URGENT!!! Really skinny dairy goat needs to gain weight

[Goat Whisperer]

She's not feeding her goat properly
That's why she is to thin
Thank you

Well I do agree this goat is most likely not getting enough food to sustain itself, I was surprised that your NDs get 2lbs a day.
Mine get fat off of 2 cups a day.
As long the goat is healthy I'm happy. I don't care how much or how little it needs to be fed.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Or are you saying you feed 2lbs per group or per head?

 

[OneFineAcre]

I think I'm about done here

 

[Goat Whisperer]

 

[OneFineAcre]

Her goat is thin because she isn't feeding properly
Apparently I mispoke when I said "as much"
I should have said " as well"
Now I'm done

 

[Southern by choice]

Back to the OP -

I am curious, I may have missed this if you had posted already... was this sudden or gradual? I am not sure of any of us asked this.

I was thinking about it because I have a Lamancha doe that is a bit fickle and she goes up and down with condition. She is a 140 lb doe but will go down to 128 then back up. The wind changes and so does her weight

She is the only difficult one in our herd.

If this has been gradual that is one thing, if it was sudden that is another. I know @babsbag likes the calf manna. I do but I worry about the protein so we don't use it often but that may be a good choice. Keep it simple. I only recommended the chaff because it helps and is pretty efficient both cost wise and nutritionally. If there is no dealer then of course it wouldn't be an option. It is also GMO free.

Also does your doe eat all the feed? I know sometimes with mixes like you have they will pick out just what they want. With pellets they can't do that.

I never go by what is suggested... I go by the doe and condition.

 

[babsbag]

I have 40 goats +/- (haven't counted lately). Not all of them are adults, but most of them are mature Alpines and LaManchas. I feed about 175 lbs of hay a day. That is almost 5 lbs of hay per goats. This is straight alfalfa. I also feed my does in milk about 4-6 cups of 16% grain once a day. For the first time in 8 years I don't have a skinny goat in the herd. I also make sure they have a mineral that they like and that they are eating and I supplement them with Multi-min 90 , it is an injectable mineral for selenium, copper, zinc, and magnesium.

I really think that the minerals play a big roll in the overall condition. Also, the hay I am feeding this year is higher TDN than what I have had in the past.

I would get alfalfa pellets, the cubes can be a stiff curve for them and some would rather starve than try and chew those things; not what you want right now. Also, Purina makes a goat chow that is pretty good, just make sure you get the one that isn't medicated, read the tags.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Mine get fat off of 2 cups a day.

Well.... she says in a whisper: When I was showing, my show herd had self-feeders full of grain in every pen and free choice alfalfa. I know, crazy huh? But, back then in the Pygmy world - wider was better. When one of my buck's won his last GC, he was so fat he couldn't even breed a doe.

That was one of my last shows - might have been THE last one. I took that boy home and got the weight off of him and he lived to be nearly 12.

 

[Feo]

Yes, I am in the south. I live in mideast part of Virginia. I have never heard of perennial peanut. I will look though!

 

[Feo]

Back to the OP -

I am curious, I may have missed this if you had posted already... was this sudden or gradual? I am not sure of any of us asked this.

I was thinking about it because I have a Lamancha doe that is a bit fickle and she goes up and down with condition. She is a 140 lb doe but will go down to 128 then back up. The wind changes and so does her weight

She is the only difficult one in our herd.

If this has been gradual that is one thing, if it was sudden that is another. I know @babsbag likes the calf manna. I do but I worry about the protein so we don't use it often but that may be a good choice. Keep it simple. I only recommended the chaff because it helps and is pretty efficient both cost wise and nutritionally. If there is no dealer then of course it wouldn't be an option. It is also GMO free.

Also does your doe eat all the feed? I know sometimes with mixes like you have they will pick out just what they want. With pellets they can't do that.

I never go by what is suggested... I go by the doe and condition.

It was rather sudden, in about 4 days. She does pick through her feed, leaving the kelp meal but how i get her to eat it is I just put molasses on it. I do think I will try Calf Manna and give her more feed. And maybe get alfalfa. Will her backbone fill out if she gains weight? It always bothers me that it sticks out so badly.