Weight back on this momma goat we bought

[CelticOaksFarm]

We picked up a new girl and her daughter this past week. Mom is rather thin, rear hips aren't full and can visually see the hip bones. She is super sweet, and we want to get her back into better health. She was on Wooded pasture in a herd that included a buck. Her daughter is 5 months old and the previous owner did nothing to keep the buck from breeding at will. Today I am going to clip her to get the old thick hair off, trim hooves, give some pro-bios. I don't want to over feed her, but she desperately needs to be better condition.

All suggestions are welcome. Will see about getting a picture of her after I get the trimming done also.

 

[Chris]

We picked up a new girl and her daughter this past week. Mom is rather thin, rear hips aren't full and can visually see the hip bones. She is super sweet, and we want to get her back into better health. She was on Wooded pasture in a herd that included a buck. Her daughter is 5 months old and the previous owner did nothing to keep the buck from breeding at will. Today I am going to clip her to get the old thick hair off, trim hooves, give some pro-bios. I don't want to over feed her, but she desperately needs to be better condition.

All suggestions are welcome. Will see about getting a picture of her after I get the trimming done also.

Is the Doe in milk?
If so it is going to be real hard to get weight back in her wile she is in milk.
As for seeing hip bones that is common in dairy type breeds.

Chris

 

[swiss.susan]

If she is in milk, dry her off. Deworm her and repeat in 21 days. Offer all the hay she will eat and start slowly with grain, twice a day. Dont let her eat all she wants of the grain. It is almost impossible to condition a doe in milk, esp a heavy milker. More than likely she is bred back already since she was running with a buck so you only have a small window to try and bring her around. Can you put pics up? Previous poster is right, dairy animals are bony....it's called dairy character getting the parasites off/out of her will go a long way. Good luck!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Thank you both. Managed to get her feet trimmed and the extra hair off before the rains hit today. She was much easier to work with than I expected. Will go get a couple of pictures now that the sun came back out.

She does still have milk, will start working on getting her to dry up as well. Have a hay supplier delivering Saturday, we can order Timothy, alfalfa (2nd cutting), or Orchard hay. They also have Orchard/Alfalfa blend. These are hays available monthly when they deliver so I can get it pretty readily.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

ok, here is Momma in question. Please tell me what you think of her, and what we can do help her long.

her and her daughter

getting her to not walk towards me was a challenge. will take more as needed.

 

[bjjohns]

In the horse world they have something called a body score. : Based on my experience with goats, I would give this goat a body score of 5 (from 0-10). That is exactly middle of the road to heavy, Not too fat, not to thin. I see no ribs or leg bones, I see some hip (typical for dairy goats, and she has that look) but nothing is protruding or pointy. Thats my opinion, your mileage may vary.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

hi BJ, i know the horse body scores well. I would like to see her a 6/7, but since she was in a pasture here in Florida that was sand and she was low member of the herd I will take a 5. We went to buy her daughter, ended up taking both when they told us mom was in a field with the buck still. So they are now both ours and will be for life.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Goat condition is 1-5. This shows a diagram of the levels. http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sfn/spg09livestock I dont think she looks that bad though. I didnt shudder and think "wow thats a seriously skinny goat" but she is on the thin side. I would dry her off though for the chance she is pregnant again. Her body needs time in between to produce new colostrom correctly.

 

[Roll farms]

I like to use good alfalfa hay to add condition, or alfalfa pellets if they'll eat them. If they're getting grain, I'll add 1/4 c calf manna 1x a day as well.
Make any changes slowly.

She's not "oh my god" skinny, but I'd like to see more flesh on her as well.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Thanks for the replies. Will start working on drying her off and getting some weight on her as well.