# Slow growing boer doelings(new pics)



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

What am I doing wrong with my goats the does are growing so slow. From January to July all my growing kids were on an 18% pelleted goat feed with deccox. After the fair they were switched to a 16% texturised grain. When the fair was over we brought home 3 of the doelings and sold 1 market doe and 1 market wether. The wether was 97 pounds at the fair and the market doe was 67, since the other 3 were breeding does they were not weighed. Well tonight I wanted to see how they were doing and I am not to pleased. My January 8th doe Valentine is only 57 pounds. This is using a bathroom scale with me standing on it. She was growing really well till June then when the heat hit she stopped growing and was not eating much because she didn't shed her winter coat. Cashmere was born January 25th and is 73 pounds. She was a bottle baby and I think is growing really well since we have been home from the fair. I thought she was bigger then that but I guess I was wrong. Lastly Hope who was born March 26th is 50 pounds. She is only 7 pounds smaller the the oldest and 2 and 1/2 months younger so she might be on track i don't know. They get 4 quarts of feed split between them all in 2 feedings a day. They have been wormed and all seem happy and healthy with shiny coats. But I must be doing something wrong. These are all Boer percentage does and I feel like they should be closer to 100 pounds by now. The oldest Valentine was a twin her brother was the 97 pound market wether at the end of July. Hope who is the youngest was a single. And Cashmere was a triplet but was bottle fed. I will get a fecal done with in the next 2 weeks. Their eye lids are a darker pink from what I can see. I will show you some photos of the girls from today. This is Hope the doe that was born March 26th and weighed 50 pounds today. 








This is Cashmere she is the bottle baby born January 25th and weighed today 73 pounds. Not going to lie she is my favorite.








This is all 3 of them playing and eating out in the field now that I mowed the weeds down shorter then they are.








This is Valentine. She is for sure my problem doe. She is the oldest being born January 8th and only 57 pounds.








Thanks in advance for feed back.


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Roger they all look really good,no they dont look good they look fantastic! You ARE doing something right!! I dont understand their weights unless they come from slow growing lines.
Have you thought about switching them back over to the 18%?


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Oh thank god someone thinks they look good. I have been looking at them and been really proud until I weighed them. O well they will not be bred till next fall any ways so by then they will be big enough I am sure.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I'm not a meat goat person but they look good to me too.... they are not unthrifty looking at all, they look healthy and happy.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I think they look great too! And I ? Cashmere!! I am so glad you decided to take on that beautiful bottle baby!! 
I'm no pro, but for the weight part I wonder if they just need more time to grow, as Nancy said, maybe the does are slower growers.
Our fullblood boer who is on the small side <the one I've been considering selling> had twins at the end of April. At 3mo old the buckling was about 14lbs heavier and much taller/longer than his twin sister. All of our percentage bucklings also were monsters compared to the does.

Or..you said you changed grains, have you noticed a difference since the grain change?

Again your girls look good


----------



## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I think they look awesome as well! I would try switching them back to the 18% grain.

As I used to be in the boer world, I think they look like great does! Don't be discouraged by low weights. Maintain their over-all health, and the weight will come. A lot of the weight is bone growth as well, so as they get bigger, they will get heavier.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

They look good to me too. Are they mixes? That might explain the slow growth rate compared to full blood boers. They just plain old won't be as large. I went over to a friend's house who has boer mixes. They are definitely smaller than a full boer but no question they were all healthy.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

These are percentage does but the other percentage I am guessing is Nubian. Nubians are larger in frame size the boers but not as bulky as a boer. I am also starting to think that the scale might be off. I just keep looking at them and they have to be bigger. They were about the same size at the fair as our market doe who was 67 pounds a month ago. There is no way they have lost weight they have grown alot since the fair.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I think they look great as well... :thumb: 
Some boer lines... grow slower then others... and then take off at a certain point.... :greengrin:


----------



## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

From your description I was expecting to see skinny babies in the pictures but

THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!!

They are shiney, sleek and their weights/compared to their frames look very good!

We have 6 goats and all are 100% full blood boers except for a % doeling that my daughter fell in love with earlier this year. This little % is VERY healthy but she is MUCH smaller than my boers. We bought a wether that is 100% boer from the same farm the doeling came from-he is HUGE compared to her! Mojo my bottle baby, born July 6th, is the same size as the % doeling now (and she is 5 months old) so the %'s are smaller than FB boers :greengrin:

I am doing the same as you breeding wise--Taffy is the name of our % doeling and she wont' be bred until late next spring.


