[QoTL]

My Alpine x doe (she's rather small.. 27" at the withers) is officially pregnant. YAY!!! 27 official days today.

Ok.. so now for phase #2 lol. Feeding her.

I've been giving her 2 1/4 cups of grain per day of dairy goat ration for several months. That seemed to be perfect. I'm not sure if she's just getting a really fluffy coat or what, but she looks like she's *ahem* getting to be a bit overweight. I do not feel any extra fat on her brisket though (I think that's what it's called? On her body between her front legs).

Since she's now eating for at least 2, I'm not sure how to grain her. They get hay 2ce a day, and waste as much as they eat (and often still have hay at the next feeding so I know they have plenty). It's very very cold here right now, hasn't been above freezing during the day for a week, and night temps have been in the low teens.

Fiasco site says about 3cups per day for pg doe.. is that until she delivers? I think I'd read they need more as they go along, but I'm really confused... or is it less to keep kids small? She was bred to a Sanaan/La Mancha buck who is smaller than she is (a big part of the reason I picked him), but she will be a ff so I'm nervous.

Can someone shed some light on this please?

Thanks!
Meghan

 

[goatkid]

I wouldn't increase the grain until she's a few weeks away from kidding. When I'm determining if a doe is fat, I feel the armpit behind the front legs. What she needs is calcium to prevent milk fever. I make sure my does get it by feeding alfalfa hay and pellets. If the hay you're feeding is alfalfa, she should be fine. If you're feeding grass hay, either slowly switch over to alfalfa hay or feed her 2-3# of alfalfa pellets daily in addition to the grass hay.
You can't always determine he size of the kids by the buck you use. His age or management could be why he is small. I've sen some pretty big Saanen and La Mancha bucks.

 

[Allan Mistler]

Congratulations Meghan!
I know how good it feels to have your does bred as I just got the last of mine bred yesterday. I also understand some of the feeding requirements here in New England since we share in the selenium deficient hay problems.
Having said all that, my experience with various problems unique to New England has led me to feed the girls about one cup of grain and two to three cups of alfalfa pellets per feeding (depends upon the size of the doe since I raise both Toggs and Boers) with a free feeder dispensing a mineral supplement (Manna Pro goat mineral http://www.jefferspet.com/media/Docs/htm/cag4_cag4.htm) containing the otherwise diet deficient selenium and copper. Naturally, they get as much good quality local hay as they'll eat every day without wasting.
I attempt to keep everybody healthy without going overboard on feed costs so I don't purchase any special goat feed. The only major issue we've had in twenty five years of raising goats was an early bout with White muscle disease in the newborns. After learning our lesson with selenium deficiency we've not lost a single kid.
Hope this will help you avoid the heartbreak!