# Getting weight on a young Boer Buck



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi Everyone, we picked up 2 boer bucks last weekend, they are 4mo, very nice boys, but they need some cover on them, they are too thin.
Kids are going to show them next month.
I don't know if we'll show one of them, kind of iffy. He's just not eating well, and too worried about girls, and everything else going on around him, I don't think he'll be ready in a month.
The other one is doing better, settling in and starting to eat better. 

Right now they are getting a mix of the feed from their breeder and our 16% medicated, pelleted feed. It's very comparable to Noble Goat 16. We also add in some Rice Bran Oil.
I was thinking about using Dumor Weight Booster, but I know our goats weren't overly crazy about that stuff last year. They ate it, but I worry these boys will be too picky. 

Any suggestions would be great. Right now they are with 1 other buck and 3 wethers, but Monday I plan on separating the bucks from wethers, I just need to pick up some stuff to make a summer shelter for them


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Try to get a fecal done including coccidia. If you can't I'm sure someone will offer deworming advice.


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Alfalfa helps with weight gain, maybe they'd enjoy the pellets? Most goats go crazy for calf manna too, but it's pricey...

A tip I learned to calm down my new dog:apply lavender oil to the collar, a dab under the nose area. It soothes the nerves and encourages a healthy appetite...maybe it would work with a goat too?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I think getting these boys away from the wethers will definitely help. I seperated them today and they were more interested in the hay, and ate all of the grain I left in the feeder for them. But as soon as I put the wethers back in this evening they were acting bucky, and just not eating very well. Stinkers.

I can't separate the wethers from them permanently until tomorrow or Tues. We have 3 pens, but only 2 shelters. I will work on making a summer shelter in the small grassy pen that the young does go out in during the day - then the bucks can go in there and stay in there. Wethers can go in the non-grassy pen, and the young does can go into the large grassy pen that the boys are currently using 
Whew... 

As for worming, I wormed them well with Quest Plus the other day, and will worm them with Equimax horse paste 10 days later. I do suspect they are probably a bit wormy, but their eyelids were nice and pink, and the breeder does take good care of her goats. 

I had heard from several people that alfalfa wasn't good for bucks? I don't want to take any risks with UC, so I would love some opinions on that.
The hay we typically use isn't as good as previous years cuttings, but it's okay. I'm going to check around and see what I can find in the area.

Is Goatzilla worth the $$? Or is there a better goat supplement that doesn't cost 'an arm and a leg' ? LOL


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Alfalfa is fine for male goats, because it balances out the high phosphorus content of grass hay and grains (it helps keep the 2:1 calcium-phosphorus ratio in check)...most 4-h kids I know feed alfalfa pellets along with a show grain...

They'll start gaining weight fast I bet, after they're separated


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