skinny goats not eating pasture

[hillbillycitygirl]

so I had my goats at the vet the other day and she told me they are too skinny. They are nubian does 2yrs, 4yrs and a 3mo old...the vet said the 3mo old looks a good weight but the 2yr and 4yr need more weight on them. They get some alfalfa once a day, get grain when I milk them twice a day and are free to roam a large pasture and eat as they please...only they dont really eat the pasture...its so over grown now......and then they just about inhale the feed I give them when I milk them and get all crazy at me when they run out. What is going on? what should I do to help them gain? the feed is Noble goat feed for dairy goats. they eat about 3 cups each/twice a day. (the 3 mo old gets about a quart of milk a day and just pasture and hay)

I have only had them for about a month, I dont want them getting sick

 

[Roll farms]

Up their grain.
Try adding calf manna and / or black oil sunflower seed to their milker ration.
It can be hard to get a doe that's underweight up to good weight while lactating (I'm having issues w/ this myself).

If they get to realllllly looking bad, I'd dry them off earlier than planned and keep their feed up until they're looking better...then keep them that way until breeding.

 

[babsbag]

My goats don't eat pasture like sheep do. The grass just keeps on growing and they keep eating the alfalfa and the grain. They nibble here and there, but if it isn't growing on a tree or shrub they aren't really interested.

The ones I am milking get about 6 cups of grain (local feed mill dairy mix) and some BOSS, beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, and maybe some whole wheat or corn tossed on top. They only get that when I have them on the milk stand.

Last year I was adding some extra nutritional support for one that I thought was getting skinny. There is a goat balancer pellet by Manna Pro that seemed to work well.

Were they checked for worms while at the vet?

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Annual rye grass is the only grass I've found my girls to really go for during the Spring. They eat the fescue in the Fall but won't touch it the rest of the year. They much prefer to browse. I have a friend whose herd is on pasture though and they do great.

 

[Roll farms]

If I leave out free choice hay, they won't go out at all...that's why I cut them back on hay in the spring once the pasture's doing really good.
They prefer hay, but look MUCH better w/ big pasture bellies.

 

[hillbillycitygirl]

I am actually bringing in a poo sample today to check for worms. I am thinking about using the molly's herbal wormer from fiasco farm. have any of you used that? Thank you for the info.

Its my two that I am milking that are low in weight and I dont want to dry them both off because then I will be out of milk...

should I stop giving them hay to encourage them to pasture? I will look into the manna and other things listed!

should I be concerned that they basically inhale their food at milking time and then get all pissy and start stomping at me? One grunts while she eats too, its weird.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I think it is the alfalfa and the grain, because you are milking you need to feed them. Mine don't get any alfalfa this time of year, just grass hay and they don't touch the grass hay, they browse all day. A few of mine get 3 cups of grain a day, but they still browse just fine, ofcourse when I bring the grain out they go crazy over it.

They sure do love that alfalfa hay.

Edited to clarify: it is early in the morning, when I reread this I realized it isn't very clear. I don't milk. I was just commenting that goats love love love alfalfa hay, I know mine would prefer it, but since I don't milk I don't feed alfalfa hay, and they eat pasture/browse all day long. Once and a while I put out a bale of 2nd cutting grass hay and it will sit out in the barn for days and day, even though in the winter that wouldn't be enough to last them even one day.

I was wondering about worm load, that will keep them skinny, no matter how much you feed them. Make sure they also check for coccidiosis.

 

[Roll farms]

My 'rule' is they get as much grain as they want while I'm milking...if they hoover it down and they are too fat, then I put something in the feed pan to slow them down (like rocks, they have to 'work around). If they're too skinny, they get more. I'll also let them stay and eat more if they 'need' to.

You might try cutting back on the alfalfa and seeing if they'll go out, but don't let them lose even more condition by doing that....if it's not working after the 1st day or so, give them the alfalfa back and offer more.

There are also dairy goat concentrates (ADM makes one) that are higher in fat / protein. You could top dress their feed w/ that (instead of calf manna....I have some does who don't like calf manna).

Herbal wormer won't work for me here...

It's been my experience that it works best for folks who don't have much of a worm issue to begin with. In the swamp where I live....we have issues. :/

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Definitely mow back your pastures and let good grass grow in. THey don't want to eat tough old grass. Mow the pasture to about 3-4" and then give it time to grow back to about 8" tall. Of course this all depends on what kind of grasses you have, but I'm assuming it's a regular old cool season mix pasture. Until the pasture grows in again, I'd offer free choice hay.

 

[ksalvagno]

Even though you have the goats, expect to mow your pasture if it is large. I have alpacas and goats and we have to mow their pastures on a regular basis. Once the grass reaches a certain height, they won't eat it.

Also, when I had my Alpine, she was getting 5-6 cups of grain per milking.

If you have a worm load, then I would suggest using regular wormers to clean them out. Then if you want to use the Molly's herbs after that, that would be up to you. But if you are already dealing with thin animals, then you don't want it taking a long time to get rid of parasites.