Feed/pregnancy

[sadie6447]

I have been struggling with feed since I got my goats. Seems like nothing would put the weight on. I have used purina goat chow. surpurb show goat somo goat food, and 14% goat pellets. I am now mixing my own food, and they are bigger than I have ever seen them. They all have around 1 week to 3 weeks to deliver. They are starting to scare me, I have never seen them so big before. Should I be worried that they are so huge? I cant even put my arms around one does belly and touch fingers.

[Backfourty,MI.]

How much do you feed each goat & what kind of goats are they?

What do you put in your feed mixture? Do you feed the same amount of food from start of pregnancy right on through till delivery? I always up there feed intake for the last month & always make sure they have plenty of alfafa hay all the time.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Your post contains confusing statements. You state that you are trying to put weight on them, but then you say they are huge.

I'm *assuming* (which is dangerous) that you mean that their ribs, hip bones, spine are pointy, but their pregnancies have their abdomens huge. Is this correct?

My Alpine is huge around the middle, too, but like all dairy animals, the rest of her is slim.

Please do provide other info as requested by backfourty so we can help more!

[goatkid]

From your avatar, I assume you have Boers. It's pretty normal for that breed to be huge in the few weeks prior to kidding. With Boers, if I had goats that looked too thin, the first thing I'd do is run a fecal for worms. Dairy breeds can be thin if they are heavy milkers and then put on weight when they are dry.