Getting does to breeding size by 8 months

Oat Bucket Farm · #21 03/10/11, 10:25 AM

And even good nutrition and Bo-Se and Copper don't always work. We copper bolus and use Bo-Se, free feed Manna-Pro loose goat mineral,free feed good brome hay and alfalfa pellets,and give a mixture of beet pulp,BOSS and whole oats (in small amounts to dry does) and we still ended up with all singles from our three FF this year. So if you breed your girls young, be prepared that they may still have singles.

Alice In TX/MO · #22 03/10/11, 11:18 AM

My Saanen/LaMancha cross FF had triplets. Do I know why? Absolutely not.

Goats just like to confuse.

Oh, but she is almost two years old, too.

farmmom · #23 03/10/11, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southerngurl

Darn it, yea I agree. The dosage info on the bottle is for cattle and doesn't work for goats. This time, use the doages here : http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,9125.0.html for Corid. Give it every 20 days until babies are 80-100 lbs or eating enough medicated feed to get the right dose of med in the feed. Mixing it half and half with apple juice concentrate will help it taste better and just give orally.

You'll see MUCH better growth because it sounds like you are feeding them great. Your Christmas born kid isn't doing bad, probably because it's winter so she should be able to do just fine. So just start her on the CORID now at the new dosage since warm weather is coming on.

Now, what minerals is your herd getting?
BTW, I'm jealous of your kudzu hay.

Golden Blend

I'll change my dosage of the Corid and see if I can find the other locally.

chamoisee · #24 03/10/11, 01:29 PM

I think something else is going on if your does are that small. I would question if they are full blooded Nubians. If they are, then something is very awry with management.

I did not have a problem breeding my does at 9 months without stunting them, but I managed them for it from the moment they hit the ground:

If triplets or twins, any bucklings were sold off or eaten as quickly as possible, faster if triplets. I also (since I was dam raising) would put the doelings to nurse on the milking stand before I milked, just to make sure they got all they could drink before I took the rest of the milk.

As soon as they could eat grain, I clipped them up next to mom and gave them grain. I also had a creep feeder that had lamb feed with a coccidiostat in it. ALL the kids got this feed; only the doelings got milking grain in the milking area. This also helped tame them down and get them used to being on a lead rope.

I did not wean them. I allowed them to nurse for as long and as much as they wanted to, because growth was a priority.

I did not breed them until late fall/early winter...

Once bred, I kept graining them, but I also had a separate pen adjacent to the hay. The hay was partitioned off with stock panel so that the bred yearlings had constant access, without intimidation or competition from the older does, to 2nd cutting alfalfa.

Forgot- I actually planned for all this from *before* they hit the ground...I bred all my older does to kid in February or March. They only kidded in April if it was an A.I. breeding that did not take the first time around. April and May kids simply do not reach a good size they way that early kids do.

Heritagefarm · #25 03/10/11, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmmom

Golden Blend

I'll change my dosage of the Corid and see if I can find the other locally.

I just add a squirt of Calf Pro to their bottles/kidbar. Works great.

Creamers · #26 03/11/11, 01:43 AM

Quote:

I'll change my dosage of the Corid and see if I can find the other locally.

I personally would not use Corid.

Laverne · #27 03/11/11, 02:19 AM

Corid works for my area. Not mentioned but should be in Goatkeeping 101, Corid is used FULL STRENGTH, like Southerngurl does, I use honey syrup anything to make it palatable. I had to start it at 2 weeks old this last summer. They started to cry more than ususal so I could tell it was needed early. Also said in GK 101 about the worming, it is done every 20 days along with the Coccidiosis treatment. As mentioned Valbazen if the kids are not with adults. If they are with adults a wormer with more punch is needed which is Cydectin. I did treat with Valbazen also during 'prevention' for a couple times instead of Cydectin since I felt like they needed treatment for Liverfluke at about 4 mos. old. My adults needed treatment for Liverfluke. Valbazen gets Liverfluke. Cydectin doesn't. In the South Liverfluke can be a real problem that needs to be addressed.