This is Goldie the nubian

[alsea1]

why are the mineral blocks not good?

 

[Fluffygal]

Hard mineral blocks hurt their teeth.
I agree on the fecal. There could be some parisite that you are not noticing causing her to not gain. Especially if she is eating good but not plumping up.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

They do not get the amount of mineral they need from them and they mess up their teeth.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Good advice from the others. Just my two cents here, but I would only supplement her to improve her weight for the first three months of her pregnancy though.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Good advice from the others. Just my two cents here, but I would only supplement her to improve her weight for the first three months of her pregnancy though.

Are you saying to lay off the last two months?

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Yup. I would aim to get some weight on her during the early part of her pregnancy, while the fetus(es) are in the beginning stages of development. Towards the end, extra calories will be packed onto those kids and can make for a tough delivery (been there and it sucked---I did not know and the kid died and mom had a rough time).

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Yeah but if you want large kids it's those last 30 days that you want to increase the feed. But if she is already thin and small she may have a hard time with that.

I myself would grain her all the way thru but that's me. Also she is a larger breed and kidding should be easier than the little Nigerians.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Yeah but if you want large kids it's those last 30 days that you want to increase the feed. But if she is already thin and small she may have a hard time with that.

I myself would grain her all the way thru but that's me. Also she is a larger breed and kidding should be easier than the little Nigerians.

That is true (ours was a pygmy---they are more prone to kidding issues than NDs). She might be fine since she is a larger goat, but I would just be cautious because even big goats sometimes have too big babies. Not that I would stop grain altogether, just maybe the BOSS and extra servings of other stuff. I do give a feed ration all the way through pregnancy, and alfalfa pellets towards the end in small amounts.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Yeah if there are concerns about kidding issues maybe change it up or scale it down but I would not stop all together.

Yep, that was probably it. Pygmys always seem to have issues. With kidding that is.

 

[alsea1]

Hmmm. This will be her first preg. so it may be good to try and manipulate for smaller kids. And she is nubian and dad is boer. So def. want on smaller side. So far all the deliveries here have been normal and smooth. Knock on wood.

I uped her ration to 8 oz am and 8 oz pm. It looks like alot in her dish. I'm just not wanting to overload her stomach. We will give this a few weeks and see how it goes.

What about adding a dash of olive oil or corn oil to feed? Can they utilize that? I know it works great for horses.

Other than being ugly skinny she acts fine. Not sickly or anything.

She has always been the more sensitive of my goats it seems.