Pregnant Goat VERY fat... UPDATE: PIC OF A 225LB NUBIAN DOE!!!

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I have a 3 year old doe who has always had an "active rumen" since I got her. She has always been my biggest doe. She seemed fat to me until I read on her that sometimes they can just get big bellies from their rumens. Last summer I taped her with a dairy tape at 160 pounds.

She kidded twice before I got her. And I bred her in September, and she is just huge. She is so fat she waddles around and her head swings side to side, and she walks pretty slow now! I can't believe how big she got so fast! She doesn't get anything except alfalfa and a tiny bit of native browse.

Should I be worried?

Is there anything that I should be doing?

Anything I should be watching out for?


UPDATE; 4 WEEKS LEFT!!!!!!!

 

[SheepGirl]

What is her body condition score?

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I'm not very experienced in judging goats, since these are my first, but I would score her at about 3-4 before pregnant and now too.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Here she is at only 10 weeks pregnant...

 

[Lamancha Acres 123]

2 of ours are looking really big as well, acually twice as big last year and they have a month to go, although there both from trips so who knows????

 

[ThornyRidgeII]

alfalfa makes goats fat.. are you talking pure alfalfa.. also wondering about parasites.. her coat looks a little rough.. has she ever been checked for worms? would suggest getting a fecal done.. might also want to get her on a more rounded diet so she doesn't become ketotic (something to worry about with diet and weight when pregnant) a good grass/alfalfa mix hay would be a better choice in my opinion over the pure alfalfa and little bit of browse. also if you are worried about her size actually do a body rating on her.. compare her by actually getting your hands on her and run up and down her spine and hips.. should be able to feel them with a little bit of fat over them.. be able to feel the definition to her bones.. if it is solid mass of fat then she is overweight. She looks like dairy goat and from that picture looks "chubby"

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Yes I feed pure alfalfa. Only other hays we have here is 4-way (which they won't eat- I've tried) and bermuda.

I dewormed her three times (10 days apart) with Ivomec Plus this last summer and again later twice with valbazen. She also had a copper bolus last summer- getting ready to do it again. She's always had the longest hair of my does, and in the pic she's dirty because it's been raining and muddy, but her hair feels soft in real life.

I can feel definition of her bones, it's not a solid mass lol.

Should I be giving her grain or anything else as the time nears for her kidding date? I have read about ketosis and wondering if there is anything I should be doing different?


ETA:
Also forgot to add she is on Sweetlix Meat Maker loose minerals.

 

[20kidsonhill]

yes, you can give her 2 or 3 cups of grain near the end of her gestation, the last 3 weeks or 4 weeks.

She does have plenty of body condition, but she doesn't seem all that big to me. She could be carrying triplets, they will get pretty big sometimes with trips and start showing sooner.

I also prefer some grass hay in their diet, but I know there are people on her feeding only alfalfa hay.

She really looks normal to me and okay to me.

 

[ksalvagno]

She looks a little over conditioned but not horrible. I'm sure nursing her kids will take the weight off. Definitely go easy on the grain if you are giving her any at all.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

She isn't getting any grain or pellets at all right now, just hay.

I want to start giving her some grain to help make sure she doesn't get ketosis during the last 4 weeks (we have 7 weeks to go now). So hopefully she doesn't add any more weight on!

I taped her at 160 pounds last summer non-preggo. It'd be interesting to see how much the tape says she weighs now! I'll check and see tomorrow just for the heckuvit.