Hi, everyone...I'm soooo happy I found this web site!
I bought three bred Nigerian Dwarf does and have never had this breed before (haven't had goats in almost 40 years). All three are due in late October.
We purchased the goats three weeks ago and the man we bought them from only fed a poor class of hay..we slowly switched them to the top grade of alfalfa. I give them 1 good sized flake a day and 3/4 cup of Cob at night. They also get loose minerals everyday, as well as carrots and apples for snack, and free fed baking soda. I want to make sure they are healthy and that the kids will be healthy.
My problem is: I bought a bag of Purina Goat Feed yesterday, as the wind blows so badly here, the alfalfa blows out of the feeders, so I don't know how much they are getting. How much goat feed do I give them to start with, and how much do I build up to? I will also give them an alfalfa mix for ruffage ( a small amount). Am I doing things correctly?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
Hi Patty and Deborah,
I can't thank you both enough for your interest and advice (which I take whole heartedly) and so much appreciate.
The twin does are one and a half years old...they are Cinnamon and Spice..the other doe is two and a half, her name is Bonnie.
The twins were handle from the time they were born and are very loving and friendly. Bonnie was never handled, or she was mistreated...one of the two and I don't know which, but she is untrusting and shy. She has just started in the last few days to come take the carrot pieces out of my hand, so I am hopeful she will learn to trust me.
I will be revising their feed and they have been getting to much. I sure don't want kidding problems.
The are not on pasture right now as I had not planned on getting goats until next spring....but they became available and I jumped on it. I feed Three Way now and they get 1 flake aday between the three of them.....as well as good minerals in the morning and free fed baking soda. I will be buying goat feed, but don't know which type to buy, so if you have any suggestions...I would love to know.
I did worm them two weeks ago, as they have never been wormed and have ordered a catalog for goats so I can purchase the necesssary vaccines.
Thank you again....and let me hear from you.
Adele
Hello and welcome! Patty gave you some good info. I'm assuming your does are not milking, and if they are not, they don't really need grain until the very end of pregnancy, like the last week or two. Unless these does were under-conditioned when you bought them, they probably don't need any supplemental grain at this point. If they're overfed, they'll just have bigger babies, which is not fun! One year my daughter misunderstood my directions for feeding does in the kidding barn, which are does in the last week or two of pregnancy, and we wound up with 3-5 pound kids instead of 2-3 pounds. Although everyone managed to get the kids out, it was noticeably more difficult for them and not something I really want to do again.
How old are the does? Are you giving them one flake each or one flake total per day? Are they on good pasture? Which Purina goat feed did you buy? Goat Chow? Noble Goat? or another one? They are all different, unfortunately!
Hi Adele-
It's nice to meet you, and welcome to this awesome forum! :)
I know this may sound crazy to you, but I'd go right back to feeding them only a grass hay, and provide a good loose mineral, baking soda and fresh water. The carrots for snacks are fine. You want to wait until the end of their pregnancies before you feed them any grain or alfalfa. Even then, just a bit of grain, like 1/4 c. maybe, and a good handful of alfalfa are all that's needed. When the does kid, you can give more alfalfa and begin to up the grain. One breeder I know works up to one cup of grain for each cup of milk the does give. I know that Deborah gives an estimate for the amount of milk the doe is giving per kid if she has kids on her but isn't being milked. Maybe someone remembers what that is? This might help you to figure out how much grain/feed to give each doe once they kid if you're not milking them.
I know it might seem crazy, but the does really do best this way. The are at less risk of having too large of kids, less risk of developing hypocalcemia near or just after kidding, and less likely to get ketosis (usually a complication of hypocalcemia). They're more likely to maintain a proper mineral balance and stay trim and in good shape for delivery. All that just came out of my sometimes faulty memory so I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong. :)
You could give them just a couple tablespoons of black oil sunflower seeds every day for a treat if you want to. The BOSS would help them get some zinc, vitamin E and selenium as well as other nutrients.
I'm sure someone else will chime in on this with some other opinions/suggestions. Everyone handles things slightly differently depending on their particular situation.
Best wishes for your October kidding season! :)