content in the U.S. but other things do influence selenium intake and absorption---this is just a reference point.

http://tin.er.usgs.gov/geochem/doc/averages/se/usa.html

Edited to add that goats require 0.2 ppm, but less than 0.5 is deficient. Above 3.0 ppm is toxic.

You know, I've looked at the map linked before for my county, but never noticed that you could look at each county's samples individually to get closer to your own house. The county I live in ranges from 0.3 to 0.6, so finding the couple of samples closest to me was useful. Thanks!

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Also, in most cases BoSo shots are not needed, even if in a deficient area. If you provide good loose mineral with good selenium levels that should take care of it.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Why do you suspect a Selenium deficiency? BoSe can be great if it is needed but can also be deadly. See what your vet says and talk to him about any cases of deficiency he or she has seen in your area. Here is a link to a map listing average soil content in the U.S. but other things do influence selenium intake and absorption---this is just a reference point.

http://tin.er.usgs.gov/geochem/doc/averages/se/usa.html

Edited to add that goats require 0.2 ppm, but less than 0.5 is deficient. Above 3.0 ppm is toxic.

This is what mine says:

(Where our hay is grown) Selenium Se (ppm) 0.238 0.159 0.100 1.295
(Where we live) Selenium Se (ppm) 0.303 0.296 0.100 1.496



What would you do in my case?