I have been pouring over sites for an hour -( trying to figure out if I am feeding my ff enough or too much.?? I am giving her 1/4 c. calf manna (she had turned into a spiny saurus) - 1/4 c. cracked corn, bout 1/3 c. black oil ss, then enough 16% grain to equal a cup 2X a day
something tells me that isnt enough? sounds like very little actually, plus bout 2 cups of alfalfa pellets - all the orchard grass hay they want and little alfalfa hay.
i milked her this a.m. her kids were 3 weeks Friday (twins) and with my inexperience with ND's I got a cup after the kids being separated 9 hours.
am I starving her?? when I give them grain, it's like a "mosh pit"
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she isnt always eating everything I put out - i went out this a.m. and there was alfalfa pellets - i gave her 1 1/4 cup of grain with some sunflower seeds this a.m. and there was still some out there at 11 - but she had eaten quite a bit of alfalfa hay
got the goat chow so will see if she improves also uped the calf manna by 1/4 c. was only giving her 1/4 c. 1x
Melissa Johnson said:
When does first freshen, they seem to be sensitive to too much grain, so you might not see a change in poop if you start to increase her grain now. Always increase gradually though, to avoid a nasty surprise (diarrhea).
I've discussed this with a lot of goat breeders, vets, and researchers, including a vet who raises goats, and the consensus is that by six weeks, a lot of goats look terrible. They're at peak production, and the milk is pulling every bit of reserve of fat and muscle. So, if your goat is thin at three weeks, it's not going to be pretty in another three weeks. Some goats just lose more than others, so you need to keep an eye on each one as an individual and feed them accordingly.
And Julia is right -- goats always love grain, regardless of how much you give them.
Purina Goat Chow is textured and so is Dumor Sweet Feed for goats, and both have 40 ppm copper. There seems to be some kind of connection with pelleted feeds only have 15-20 ppm copper. Don't know why they do that. I should read the label on the pelleted feed sometime when I'm in the store -- maybe you're supposed to feed twice as much?
Melissa I feed my does who are nursing 2 cups of goat chow and about 2 handfuls( around 1/3 cup) of sunflower seeds total a day and them seem to be fine. Since Sapphire is a second freshner I will probably feed her a little more when she gets her baby weight off. I am so suprise she is actully fat after kidding. But I know she will lose the weight quickly. But then my girls also get around a flake ( for all 5) a day of alfalfa. It seemed to work for my does they stayed in good condition( not to fat but not skinny either) last year. My girls always run to the feeder when I feed grain and it does not matter how much I feed them.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
As a starting point for my goats -- if a doe has twins, I give her two cups of Goat Chow plus 1/4 c. Calf Manna and a handful of sunflower seeds, twice a day. If I find out that she's milking more, or if she starts to lose weight, I increase it up to 4 cups twice a day max. I haven't heard of anyone adding corn to a complete feed. It's pretty low in protein and high in fat.
If she's feeding twins she has to be making at least a quart a day, or they'd be super skinny and not growing.