I'm sure there is already a good discussion about this somewhere on here, but when I searched for one, nothing helpful came up. So, if you know of one, just give me the title or paste the link, please.
Anyway, I'd really like to see more weight on my 8-month-old buckling. I know they tend to loose weight during breeding season, but he is still eating great and has only serviced one doe this season in September and October (pen bred during those two months).
His feeding regimen consists of 1/2 cup DuMOR pellets and 1 Tbsp BOSS in the morning, and 1/2 cup DuMOR in the evening. I've been adding 1/8 cup alfalfa pellets for the last two mornings. He gets free choice coastal hay and limited browse (as it's winter and everything is dying, and the winter Rye grass is still immature at only about 2-3 inches tall).
Is there anything I can/should add to his diet? His eyelids are a dark pink color and his stool looks great. His feet are kept trimmed and I last did them 11/1. He is not yet in with the big bucks since he's smaller (he was a triplet) and younger, but he is in with the "gentle giant" Pygora wether and that pen does share a fence line with the does.
Should I increase his feed or supplement his diet with something? He's not lacking in energy, acting lethargic, etc. but he's gotten kind of boney lately and I'd really like to feel more meat on his ribs.
Again, if there is already a great discussion on here about this, just share the link and I'd be happy to read through it. Thanks.
Replies
Ok, thank you! I'll pick up a bag of Calf Manna tomorrow.
Calf Manna is very concentrated and high in protein. You could add a little of that to his feed just to get a little weight back on him. You could also increase the alfalfa pellets to 1/2 cup mixed with the grain. But if you notice him spending a lot of time walking the fenceline, that could be the reason he's thin -- more exercise, less eating. I wound up locking my oldest buck in the barn with a doe because he was spending ALL of his time pacing the fenceline and not eating this fall.
I had the same problem with the buck we got this spring. He is also about 8 months old. I think I did a search on Skinny Buck or thin buck and several threats came up. From what I remember reading it could be the time of the year and it may also be a worm overload. When I noticed our buck was very skinny too. We switch his hay from Timothy to orchard grass, since him and the weather did not seem to like to timothy too much. I also gave him some forage (it is hay that has been cured and it comes in a 40 pound bag, it goes under different names, we are given him the mixed grass, but it also comes in alfalfa) and I also started giving him some grain with ammonium chloride to avoid a urinary calculi. He did not look like he had gain any weight after two weeks of doing this. I had also worm him with safeguard at the start of the two weeks, per the vets instructions who said that his famacha score was borderline. So after doing more reading I seeing no results from the worming and the diet change, I decided to worm him again with Ivomec (the injectable type) I gave him one cc orally. He was never lethargic, but he was not very active either. Well we noticed that a couple of days after he got worm he started being more rambunctious, and playing with the weather more. He appears to be gaining weight, but it has only been a week since he got wormed again. His rumen also looks bigger and it used to. So hopefully he is on the right track.