Frankie is the fattest

Minelson · #1 11/01/12, 08:19 PM

goat I have ever seen. I am watching on the barn cam and jaw has hit the floor. He is so fat he doesn't even look like a goat! All the focus is on Gretta but this is bad. Even though Gretta eats much better with others I may have to separate for Frankie sake ....Juggling!!

He looks like a manatee...

Goat Servant · #2 11/01/12, 08:25 PM

Seperating sounds like fun

Clovers_Clan · #3 11/01/12, 08:26 PM

Awww. You know, TV makes you look 10lbs heavier. So says Frankie ;-)

dunroven · #4 11/01/12, 10:52 PM

I understand that without pictures it hasn't happened. So where are the pictures of Frankie????

Minelson · #5 11/02/12, 06:10 AM

Minelson · #6 11/02/12, 06:12 AM

I'll try to get a better pic later.. Maybe it is the barn cam and the view from above looking down is distorting things.

Tallabred · #7 11/02/12, 07:01 AM

Maybe you should get Frankie a treadmill!

Clovers_Clan · #8 11/02/12, 07:53 AM

If it seems to help Gretta's appetite to eat with them maybe you could let them all get started together at feeding time and remove the other two one at a time to let her finish it off.

cathleenc · #9 11/02/12, 08:26 AM

Another thought - could you make one of those feeders where essentially each goat puts their head through a cut out and eats only what is in front of them? And then load each eating area for the specific goat who is there? The cut outs look like keyholes, more or less, and I believe it was intended to prevent goats from wasting too much hay because they could not rear their heads back too far and drop the hay.

Lard butt comes to mind when looking at Frankie. Funny! in a strange, perverse way.

dunroven · #10 11/02/12, 10:05 AM

Your goats are really neat! I just love goats sooooo much! Took a walk with mine this morning. We all go for a walk around the pasture occasionally, when I have enough time. Its a peaceful walk, just me and 10 goaties! LOLOLOL They are usually very quiet, just stroll along behind and when I sit down on a log, they all gather round wanting petted. When we start back there's always that little thing like kids, "No, I get to be closest to her, you were on the way out! Mom! Make them let me get close to you!!!! Its my turn!!!!!" LOLOL They are just fun!

Dreamgoat Annie · #11 11/02/12, 11:03 AM

<LOL> Frankie looks like Uzzi! John describes Uzzi as "a barrel on legs".

You know, some us us just absorb calories better than others. :oD

Sue

Minelson · #12 11/02/12, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallabred

Maybe you should get Frankie a treadmill!

Good idea! We have one collecting dust in the basement. If I told hubby I was going to use it for Frankie I bet a million bucks that hubby would start using it again just so I wouldn't haul his beloved, hardly ever uses treadmill out to the barn!

where I want to · #13 11/02/12, 03:48 PM

If you can figure a way to keep one goat thinner while the others are a good weight, Pul-eeze let me know. Sally's belly is down to her hocks.

Clovers_Clan · #14 11/02/12, 05:28 PM

How about making him a grazing muzzle. My horse really doesn't mind hers. Although, I'm sure she is irked how slow it makes her eat, she'd shovel it in if she could(and does!)

**mygoat** · #15 11/02/12, 07:10 PM

This is tough if separating them makes Gretta not want to eat.

But if you COULD or DO separate them, maintenance animals need crappy hay. Not mouldy, but high NDF (low digestibility). Essentially, provide rumen bulk and adequate energy, but not a super energy rich source. Ruminants are REALLY good at digesting their food, so even a crappy hay is utelized in a maximal fashion. Maintenance animals require very little energy-wise. A first cut grass hay and minerals, water, baking soda is perfectly adequate for MOST maintenance animals. Adjust feed if their condition drops below where you'd like to see it, but honestly, MOST animals are healthier at or slightly below ideal weight than they are obese.

Also, if you can - move that feed out into the pasture. Make 'em work for their food.

Perhaps house Gretta at night with the babies with free choice alfalfa hay/pellets (or whatever she'll eat), as the babies still would benefit from rich feed like that.

Perhaps a cattle panel pen would keep her happy so that she can see Frankie and Flossie, but keep them out of her rich hay.

BethW · #16 11/02/12, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mygoat

A first cut grass hay and minerals, water, baking soda is perfectly adequate for MOST maintenance animals.

LOL. Frankie is, as my hubby would say, a "hoss." Of course, who is he to talk...Tango and Brownie are nearly as big as Frankie

I've always provided my wethers exactly what Dona recommends and they're still tubby. Maybe I need to go get a treadmill for them, too!

Backfourty,MI. · #17 11/02/12, 10:00 PM

I think it's the angle of the picture! Poor Frankie, everyone talking about him!
I'll have to get a picture of 1 of our wethers Moose, I swear he's a little fatty too!

**mygoat** · #18 11/02/12, 10:45 PM

My wether lives with the girls. He jumps out of the buck pen, where he gets harassed excessively when I've tried to house them together in the past.

Anywho, he currently sports a layer of insulation for the upcoming winter.

Worthless goodfernothin' hayburner that he is... he sure is cute!

April · #19 11/03/12, 08:39 AM

Aw, poor Frankie.

He's also closest to the camera, so maybe it's just distortion - like when people take photos holding up the leaning tower of Piza. He's not fat, it's a trick of perspective!

I think "fat" and "wether" are nearly synonymous.

Minelson · #20 11/03/12, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clovers_Clan

How about making him a grazing muzzle. My horse really doesn't mind hers. Although, I'm sure she is irked how slow it makes her eat, she'd shovel it in if she could(and does!)

How do you make one?