----------



## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Oh--I do have 1 tip though.

I feed Calf Manna to my babies--that helps them grow and blossums the weight. They love the taste too! Just a little sprinkle of Claf Manna on the reg. pellet grain goes along way. I mix containers that have 80% grain, 10% BOSS and 10% Calf Manna (loose minerals are added too) for our babies.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Yeah after last year we decided to wait till they are 15-19 months old till we breed them. Last year I had a doe kid when she was 13 months old and that ended with a c-section and the buckling only lived maybe 30 minutes so from now on we will wait which is really hard but o well. Thank you all for the compliments I am really proud of how healthy they look just wish they grew faster but I know we have time for that I will just keep doing what I have been doing. I might have to check into that calf manna.


----------



## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Yup--I used to have it on hand for my horses. I have a breeder that is a good friend of mine and she told me about it--that it is good to use as far as getting the babies to take grain.

When I had Mojo in for a vet check the veterinarian even reccomended that I give it to Mojo (which I had already been doing) he said it was basically like a pelleted form of milk replacer as far as how it worked in their systems.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Thanks hopefully it will start to pack the pounds on my girls and get them to grow up and not just out lol. The are doing really well at not being over conditioned little fat goats I just thought they would be bigger by now but I am used to cattle and pigs.


----------



## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I doubt you are doing anything wrong. They look healthy and happy.
Check your scale, but even if it's right, they will catch up to where
you want them eventually I bet.


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Bathrm scales arent very accurate. At least ours isnt. Goat moves or you dont put your feet in the same spot can throw it off.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Thant is kind of what I was thinking so I am going to try and find a more accurate scale to weigh them on. I am just not sure if I can find one.


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Roger, your goats are beautiful. I love the paints and they also have that slick hair. I have babies from February and I am not sure they are much different from yours at all in size. The wethers on the blackberry patch passed all our does up in weight and size mostly because they are male goats and grow larger. I have two faster growing doelings. One is about 8% nubian and she has grown faster than the other doelings. The other is from a large buck and is just going to be a larger animal from genetics.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Well thank you all you make me feel so much better about my girls. I was honestly really happy with them until I weighed them. Looking at them next to my full grown does I am thinking the scale was just off. They may not be as long as the big girls yet but they are not much shorter either. We have a digital scale at work and I am thinking about sneaking them in there on a Saturday to weigh them. No one will ever know I had goats in there and then I will really know their weights but then again that is alot of work when it doesn't really matter as long as I see them growing.


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I have never weighed our goats as we do not do 4H, but when we first got into the Boers, I found out that they out weighed me by quite a bit and are quite strong in that weight. The ones we brought were at first very wild. I clipped a leash on and off the wild doe took with me skiing in the dust behind it. I was determined not to let go so then sat down and she kept going pulling me on the grass with me bracing my legs out wide. NOOO she would not stop and I did not let go and people my age should not do this at all.. She is not as wild anymore.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I agree... that bathroom scales are never really accurate... :sigh:

but I still think.. they are doing well and look great ... :thumb: :greengrin:


----------



## goatnutty (Oct 9, 2007)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

I think they look really nice Roger!!


----------



## myoungfarms (Jun 15, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

:clap: I think they look good as well! I'm not sure where you live, but here in Kansas it has been a VERY HOT/HUMID SUMMER (Heat indexes of 110) and my 11 January/February replacement does were not growing as well either. I had them on full creep feed until June and all the pasture grass/weeds/tree leaves/garden scraps they could eat. But they still only weigh an average of 50 pounds at the end of August. It's nothing we are doing wrong or can control. I think the heat has been stressful on them and they have taken in more shade and rest time during the day. Now that it has started to be cooler temperatures, the doelings have really started to take off. Not sure exactly what they are weighing now, but hoping to get some on the scale this weekend. So maybe it is just that - give them some time - maybe breed them a little later if they are 1st years. We're hopefully going to breed our 11 first-timers in December. Good Luck to you!


