skinny doe

[treeclimber233]

I have a doe that is a very picky eater. She will only eat the very best of the hay and refuse to eat the rest. The rest of my herd eats the rest and look fine. The picky eater looks very skinny to me. What should I do to get her to eat better. They have hay free choice and a large enough pen that there is grass for them to eat. If I have time to tie her out on grass she eats until she looks pregnant. But she never looks full in the pen. She is nursing 2 babies and I am hoping for milk for myself but ...... I know milking does don't carry the weight of a non milking doe but she is so skinny I can't feel any meat on her backbone at all and her hip bones stick wayyy out. They have all been wormed several times. Any suggestions?

 

[peachick]

I have a young doe too that I am worried about. She was wormed last week by her breeder. Her brother eats everything and she picks at everything. I pick him up and there is a solid animal. I pick her up and there is no substance to her.

I talked to the breeder and he said she could have hookworm... that normal worming meds dont take care of.... so today i go out and buy a $45 bottle of Valbazen. and a $22 bottle of "Survive" for goats... a supplement for baby goats.

I gave her a dose of both around noon today and by 7pm tonight she was pushing her brother out of the feed bowl !!
I am SO relieved!!
If she continues eating tomorrow then that was $$ very well spent!

 

[glenolam]

Is she the low man on the totem pole? If so, that could be why you think she's picky - it's more that she only takes what she can get.

What does she weigh against your other does? Have you taken her temp? How do her eyelids look?

Is she nursing the twins when you tie her out to eat pasture? If not, it could be that the twins are eating from her so much she can't get a chance to fill up when penned up with them.

 

[treeclimber233]

She is definately not low on the totem pole. She is the boss. She is very pushy and will not let the other goats eat until she is finished. That is why I know she is being picky. Even when she eats all the hay she wants she still does not look like she does after eating grass for a few hours. As for her weight compared to the other does: She is a Lamancha and the other 2 are mini mancha (her daughter) and a nubian/pygmy cross. All I can compare is bones sticking out/not sticking out. After looking at her daughter last night I noticed she is also getting very skinny. The nubian/pigmy still looks good. (rounded back and hip bones covered). I am milking all three and after seperating the babies for 8-10 hours all the milk I get from all three is about 1/2 gallon. This is the 2nd freshening for the Lamancha and the 1st freshening for the other two.

By "bottle of Valbazen" I am assuming it is given by needle. Dont think I am ready for that yet. Anything I can give by mouth. Maybe I should also add that the babies all had diareaha (sp) last week. They are around 2-3 months old. I took all the grain away from them and they got better. My "goat friend" moved away and hasn't returned my calls all week and I am totally lost.

 

[ksalvagno]

My guess would be parasites but you really need to have a fecal done to determine which worms. Then you can deworm appropriately. All the dewormers can be done orally but different dewormers work for different parasites.

 

[glenolam]

By "bottle of Valbazen" I am assuming it is given by needle. Dont think I am ready for that yet. Anything I can give by mouth...... My "goat friend" moved away and hasn't returned my calls all week and I am totally lost.

Guess it's time to put all that info your 'goat friend' hopefully taught you to the test! Giving shots really isn't that hard to do and I think you'll be surprised at how quick and easy it is. As ksalvagno said, most wormers are given orally, but stuff like antibiotics and their annual CD&T vaccine is given as a shot.

I agree that it sounds as though you may have a parasite problem, but you would know for sure if you brought a poop sample to a vet. Then you can properly diagnose and treat. Have you checked her eye lids? Google FAMACHA chart and compare her lids to the pictures. How old are the twins? Have you treated them for coccidia if they are over 3 weeks old?

 

[treeclimber233]

no I have not treated for cocci because the only diareah they had cleared up when I cut back on their grain. They never acted sick just had dirty back legs.

I guess a fecal sample will go to the vet tomorrow.

 

[DonnaBelle]

Yep, hope you've got a good vet that will do a fecal right away and give you what wormer to use, how often and how much.

Good luck, you just have to be a detective to own goats. LOL

DonnaBelle