Okay, I have a first freshener that was bred 11-19-11 and an older doe that was bred 1-5-12. I have been feeding them first thing in the morning the following rations.
1/3 cup alfalfa pellets
1/4 cup BOSS
a sprinkle of Blue seal dairy goat feed...like a TBSP
The rest of the time they are getting free choice minerals, baking soda, and clover/alfalfa/orchard grass mix hay. They are on pasture but there isn't much for them to nibble on right now but broad leaf weedy stuff.
Do I need to change anything or is this okay? My first freshener is looking good and putting on weight gradually. She looks round but not fat. I plan to give them the Blue Seal the last couple weeks of pregnancy and do a CDT vaccine at around 4-6 weeks prior to due date. I have not had the soil tested for selenium so I don't really know if I should give BoSe or not. They get free choice mineral and occasionally I sprinkle some on their rations in the morning just to make sure they are eating it.
I did Molly's Herbal worming formula prior to breeding. They all seem to be pretty healthy and doing well, the older doe was very overweight when she came to us and we have slimmed her down considerably. She looked like she swallowed a watermelon sideways...LOL.
Our breeder was very happy with how they looked and commented that she wished she could send all her goats to our house for a vacation cause they came back looking so good. That made me feel better.
I have one that is not bred that appears to have the beginnings of "fish tail" but it comes and goes. Some mornings I get out there and her tail feathers look split and other mornings she looks fine. She is shedding her undercoat and looks horrible right now but the tail worries me.
Am I doing okay? This is my first breeding season and I have only had everyone since May of last year so I'm paranoid.
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I put it in my rabbit's nesting box....LOL Do you think they look okay though? I'm pretty happy with Behoron cause she was pretty skinny when she came to us. She was definitely the low goat on the totem pole at her old farm. She looked really good when we bred her and she is steadily putting on weight but doesn't look huge. She's filling out nicely.
Aliana has actually slimmed down since we got her but Tally just seems to stay the same. She looks like a wine barrel on legs. I just can't get the weight off of her. She's the alpha and bullies everyone and growls and tries to run off the others even from the hay rack, especially Aliana cause they are so close in age.
They're definitely not underweight. Weird temperatures could certainly cause them to start shedding early. Most of my goats don't even have much of a winter coat. What you're describing sounds like cashmere.
Here's a couple pics I took the other day.
Bethoron, she's the one that was bred in November. So goofy, she really is weird.
[IMG]http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv225/lorihadams/2012%20pics/100...[/IMG]
Aliana, she's the one that was bred this month.
[IMG]http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv225/lorihadams/2012%20pics/100...[/IMG]
Tally is the one with the coat issues, she is the mostly black fat girl with her head permanently embedded in the hay rack. You can kinda see her tail in this picture.
[IMG]http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv225/lorihadams/2012%20pics/100...[/IMG]
I'm in VA and the temps have been so back and forth I'm sure the poor thing is just confused. We've been back and forth between temps in the 30s for two or three days to temps in the 50s and 60s and in some cases with them as high as the low 70s for a week. It has really been a weird winter. Last week we had a few days of freezing temps and then whammo, it's like spring again. Yesterday my 7 yr old was wearing shorts.
Her coat seems fine and she's not losing any on her face. It just looks like her undercoat is coming loose. I brushed her and it reminded me of my lab in springtime when they lose their undercoat. The hair I'm getting is really grayish looking and fuzzy and very soft. Normally she looks great, shiny and wavy but I'm thinking that with the weird temperature swings she is just losing her undercoat. The tail thing bothers me though. She also tends to have a bit of dandruff sometimes. When I started her on the BOSS it cleared up mostly but now it looks like it is back. If I needed to get a bit of zinc in her what should I give her?
That sounds good, and by the time they get closer to freshening, you'll have lush pastures. And remember goats loves weeds, so that's not a big deal. Joel Salatin calls his grass-fed cattle "salad bar beef."
For your doe with the fish tail sometimes -- has her coat faded? Check the roots and see if the hair is coming in more pale than the tips. Is she losing hair on her face? I'm not sure where you are, but if you're in a warmer climate, and she's shedding, it's okay that she looks terrible. No goat looks good when they're blowing their winter coat. If you're in Montana, and she's shedding now, I'd be worried about possible zinc deficiency. I'm in Illinois, and my goats won't be blowing their coats for another couple months.