Feeding suggestions for preggo/obese Katy?

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Katy (Alpine warrior princess) is due March 7. You may recall she was precociously milking on one side only and I bred her—with great difficulty as she hated both bucks—to hopefully help regulate her errant hormones.

She was overweight at the time and she’s now obese. Our Boers had so many problems with pregnancy toxemia that I’m already stressing about Katy. We weren’t feeding the Boers enough calcium, so that’s straightened out but at least with sheep, obese ewes (especially ewes carrying multiples) are very prone to toxemia. So I’m trying to figure out a feeding regimen for Katy.

She and Edmund (a large, also too fat Nubian wether; they live together at night) already get a small feeding of bagged alfalfa for calcium and a flake of excellent, gold-plated Bermuda in the evening but she’s obviously gorging on the poorer-quality big bales of grass hay during the day. I think I’ll have to wait until late afternoon when the others have eaten their feedings of big bale hay and I can shut the gate to the sheep fold (where the big bales are stored) to let Katy and Edmund out to exercise. She’s quite active, so I think a few hours of exercise per day should be enough. Then we can gradually up the bagged alfalfa as her pregnancy progresses.

I’m giving her Replamin now and will start her on dried blackberry leaves in a few days. I’ll also put caulophylum (homeopathic remedy) in her drinking water 3x a week for the last 3 weeks of her pregnancy. And we’ll give her the usual Bo-Se and CD/T boosters at the right time. I’ll buy fresh Ketostix and haul out my baked bean can on a mop handle urine catcher a few weeks before she’s due.

Any other suggestions?

I know I’m obsessing. My Nubians and even Big Mama have kidded without a hitch. But Katy’s bulk worries me. If I thought she could’ve been bred through the fence I’d swear she was, especially considering how wild she was about either of the guys breeding her (although she was flagging and peeing and the whole nine yards). But there are two layers of fence and a hay feeder where she’d have to access Kerla and a HOT wire around Martok’s pen at doe-butt height. I don’t think it’s physically possible.

Sue

[Alice In TX/MO]

Too much alfalfa and high protein can cause issues, too. Do not increase protein sources.

I hope Yarrow responds to this thread.

[CaliannG]

If she is truly obese (pictures?), I'd be leery of feeding alfalfa. But it can be difficult to tell whether she just has a large rumen, is carrying a miniature herd inside her, or is fat. How thick are the fat pads where the leg meets the body? On a truly obese goat, you can poke your finger into those pads and they jiggle.

If she is honestly over weight, I would cut her back to just hay and supplement with calcium as her pregnancy progresses. A very light misting of molasses water on a feeding of hay, then sprinkling it with calcium carbonate should do the trick.

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Oh geez, I hope she doesn't have a herd in there! I put in an order for one kid--one.

I know the fat pads you speak of--Uzzi and Edmund both have them. I'll go check Katy in just a bit.

Usually what I feed late gestation (last 6 weeks) ewes and does is free-choice dehydrated alfalfa in their feed pans with Bermuda always in the hay rack too. In the last 3 weeks I add a 16% goat pellet feed (no copper added, so the ewes eat it too). They always have mineral plus the blackberry leaves and caulophylum. I've had a few ewes who couldn't be trusted not to eat alfalfa until they burst, so I rationed them.

Apart from the Boers I've had no kidding problems whatsoever and only two bad lambings in 9 years. One was a humongous single lamb and the other was a whoopsie breeding I wasn't aware of, so the elderly mama didn't get a Bo-Se shot prior to lambing.

Sue

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Nope, surprisingly there are no fat pones. But she looks like a boxcar on legs. She never stops eating and she's never been svelte but she's still 2 months from kidding.

The pics are awful. It's semi-sleeting, so I had to wrap the camera in a plastic bag, let Katy and Edmund out of their pen and take 'em quick.

Sue

[yarrow]

I had a doe named Bell who was also overweight and prone to toxemia. (a friend owned her before I did and almost lost her the last spring she had her).. knowing she might get sick... I would feed her as Caliann suggested....she got all the hay she wanted, but hardly no grain.. as she got closer to her due date.. I started carb loading her (instead of protein)... I cooked up oatmeal with brown sugar on it, for her a couple times day... wanting to make sure she got enough calcium.. I actually would give her oral CMPK via a syringe (with a smaller syringe of snow cone syrup ..as a chaser.. 30 cc once every few days in the beginning (once she was getting heavy with babies) and as we got closer to her due date.. I increased the number of times =and how often= she got the cmpk..by the last week of her pregnancy she was greedily drinking down her CMPK cocktail twice a day.. and pigging out on sweet oatmeal.. she never got droopy on me, never started that horrid melting weight loss, that can happen... had triplets every year.. I still have two of her daughters in the herd.
Sue, did you see the pics I posted in Look Ma thread? the fat gal in the first pic is that fat on JUST hay....I'm pretty sure she is bred (due in March).. will be sending off blood next week.. I have a hunch she might have issues.. with her weight and age (she hasn't kidded in a couple years) I'll be checking her for ketones, as she gets closer

susie, mo ozarks

[Dreamgoat Annie]

This is Katy when she was 8 months old, right after she was given to me.

Sue

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Yarrow, grass hay? That would be easy as we have Hirsch's gold-plated Bermuda and it's very nice quality.

