Stripes Kidding Thread

[luvmypets]

One of my Nigerians eats about that...

I suppose im just paranoid about bloat.

 

[mysunwolf]

I think goats eat more grain than sheep? I have no idea!

Now I'm worried too, I've just never had an udder shrink quite that much on a pregnant ewe (or doe in this case). I really hope you can figure out what's going on as I'm totally lost.

 

[Pamela]

As far as the incredible shrinking udder goes, is she drinking enough? My doe , Oreo's udder seemed to shrink in the days before she kidded, then it filled right before. Of course, now (5 weeks later) she has next to no milk to feed her twins and we are struggling to keep weight on her. Alas, I digress (Squirrel!) Back to the water issue. I noticed that her udder size correlated with her water intake before she delivered.

 

[StarSpangledNubians]

Hmmm, I was always told 5 cups of grain for a large diary breed. Do you think I need to add more? I change the water every day, but I do have some ducks who jump in the water from time to time. I will try to add another source of water and also refill it more often.

 

[NH homesteader]

5 cups seems like a LOT for a Nigerian.

@Goat Whisperer you have full size and Nigies- how much do you feed?

I don't know about the shrinking udder, GW should be able to help with that also!

 

[Latestarter]

I thought a heavily lactating full sized doe may need more than 5 cups a day in order to maintain health, milk production, and body shape/structure. I thought reduced grain in the final month of pregnancy was more the order of things to help keep the kid from gaining to much weight/size and making kidding difficult? As a 3rd or 4th freshener, and under normal circumstances (not precocious udder) I would think/guess that her udder would fluctuate a bit in size but when she gets close to kidding, there should be little doubt about it filling... either right before or during/after?

In any case:

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I'll have to measure, but she does eat a lot.

It is divided into morning/evening feedings when I milk her, so not all at once. She is not fat. In fact, she could put on some weight. She has twins on her and is giving me a half gallon of milk a day.

Not all my Nigies eat that much. My Saanen doe definitely does.

 

[NH homesteader]

My Nigie doesn't eat that much, but she also doesn't give me that much milk!

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I haven't measured her, but I'm sure she's OH. But she isn't registered so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Jenn27]

One of my Nigerians eats about that...

My Nigerians eat a lot, too...esp my my piggy Sam! But, we give them less in the summer since there is more for them to graze on.