----------



## amylawrence (May 19, 2011)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Roger - your does do look healthy. I'm in the boat with you on being disappointed in weights though too! I'm convinced it's the percentage. Mine were 50/50 Nubian/savanna. I took my buckling to market last night and he was going to be graded a 3 but I talked her into a 2! I asked her why - it was his tall lanky Nubian body build. Legs don't weigh much and he had a narrow chest and poor muscling. He ended up at 40 pounds (born in late May). (I've got a lot to learn yet about effective meat goat marketing.) It made me decide to adjust the breeding schedule to have earlier spring kids to get better market weights by fall. Plus, if my Nubian doe doesn't produce some girls to dilute the Nubian percentage down and increase the meat goat sire percentage with whoever we're using as a sire then, I'm not sure what her fate will be. Our other does are kikos who are being bred to our savanna - anxious to see what kind of weight gain we get on these kids!


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Thank you they have really changed in the past couple weeks and are growing alot better now that its in the 60's and 70's now. I am not going to breed them till next year so I am not to worried about them being a certain weight by a certain time. I am actually thinking about breeding these 3 in June for November kids and then breeding the other 4 older does in august for January kids. that way I don't have 7 kidding at once and so I have different aged kids for my nieces to show. I will try to remember to get more pictures and photos in a couple weeks to see if you guys can see a difference because since I see them every day its hard to tell.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings*

Glad they are doing good....can't wait to see pics... :thumb: :greengrin:


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings(update)*

Well it has been 3 weeks since I started this thread and I was going to wait one more week but I really wanted to see if they were gaining anything. We used the same crappy scale as before but Cashmere went from 73 pounds up to 82 pounds. Valentine went from 57 up to 66 pounds and lastly Hope went from 50 up to 60 pounds. They may not be gaining as fast as a buck but I am happy they are gaining some weight. - will try to upload some pictures with my phone because out internet is down but I haven't done it before so we will see if it works. Well I guess my files are too big but when I get internet back I will upload them.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings(update)*

Sounds like they are gaining very well! Keep up with whatever you are doing cause it's working!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

*Re: Slow growing boer doelings(update)*

:thumbup:


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Well here are some recent pictures I took really fast of my growing girls. Hopefully in June they will be bred by my new spotted Boer buck. As I said before Cashmere is now 82 pounds, Valentine is 66 pounds, and Hope is 60 pounds.
Valentine








Hope (She is starting to bulk up more and look like her sire)








Cashmere(Horrible picture of her)








All 3 relaxing on a nice sunny fall day


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Awe they look good. I love the colors. Their hair looks good and shiny too.


----------



## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

They look aweful, you should definately get rid of them, I would be more than happy to take them off your hands for you


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Maggie when I first started reading your post I was soo worried that you really thought they looked bad thank god I finish reading every post before getting upset and closing them. LOL Thank you everyone I am feeling alot better about these girls. I am still not good at knowing if they are looking right or growing good. When we had pigs you could put 10 pounds on a pig in 5 days if you needed/wanted to so seeing 10 pounds in 3 weeks I was alarmed. Maybe this cooler weather is helping them take off. I am still disappointed in Valentine but I am sure she will catch up. Her dam was one of our biggest does.


----------



## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

Haha no, I think they are lovely and would love to have them in my herd. We had one doe that was really really slow to grow, we thought she would never be large enough to breed. She hit a year old and doubled in size. Now I just worry that shes too fat!


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Fat OMG you have not seen my doe Jasmine. She just went on a major diet. A month ago you would have thought she was 5 months pregnant with triplets. She aborted last year and I didn't re breed her so she got super fat all last winter till now. I am hoping paintball got her bred this year. I have only seen him breed 1 doe the other 3 could be open for all I know. I am gone from 730 a.m. till 5 p.m. threw the week and super busy most weekends so he has had plenty of time to breed them without me home. I just hope he has because he is starting to look like he is carrying twins. If he is too fat and lazy to breed then it is time for him to move on.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Well it has been 1 month since I weighed the girls the first time so I weighed them again today and I don't know if I will be weighing them anymore because they are getting too big for me to pick up. We did it the same as the other 2 times with the bathroom scale and me holding them. This weather has made a huge difference and they are really taking off. Cashmere grew the most in the last week so we know who is being the piggy at the feeder. She went from 82 pounds to 95. I can not believe she is getting so big which is another reason why I can't do this anymore. Valentine went from 66 pounds to 71. and little Hope who mind you in 2 months + younger went from 60 to 65. I am feeling a lot better about these girls and thank you all for your help, advice, and support. I don't think I would still be raising goats without all of you.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

In 1 month Valentine gained 14 pounds, Hope gained 15, and Cashmere gained 22 pounds.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

They look great........... :thumb: :greengrin:


----------



## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

All three look great to me! :thumb: I Love Hope's color pattern!


----------