The problem will be keeping her away from the big bale stuff. We feed it outside where she can pretty much have at it when she's in the yard. Maybe we can build another paddock. Hmm. Where? Actually, we could add a run to the big stall I planned to move her and Edmund to anyway. We'll figure something out.

Sue

[GoldenWood Farm]

To me she just looks like she is carrying a bunch of babies. My does when they are carrying triplets start showing by 2 months and by 3-4 months start looking huge. As far as the feed goes I would listen to all the gals on here .

But I don't think she looks fat just very bred .

Justine

[Dreamgoat Annie]

I found that thread, Yarrow. So Katy, like your doe, could be showing already? If she has a bellyful of babies? Oh, geez...

Sue

[yarrow]

Originally Posted by Dreamgoat Annie

I found that thread, Yarrow. So Katy, like your doe, could be showing already? If she has a bellyful of babies? Oh, geez...

Sue

Sue...sadly Divinity isn't actually showing yet..Divinity not only has fat pads, but she has rolls on her neck as well... she is just that fat LOL..
ALL my own does at this point, are as big/thick as Katy is (we don't start kidding until March 1st) but they are all getting thick in the middle already.... I don't think Katy looks overly heavy.

susie, mo ozarks

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Originally Posted by GoldenWood Farm

To me she just looks like she is carrying a bunch of babies. My does when they are carrying triplets start showing by 2 months and by 3-4 months start looking huge. As far as the feed goes I would listen to all the gals on here .

But I don't think she looks fat just very bred .

Justine

I'd rather have a bunch of babies than an obese goat with kidding problems. I guess.

I've just been out figuring out how to make her a run. It's doable, and I could take her and Edmund walking with me for additional exercise.

This had better straighten out her hormones. And I hope she's a decent milker.

Sue

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Originally Posted by yarrow

Sue...sadly Divinity isn't actually showing yet..Divinity not only has fat pads, but she has rolls on her neck as well... she is just that fat LOL..
ALL my own does at this point, are as big/thick as Katy is (we don't start kidding until March 1st) but they are all getting thick in the middle already.... I don't think Katy looks overly heavy.

susie, mo ozarks

Oh, good. Geez, Bon Bon wasn't that thick the day before she had triplets!

We'll get that run up this weekend and start the Bermuda-only feeding. Edmund will be annoyed but he can tough it out.

Sue

[GoldenWood Farm]

I would just take her for lots of walks if it was my girl. Honestly she really doesn't look fat and I look at how low her belly is I am betting that is all baby. And hey more babies means smaller babies which means easier kiddings!

I always says the more the merrier because that means less chances of one huge monster kid. Unless all the kids decide to come out at once (ask me how I know that happens ). Impatient little buggers....

Justine

PS: Katy is BEAUTIFUL! I love her unique coloring and what a stunning face she has.

[yarrow]

I totally agree with Justine... lots of walks.. My girls all go out for a long walk first thing every morning (unless it's pouring rain or we have deep snow)... by late feb..it's a never ending congo line of huge, waddling gals..

I also like a belly full of babies, over one big'in .... triplets are always my favorite and what I put my orders in for LOL


edited to add a pic of this morning's walk about (with the dark drizzles.. only some of the goats went, but I thought it was a fun mix of farm family.. does, dog, guineas and sheep ....

susie, mo ozarks

[CaliannG]

Katy doesn't look fat to me at all. She looks full of babies.

If she were my doe, I would not put her on a diet; I would feed her just as I do any pregnant doe. She'd be on "pregnant doe" feed regimen.

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Originally Posted by CaliannG

Katy doesn't look fat to me at all. She looks full of babies.

If she were my doe, I would not put her on a diet; I would feed her just as I do any pregnant doe. She'd be on "pregnant doe" feed regimen.

And that would be...?

Sue

[yarrow]

Sue... this is Amelia.. she isn't due until March 8th.. (I don't consider her fat) she is just on regular feed... some whole oats and BOSS, topped dressed with calcium..morning & night.. literally just a handful of oats..all the hay she wants..I will slowly increase her oats the last week or two of her pregnancy
(forgive the yuck & mud)
Victor, the wether and some of the does munching hay


susie, mo ozarks

[Alice In TX/MO]

This is the MiniMancha when she was pregnant with five bucklings. She was sound asleep, which is why her neck is at a strange angle.

[CaliannG]

Generally my "pregnant doe" feeding program blends from my "milking doe" feeding program or my "growing out kids" feeding program. I believe Katy is an FF, correct?

At that, I would be feeding her all that she could eat in hay, and, if possible, free-feeding alfalfa pellets. If it is not possible, I would measure alfalfa pellets for her twice per day. The alfalfa is for both calcium and protein during pregnancy. (Building bone in kids takes quite a bit of protein, especially for a young doe who isn't quite finished building her own bones.)

At 6 weeks before freshening, I start adding grain in small amounts...building slowly up to the amount I expect her to eat while milking. At a week before kidding, I start adding CMPK to her diet, either in gel form, or as the oral solution as part of Doe Gatorade.

That is my regimen, and since it has worked well for me, I am unlikely to change it, until and unless I get my pasture done the way I wish (with plenty of native legumes to do the job that alfalfa pellets do now).