pics of my new girls

[Anderson farms]

Here are pics of my new girls, dinah and suzanna. They are nubian/boer cross. They are sweet lovable girls. Do they look ok? Dinah is the one having clumpy poo. I can take any critique. Thank you


Dinah


Dinah and Suzanna

[DQ]

its hard to tell from pics but dinah looks just a bit thin. It is hard though with the cross to know if they take more to the dairy or the boer it could be she just inherited a thin look from mom. could also be in a growth spurt. It wouldn't be a bad idea in either case to do a fecal check for worms and possibly worm with cydectin. better to take care of it now before they contaminate your pastures. it is good practice when bringing any goat on to your property even ones that seem absolutley perfectly healthy. they don't look bad though just could maybe use a worming and some good grub. I'd be more than happy with them but around here I'm happy to find anything that doesn't have obvious cl or look to be on deaths door due to poor feed or parasites.

[Anderson farms]

What would you recommend for them? They are on fescue/clover pasture and I have been giving them 1# of Kent 18% milk goat feed a day. I've read that you don't want to give them too much grain. They both tested negative for cl and cae also. How much cydectin should I give them and how do I give it to them?

[mygoat]

For them to be not lactating, the first picture (The second isn't showing up??) looks VERY thin, especially if she has boer in her. Maybe give them a SMALL grain ration with BOSS and/or Beet pulp mixed in. Of course, free choice hay, pasture too. Some dairy does will become thin like that through lactation, but will gain weight when not lactating.

The first picture also looks rough coated. Make sure they have 24/7 access to quality GOAT minerals high in copper and relatively low in salt. As for the clumpy poo, offer baking soda 24/7 as well. Give their digestive systems a couple weeks to get used to new food. Normally you wean goats onto new pasture/grain over the course of 2 weeks.

Check to see if you're in a Selenium deficient area and give BoSe if needed.

[mygoat]

Oh -

With those horns, make sure any collars on them are easily break aways. Horns and collars don't mix.

It could be the way she's standing, but dinah looks steep-rumped and MAY have problems kidding. though she is standing with her back legs rather under her, so it's hard to tell.

if I remember, cydectin cattle pour-on is 1cc per 22 lbs orally.

[Minelson]

I think they are darling! I'm not very experienced so no critique from me

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

She isn't thin, she is narrow. She also has no depth of body like the other doe.

Remember when you get new goats and they have change, even of pasture, it takes weeks to build the new colonies of bacteria in their rumen to eat something different. Why when you do buy stock you should always try to buy a bale of hay they feed and some of their grain.

You will never get much size on her due to her frail bone pattern but if you keep her diet consistant she will stop with the clumpy poop.

Worms and cocci are always a concern when moving in new goats of course.

Width follows width. Meaning a doe with a full nostril and fullness between the eyes will have width in the brisket (between her front legs) width in the belly to have room for lots of groceries, and width in the rear to birth kids but also room between those thighs so the udder can tuck up underneath them, not being squished every step she takes which breaks down attachements and gives you coke bottle teats and pendulous udder. Vicki

[Anderson farms]

They are break away dog collars. They both had babies taken off of them a week before we picked them up. Neither one had problems kidding. Dinah threw a single hefty boy and Suzanna threw two pretty good size boys. We have a kent 18% mineral tub. Is that good or do they need loose mineral also? I will post some more pics. I thought Dinah was a little thin. We've been trying to fatten her up, but don't want to shock her system.

[Anderson farms]

Here are some more pictures.
suzanna


suzanna rear


dinah rear

[DQ]

dinah definitly looks thin from that shot, not just narrow although she is that too. if her kids were just pulled from her than the kids might have milked the weight off her. do a fecal for sure or if you can't right now 1cc of cydectin per 22lbs of goat. I would consider feeding her beet pulp. It is as digestable as most grains on average but very easy on their tummys and with the price of grains right now it probably is just as economical to feed. remember a lb of beet pulp is volume wise much bigger than a lb of grain. a heaping large coffee can at least. you could also add some alfalfa pellets to up the protein. If your dairy feed is a pellet than I would shy away from it because the ingredients in the pellets can change from bag to bag and upset their tummys. make any changes in feed slowly though! I'm not familiar with the mineral tub you use but in general the tubs have lots of molasses in them which is not good. A loose mineral would be better. Look for one with around 12%. salt don't use the ones with a high percentage of salt.

wanted to add that I have several does that get clumpy poo just from being out on lush pasture. I don't worry about them anymore. the best thing to do would be do a fecal check so that you know her worm load.

