Feeding During Pregnancy

Ok one more--

Willow is 83 days pregnant. Since before she was pregnant, I have been feeding both my does Purina Goat Chow and Alfalfa Hay, about a flake every 3-4 days depending on the size of the flake, (or pellets if the hay isn't good), with the occasional bit of BOSS (like maybe once a week, and that's generous). I feed both my does the same, and roughly according to what the goat chow packaging says, but maybe I fudge a little on the "too much" side (but not that much, I don't think). I don't weigh how much chow I give to my girls, and on top of that, they both eat from each others' bowls, so I'm not really sure how much each of them get. Since Naomi is the "boss" of the pen, I figure she probaby eats more than Willow, which is why I've been ok with the fudging.

What I'd like to know are these things:
1. Should I be more vigilant about how much Willow gets every day?
2. Once she kids and I need to milk her, will I be giving her more grain on the stand, and is that ok?
3. Since I've been giving her grain all along, will it make it harder for me to get her to the stand (meaning, will she be 'ho hum' about the grain and not be as excited to get on the stand)?

Thanks in advance!

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Replies

  • Great, thank you so much. I'll go with this plan and see how it goes. I'm sure it will be helpful come milking time.
  • Diets change all the time in nature. They never really eat the same thing two days in a row. Eliminating grain is not an issue, assuming you have good hay. The only real problem is adding grain too quickly. If a doe hasn't had grain and then she broke into your chicken grain and gorged herself, that could be bad. The usual advice is to make dietary changes gradually.

    Either you have really thick flakes of hay or you're feeding a lot of grain. You will probably find that the hay consumption goes up when you cut out the grain, so don't be alarmed by that. Grain is not particularly good for ruminants anyway. It's why you need to have baking soda available 24/7 for them -- in case their rumen gets upset. 

  • Ok thank you.

    The hay is green, and depending on the size of the flake (sometimes they are thicker than others) it can take 2 days or up to 4 days. The bale they've got now, the flakes are  a bit thicker, so as of now the one they have in their pen has been there since yesterday, and there is plenty left (and they have eaten plenty of it as well).

    We don't have pastures. Their body condition is fine, according to other fellow Nigi owners who have been raising them succesfully in this area for years.

    I did read that about overweight does, so that is a concern of mine. I thought of just letting the grain run out (I've got about 1-2 days left in the bucket) and letting them just have the alfalfa, but then I read that changing their diet wasn't a good thing at this point? I definitely don't mind doing that, then picking up the grain at a later date for does in milk. That would take care of the group grain issue too.

    Would pulling the grain from their diet right now be an issue? If not, I think that would solve my issues.

  • Unless your goats have access to green pastures every day, they should be getting hay every day. Does it take them 3-4 days to eat a flake of hay? If so, is the hay green? Most goats would eat at least a flake a day, assuming you're talking about a regular hay bale and not the ones that are moved with a forklift.

    If your does have good pastures and/or hay, and they have good body condition. they don't need grain when dry or pregnant. Overweight does are more likely to have kidding problems, and you could also wind up with really big kids, if you're overfeeding. 

    Giving grain in a "group" setting is not ideal. You really should know how much each goat is getting so that one doesn't get too much. Goats can wind up with all kinds of problems from too much grain -- from diarrhea to enterotoxemia or goat polio. I know someone who had two does and was feeding them grain together, and one of the does wound up with goat polio, so it can happen.

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