Feeding Boers and other questions

[Milking Mom]

I am wanting to get 2 full blood Boer does and a nice buck to go with them. I am new to boers. What do you feed boers vs dairy goats (which I have also) If you let the Dams raise their babies how do you perform cocci prevention? Can you feed something like Pilgrim's Meat Goat pellet that has the cocci prevention in it to the Dams and the babies and the bucks? Will it hurt if the Dam's eat it and then the babies drink the milk?

Why don't people regularly test their Boers for CAE and CL like people in the Dairy Goat business do?

I was thinking of dehorning the boers just like I do the dairy kids, but most websites I see all the Boers have horns. Are the horns something that is desirable on Boers? I would think they are a nusance and just a reason to get caught in a fence.

[mammawof3]

The Boers do not require the high maintance feed a dairy doe takes -they are not producing gallons of milk-though some do milk adequatly-grass mix hay-browse-some grain during the end of pregnancy and while nursing-they usually will start weaning their kids around 3 -4 monthes..hopefully kids will be market size by then. We creep feed a pellet for coccidious control,kids will start eating it by 2 weeks-horns are a breed standard for Boers-if you are going to show them-such tings as "proper space between the horns"--we found that alot of 4-h fairs are gonna require the horns off--AND that it is alot harder too get a "good" disbudding job done on Boer kids(???) Don't know why....our herd has horns-a few have had too learn too stay out of the fence-and always do--eventually---my personal opinion--they are calmer-sweeter--gentler than dairy (i have raised dairy for years)--but---w/few exceptions--i don't think they are as "intelligant" as dairy-- maybe just seem that way cuz they are so laid back...they have great personalities--not as "needy" as a Nubian-usually kid w/out needed assistance--much quieter than the dairy also. I like both..have mostly Boer, but a hand full of Dairy in there-that we breed Boer..and i milk 2 dairy, after they "wean "their Boer kids at 3 monthes..yummy cheddar cheese!

[KSALguy]

lots of brows, good quality Alfalfa hay, or soybean, peanut, or something good and rich, grass hay is a last ditch effort for any goat,
grain or pellets are used more as a control measure to get them where you want them or to fatten up kids for butcher its not nessisary but not bad but the same rules apply to the Bucks

oh and LOTS of brows,

Hornes are a breed standard,

the CAE and CL testing are done and RESPONCIBLE breeders use it just as often as Responcible Dairy breeders, no body wants helth problems in their heard if they can prevent it

over all they are a very hardy breed and have alot to offer, AND they cant be beat when it comes to Meat Production,

[debd0712]

We feed our Boers a small amount of grain (goat formula from local feedstore) mixed with alfalfa pellets, free choice grass hay and they have plenty of fresh browse available in the fields. We found that the alfalfa pellets are more economical than alfalfa hay as there is virtually no waste. We have switched to alfalfa pellets for our dairy does also, though they get quite a bit more along with a custom mixed grain. The kids also have a creep feeder available with free choice alfalfa pellets.

As far as cocci prevention, we catch all the Boer kids every 19 days for 5 days in a row and individually dose them with DiMethox. This way we know each kid is getting the proper dosage (they can vary considerably in weight) and we can give them a hands on health check. We also worm the kids at the same time. So far this has worked well for us, but catching them can be difficult - those kids are fast! We hope to set up a more manageable way of catching them at some point, but for now they are locked in a paddock and we corner them one by one. We are always glad to see the end of day 5.

Debbie