[Sweet Goats]

I say give them a little time to get use to the new pasture and things. It looks more like the person that you got them from needed to take better care of them.

I think they are adorable.

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Make changes very very slowly. A handful of any new product you want to try, increasing more every few days. Don't rush, just hold back breeding them back several months so they both have time to go into a gaining plane of nutrition, then breed them. Always feel over the ribs, you want ribs with some flesh, never fat.

Fed correctly a meat goat can nurse 2 kids for 12 weeks, then move right back into the herd with the buck to be bred back. When they can't it is management of them during the dry period that has gone wrong...the 3 months they are bred, not nursing kids and just growing babies to the tiny puppy stage of 100 days. Then the last 50 days you can start graining again to grow those kids, come into milk and get ready to nurse them for 12 weeks. Having to take time off to gain in condition costs money.

I agree, you purchased poorly managed does, it will take some time to get her back into better condition. Do so slowly. They do look very healthy. Vicki

[Anderson farms]

Do you buy beet pulp? If so, where? I think the babies were left on a little long and she had quite a bit of stuff going on so I think they got neglected a little. Let me know on beet pulp, and I will go in town and get some loose mineral and some alfalfa pellets, because my dairy feed is pellet, but it is what she was feeding them before I got them, but I don't know how often. Do you think I could breed Suzanna? She has quite a bit more meat on her than dinah( Dinah had a big baby on her). Thank you for all of the help.

[chris30523]

Most of My boer/nubian crosses are a bit "narrow".I have a couple of yearling does that look like yours. I won't breed back till fall.Right now they are on pasture and browse with loose mineral available.Mine have a slick shiny coat though.I have pulled all of the kids and will begin to feed up in Sept.till I breed in Oct.Then they get free choice hay,beet pulp,and alfalfa cubes till about 6weeks before they kid .They stay in good flesh and could be bred right back. I prefer to breed once a year in the fall as it is easier on me. The boer/nubian bred back to a boer make some nice fast growing kids most of mine if bred to a good buck seem to have alot more depth than their moms.They are nice looking does and should make some nice kids for you.

[Anderson farms]

their coats actually look a little better than the picture shows. It had been showering here off and on all day, they have good dry shelter, but their coats were a little damp which makes them look scruffy. Thank you guys for all of your input. I would really like to know more about beet pulp and where to get it. I live in Missouri and we have mfa, coop, orschelns. I've never heard of it until I got reading on here. What do you recommend for loose mineral as I have taken their tub away because it has molasses in it.

[dragonchick]

You might be able to get sweetlix meat maker at your co-op. I can get it here and I'm south of you in Arkansas. You can go to the sweetlix site and type in your zip code, it will tell you the closest place to you.
Andi

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Also alot of Arkansas gals use the Right Now Onyx made by Carghill. Vicki

[Feathers-N-Fur]

Beet pulp is found in the horse section of the feed store. Thee are two types, the pellets and the shreds. The pellets have to be soaked for a minimum of 2 hours before feeding, some bags say 8 hours. I have a routine of starting the evening beet pulp soaking when I do the morning feeding, then at night I start the morning stuff soaking. There is also shredded, which is harder to find, but you can feed it straight with out soaking. The only place I have found the shredded around here is at the farm store that specializes in horses. I haven't used it on any of my goats, but it worked wonders on my old gelding, and one $9 bag lasts him a month.(of the pellets)

[DQ]

all the feed stores around here sell beet pulp in shreds. people like it to get a bloom on their cattle. either way they can most likely start carrying the shreds if you ask. don't be afraid to bug your supplier for what you want including a good mineral.

[southerngurl]

You don't actually have to soak the beet pulp, it can be fed dry. Soaking it will give them a lot of water though, which is good.

There is a silly myth that feeding beet pulp dry will cause it to swell in the belly and bust a stomach or whatever, but it's false.