Nutrition and condition discussion

Ariel - the saurkraut can help, and any raw fermented foods - like raw apple cider vinegar. It can help to sip a little in warm water before a meal. If you can't stand the taste a little honey can make it easier to get down. Use it for making salad dressings - and if you're not using it already it can be great for the goaties too.

Do you make kefir? Super beneficial for the tummy!
 
I make yogurt, and as soon as I scrape together the money I'm ordering some kefir grains to start that too. I spent so long not liking milk, before getting goats I could not drink milk, so my body is so programmed to not want milk that even though I KNOW I like goat milk, it's hard to convince myself to pour a glass of it very often. :rolleyes: I do drink it in tea pretty much daily though.
 
Think there's any difference at all?
jennyside.jpg
 
It's hard to tell with the brightness washing out the area along her spine and vertebrae, but it does look like they're starting to smooth out just a little bit. She still has a ways to go before she's in (what I would consider) ideal condition for a dairy animal, but great job and keep it up!
 
If you look at the pics in post #30, there is a definite difference! Great job, keep it up, keep walking the food to her and see if you can get her to eat even more.......She has a ways to go, but there is a difference. Notice the clear outlines of the transverse processes....the spine bumps on the sides, not the ones on the top.....and you can't really see them as clearly in the latest photo.

:woot
 
Think I'll be able to condition her without having to dry her off? (I did throw a full bale of alfalfa out there yesterday, and she's still nibbling on it)
 
Is the bale in a rack? She'll not eat it once she has stepped on it or the breeze blows on it the wrong way! Goats are so fussy.

As for drying her off....well.....maybe you could compromise for the next couple weeks and not quite milk her out, let her give less than peak. Decide on an amount and stick to it. Let her keep a pint or so and she will start to give a bit less. You can still have some milk, and she can save some body reserves to build herself back up.

Then re-evaluate her progress with another picture taken from the same angle and in similar light so you (we) can see how she is doing. Give it at least two or three weeks, though.
 
freemotion said:
Is the bale in a rack? She'll not eat it once she has stepped on it or the breeze blows on it the wrong way! Goats are so fussy.

As for drying her off....well.....maybe you could compromise for the next couple weeks and not quite milk her out, let her give less than peak. Decide on an amount and stick to it. Let her keep a pint or so and she will start to give a bit less. You can still have some milk, and she can save some body reserves to build herself back up.

Then re-evaluate her progress with another picture taken from the same angle and in similar light so you (we) can see how she is doing. Give it at least two or three weeks, though.
Click to expand...
They are not only fussy, but if her babies decide it looks like just one more toy for baby goats they're going to tromp all kinds of who-knows-what on it.

I agree with Free, if you don't dry her off I'd at least not push her production. Milking a gallon a day makes huge demands on the body and without reserves it's not healthy for her to sustain that. Letting her produce enough to wean the kids on her own and no more will at least alleviate some of the pressure on her while meeting your need not to supplement the kids.
 
I'm still only milking the excess in the morning, I'm not pulling kids or anything. I wouldn't even be doing that except if I don't, she fills so much on the one side it's not even funny. I accidentally let it go until noon yesterday and she was so tight every time she moved milk squirted. She's milking a little over a quart a day from just the one side, so I don't *think* it's putting much of a strain on her.

The hay's also in a hay net, so if she manages to mess that up, well then, good for her. She's not that picky anyways, she pigs out on what she knocks on the ground...
 
Wow, a goat who eats off the ground? If I put my gals on the phone, do you think you could get your gal to talk to them? :lol:
 
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