They may be named Madmardigan, Willow, and Twinkie... those names may or may not stick.
3 yr old wether, 4 yr old doe, 2 month old buckling, respectively.
One random newbie question right off the bat: I noticed when we put them up for the night that our doe's belly is totally asymmetrical. Big lump up high on one side, down low on the other. Is that normal? Does it mean anything? I didn't recall seeing that at the breeder's farm when we picked her up but she was also running in a thundering herd of 30 little goaties.
I ordered this organic feed b/c I didn't want them eating any GMOs. When it arrived it looks super sweet and rich (molasses). If it were horse feed I'd call it rocket fuel. Then, while i was talking to the breeder she said to feed the Dumor from TSC because it has ammonium chloride added to it. I checked the tag when I got home, it has no ac added to it.
Going back to the previous conversation about ammonium chloride...I don't have any. Is it safe to give this grain to my little buckling anyway? I gave him a handful tonite. None for the wether, I gave him a half a carrot.
Replies
The AC from Hoegger has dosage info on it. You'll want the preventative dosage - not the treatment dosage. I'm sure that 1 tsp per day is for treatment.
Sunflower seeds are a grain, and are high in phosophorus. (Corn, soybeans, etc, are seeds also.) I've never seen anything written about whether carrots are okay or not, but generally anything in moderation is okay.
Juliana Goodwin said:
Okay, I ordered AC from Hoeggers. So, between now and when it arrives I will need to find out how much to give the buckling per day as preventative. Any advise appreciated! I found someone recommending 1 tsp per day but she was referring to nubians and not sure age. So, I'm guessing that's too much for him, he's a NDG and a baby at that.
We gave the wether some more carrot pieces and a handful of black oil sunflower seeds for a treat while baby and momma were having grain this am. Is that okay for a treat for him? Or should I separate them to eat and give him nothing?
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I personally have a bag of ammonium chloride here, but I only mixed it into the boys' minerals once a couple years ago, and they're all still kicking. I give grain to my bucks from December to March because otherwise they lose too much weight. They get nothing but 100% pastures from April to October. I've never given AC to my bucklings and never had a problem with UC, and they get a small amount of grain until six months. I've never seen AC at any of the farm supply stores in my area.
Juliana Goodwin said:
But if I only give him a bit of grain, like you said, would he be okay w/o the AC or I should really get it? The only way I could ensure only he got it would be to topdress grain to feed directly to him. How much would I give him? Can I get it anywhere locally? If I have to order it will he be okay till it comes?
Thank you!!
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Great thanks for weighing in on the strange belly shape! That's a relief!
And veggie leftovers are okay for the wether, right? Carrots or apples? Stuff you might give a horse?
Our little buckling is so unbelieveably cute, he has speckled ears! Wait till I get some better pics of him, boy is he gonna be a looker. Thought I might name him ninja after some of his moves lol.
Rachel Whetzel said:
I'm assuming it is the doe's left side that is high and bulging. If so, that's her rumen, which she has just stuffed with hay or grass. By morning, she's probably more symmetrical, yes? This shows more with some than others.
The ammonium chloride is for the buckling. The issue with urinary calculi is that you don't want to throw off the calcium:phosphorus ratio, so you have a couple of choices. Easiest is to feed a small amount of grain -- only 1/2 cup a day for now, going up to no more than 1 cup a day and cutting him off at about six months, provided he is growing normally. Combining grain with alfalfa keeps the cal:phos balanced. You can also order ammonium chloride from Hoegger and other online sources and add it to his minerals. Until I hear a good reason why does should have it, I don't really want mine to have ammonium chloride as a supplement. And you are correct that a three year old wether doesn't need any grain.
CONGRATULATIONS!! I just brought goat #3 home yesterday! That brings my total to three as well, but all girls.
One random newbie question right off the bat: I noticed when we put them up for the night that our doe's belly is totally asymmetrical. Big lump up high on one side, down low on the other. Is that normal? That, is a full rumen!! (sp?) It's normal, and unless you notice it doesn't go up and down in size over the day/night, it's just a sign that things are working. If it doesn't go down, this can mean that the balance in bacterias in the rumen are off. You can treat that with Baking Soda which you should consider offering free choice since you're feeding grains.
I ordered this organic feed b/c I didn't want them eating any GMOs. When it arrived it looks super sweet and rich (molasses). If it were horse feed I'd call it rocket fuel. Then, while i was talking to the breeder she said to feed the Dumor from TSC because it has ammonium chloride added to it. I checked the tag when I got home, it has no ac added to it. I've been reading some on line message boards where a couple members mention Alfalfa being a natural ballancer to grains and saying that you could use it in place of AC to keep Urinary Calculi from being a problem. Hopefully Deb will weigh in on that idea. AC only needs to be fed to your wether/buck IF he's eating grains as I understand it.
Going back to the previous conversation about ammonium chloride...I don't have any. Is it safe to give this grain to my little buckling anyway? I gave him a handful tonite. None for the wether, I gave him a half a carrot. If I understand what I've read here, you should be able to feed a buckling grains without supplementing AC until they are about 6 months old. Then you would stop feeding them grains.0530111445a.jpg
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