Anyone familiar with goats?

[Kelsey96]

New goat owners this year! 7 month old goats and was curious my two girls seem fairly healthy they get grain once a day and free range by our cabin, wormed just 2 weeks ago but the 2/3 weeks iv noticed especially my one girl got a rounder belly. I looked up bloat no symptoms at all she burping and eating and running around and poop looks great so am I just over worrying?

 

[Pearl]

Hi Kelsey, sweet looking goats!! Sonya123 is our goat expert here! I raised hair goats years ago (Angoras). Sometimes goats get fat bellies. But we need Sonya's opinion!!

 

[sonya123]

Some of ours sometimes look like they swallowed a bowling ball. It's most likely just they ate a lot of food
Look at their lower eyelids to see if pale. If it's bright red, they are good, if it's really pale, they are anemic, then you need to deworm and maybe give them some supplements
Don't feed them too much grain, our about 7 months old goats, get about a handful of grain each, no more ( we mix corn, gluten and soy hulls but if you only have 2 you should maybe get the more expensive goat grain with all the minerals already in it since you are new to this) . More green stuff and hay is better.
If you are really worried, give them some baking soda, like a teaspoon mixed with a little water

What kind of goats are these?

 

[sonya123]

here is a few of our babies ( they are bigger now , these are from April)

 

[Kelsey96]

Some of ours sometimes look like they swallowed a bowling ball. It's most likely just they ate a lot of food
Look at their lower eyelids to see if pale. If it's bright red, they are good, if it's really pale, they are anemic, then you need to deworm and maybe give them some supplements
Don't feed them too much grain, our about 7 months old goats, get about a handful of grain each, no more ( we mix corn, gluten and soy hulls but if you only have 2 you should maybe get the more expensive goat grain with all the minerals already in it since you are new to this) . More green stuff and hay is better.
If you are really worried, give them some baking soda, like a teaspoon mixed with a little water

What kind of goats are these?

They are alpine/nubian! And alpine/toggenburg. And thank you so much ill check and see the lower eyelids today! And that's about what we give them they free range eat the green off bushes and trees right now and hay. Thank you for all the information!

 

[SLADE]

Give them goat minerals.

 

[sonya123]

They are alpine/nubian! And alpine/toggenburg. And thank you so much ill check and see the lower eyelids today! And that's about what we give them they free range eat the green off bushes and trees right now and hay. Thank you for all the information!

Milk goats, ok. We have 1 half Nubian but most of ours are meat goats. Milk goats ( while you milk them) can tolerate more grain but increase gradually
One more thing most people don't think of: check hoofs monthly and trim if needed or they can get really bad . Have someone show you how to do it there are videos on youtube if you need ( a goat farmer down the road showed us when we first started)
Do you have a shelter from them in bad weather? I don't know where you are and how cold it gets

 

[sonya123]

Give them goat minerals.

thanks! Forgot to mention that. Make sure it is specifically for goats and not sheep. It needs to have enough copper in it ( which is bad for sheep)

 

[Kelsey96]

Milk goats, ok. We have 1 half Nubian but most of ours are meat goats. Milk goats ( while you milk them) can tolerate more grain but increase gradually
One more thing most people don't think of: check hoofs monthly and trim if needed or they can get really bad . Have someone show you how to do it there are videos on youtube if you need ( a goat farmer down the road showed us when we first started)
Do you have a shelter from them in bad weather? I don't know where you are and how cold it gets

Thank you! And I definitely will I use to trim horse hooves so I have a tiny bit experience I just need to brush up for it being goats and watch some videos! And I will definitely get vitamins!

 

[Pearl]

And keep us posted, they are beautiful goats!!

 

[viking]

When we first moved here we had Nubians , lovely creatures, cleared our side hill of manzineta but their favorite and most nourishing food is alfalfa, their stomachs are not geared for grains but I would give them COB as a treat once and awhile, they are browsers like deer. You also need to have tall well supported fences, they are good at finding weak points in fences and if not jumping over them, they can climb very well. Their milk is great, I used to make lot of Kifer, it make the milk highly digestible.

 

[Pearl]

When we first moved here we had Nubians , lovely creatures, cleared our side hill of manzineta but their favorite and most nourishing food is alfalfa, their stomachs are not geared for grains but I would give them COB as a treat once and awhile, they are browsers like deer. You also need to have tall well supported fences, they are good at finding weak points in fences and if not jumping over them, they can climb very well. Their milk is great, I used to make lot of Kifer, it make the milk highly digestible.

Didn't Purina stop making COB (corn, oats, and barley) years ago? I had a very old pony I used to feed that to, was only 8% protein. Would be great for my donkey!!

 

[viking]

I think the COB we got was locally formulated there are a few co-ops in our region that put together a wide variety of animal and poultry feed, our chicken feed is organic and soy free. The COB we used to get also had molasses. I miss having goats but probably the thing that kind of put an end to having them was that a buck that lost his voice the previous winter got his front foot hung up in an oak tree and died, since he lost his voice he couldn't make enough noise to alert us of his fate, he was a great buck and his death really upset my wife to the point she didn't want to raise goats anymore.

 

[sonya123]

Goats do get injured , we've have lost a few to injuries. Last year one of our little ones got her leg stuck in the feeder and broke it trying to get out. It was broken so bad I had to put her out of her misery.
Try to find a large animal vet near you that knows something about goats, that will help

 

[Pearl]

I think the COB we got was locally formulated there are a few co-ops in our region that put together a wide variety of animal and poultry feed, our chicken feed is organic and soy free. The COB we used to get also had molasses. I miss having goats but probably the thing that kind of put an end to having them was that a buck that lost his voice the previous winter got his front foot hung up in an oak tree and died, since he lost his voice he couldn't make enough noise to alert us of his fate, he was a great buck and his death really upset my wife to the point she didn't want to raise goats anymore.

Tractor Supply actually makes a corn oats and barley feed. Did a little homework after your post!! Glad this came up, found something I like and have missed!!