Goat with coarse hair and dry skin...remedy??

[AtHomeDaughter]

Howdy,

My newest nubian girl has coarse hair and dry skin. She is 6 (if age has something to do with the hair?) Both of my other girls (9 and 10 mon.) have such soft hair. I think it has something to do with feed? The 6 yr. old has been fed grains and hay and use to that pretty much. My girls have been fed minimal grains and have roughage and pasture to enjoy all the time. What can I put in her feed (she is due Feb.) to enhance her coat. I am switching feeds within the next week (she is on Blue Seal and I am going all out organic...Countryside naturals).

Also, she is a large nubian (larger bones, not fat), but does anyone's 6 yr. olds take their time walking (she reminds me of the pace of a cow)? The younger girls could run around her in circles. I know she is older and they are spring chickens...but ? (guess I am use to the fast paced goaty girls).

Thanks

[HazyDay]

My doeling has a corse coat, it's just like her mothers. Both have been wormed and have all they need. It's all in her genes. If she is slow maybe CAE? Whats her knees look like???

[Terre d'Esprit]

I disagree with the genetic link. Not that it isn't necessarily part of it, but I have a dairy doe that has had a wiry coat for a while. We put her on Kent goat milker pellets, which have a higher fat content, and her coat is now very lush, soft and lovely.

Some people feed grain with a high fat content, such as flax seed or black oil sunflower seed (BOSS) to help with the coat.

Definitely a case of "your mileage may vary."

T

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Please move her very very slowly to the new grain, you don't need to founder her. If you can still get the Kent, buy a bag of it and mix it half and half for several weeks with the new feed, and unless you are milking her, she shouldn't be on grain until 50 days before kidding.

Coarse hair can be a sign of copper defficency or simply a diet low in fat.

Some 6 year olds are really old, especially if they have any feet and leg conformation problems, are CAE positive, or simply have not had their feet trimmed properly over the years. Also new goats can walk gingerly when the old owner trims them up really short for the new owner, especially when they haven't been trimmed in months.

I would worry about fecal sampling her, testing her before she kids for CAE before I would change her feed. And going all out for her would include oats, alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets and a good fat, BOSS etc... Vicki

[gracie88]

So I had a TB once that I would feed corn oil on her grain to help keep weight on and it made her really shiny too. Is that something you would ever do with a goat? I see that most everyone uses BOSS (so I got some too) but is it a nutrition thing or availability thing or price thing?

[ellie]

I agree with Vicki...I'd sure look at copper first. Is her tail tip bald? is her color pale, especially around the eyes? Boss or higher fat in feed, maybe, but look at copper first.

Ellie

[AtHomeDaughter]

Hi

I checked her tail a few days ago when I seen someone post a pic on here. ( I checked all my girls tails...no balding, just a nice fluffy tails).

Someone pm'd me about aloe vera internally and after I research it some more. I think I will try that.

So 50 days out b4 you start feeding grain for preg.? (she is due around valentine's day) I am not a big grain fan, but I know she is use to being fed grain every day (the last owners didn't have much land, I think) so I halfed what they were giving her...I do 1 cup, then add a herbal pregnancy supplement.) My 2 other girls have not had much feed...I think I bought 1 25 lbs bag and just gave it as treat (had them for 5-6 months). They have 1-2 acres of pasture and then are let out daily to roam in the woods, so I know for them fed is not necessary while there is stuff to forage.

No swollen knees or other symptoms of CAE. I know she was tested b4 for it and came up neg.

I am gonna take some pics of my girls later on today and post them on my blog. If I do try the aloe vera or something else even, I will post on my blog and here what works and what the cure was or wasn't.

Thanks!

Jessica

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[xoxoGOATSxoxo]

How about lice or mites or something? They can cause flaky skin, although I dont know about the dry coat.

It probably wouldnt hurt to dust her.

[deafgoatlady]

Well You can use the apple cider vinegar. That will kill the lice, mites and etc... Just pour it straight then let it soak then dry them off. They are like gone..

I would use aloe vera liquid. That what I would use.. And alot poeple said it works good and it will take 2 to 4 weeks. It is on depends on the goats...

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Oil is oil...if you prefer to use oil just start slowly,1 tablespoon a day for a week, then go to 2 and so on, once your get dog poop you know you have to go back down to the pervious amount. Since I use sunflower oil as my base oil in my soaps I use sunflower oil on my milkers grain instead of BOSS...I do use BOSS on my growing kids because of the added scartch factor of the shells. They also eat in the barns, and I don't want to have oil in their feeders, so BOSS is convenient for that also. Vicki

[moonspinner]

I learned something else today - sunflower oil.