# Nubian Growth



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

I have 2 beautiful Nubian goats, 1 young buck and 1 young doeling. There about 4-5 months, I also have boer Nubian crosses who are about the same age however they boer Nubian crosses are bigger and are growing quicker than my Nubians what I'm wondering is, do Nubians grow at a slower pace than other goat breeds or did I wean them off the bottle too early, both were bottle fed until 10-12 weeks old.


----------



## usamagoat (May 2, 2013)

you should stay letting them drink milk for up to 6 months!

Boer goats are so probably thats why your cross is growing faster.

hope i helped!!!

can you post photos of them i would like to see them!!!


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Boer/Nubian crosses almost always grow faster. It's that hybrid vigor don't cha know.


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

@usamagoat, should I put them back on a bottle for another few months? I will post pics later around their dinner time. They eat alfalfa and Bermuda mix. I want to eventually breed them together and hope I didn't stunt the by weaning them too soon.


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

Since they were weaned so early is there any supplements I should give them to help with growth, Rhett our young buck seems to be a healthy size, a little smaller than the boer cross and Moon our doeling is smaller than our other goats and roughly close in age and she's the one I'm most concerned about size wise.


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

Rhett is the multi color and Moon is the brow color


----------



## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

If they were mine, I would be feeding about a pound of a 14-16% grower pellet. Depending on how they responded to the pellets, I might increase them to 1 1/2 pounds. Kids - whether dam raised or bottled - should not be weaned until they are eating at least a pound of grain or pellets. They cannot eat enough hay - even good quality alfalfa hay - to support their growth and developmental needs. Anytime I have bottle babies I always do whatever I need to do to get them eating grower pellets as early as possible. There is nothing wrong with weaning at 3 months of age as long as the kid is eating grain/pellets and hay good.

PS They are beautiful! I really like Nubians.


----------



## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I wouldn't put them back on a bottle now, their stomachs have grown accustomed to not having milk and it would most likely upset them than help them.

You can try giving them calf manna. It is pricey, but it works. I would start out giving about 1/2 lb per day then move up to 1-1 1/2 lbs per day. Putting them on a good goat grain/grower feed would be good too. 

The buck doesn't look too bad, but the doe does look a little on the thin side. Have you had a fecal done to rule out worms/coccidia? Have they had any coccidia prevention/treatment. It wouldn't hurt to treat them for coccidia and worm them as well. Check their eyelids and see if they are a good healthy pink or if they are pale. Pale means they are anemic. How much do they weigh? At minimum a 5 month old Nubian should weigh 50 lbs. You didn't do anything by weaning them at 3 months, that is a pretty standard age for weaning kids. Some Nubians are really slow to mature and do grow a little slower than others. Yours should catch up by the time they are mature.


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

She's not quite 50 lbs I'd say she's more about 30 ish, we have dewormed, her eyes look good she did catch a case of pink eye earlier this year that was treated right away. At 3 months she was eating solid foods such as alfalfa and bermunda, she eats sweet feed on occasion but we have yet to try the grower feed/pellets. I will definitely be getting her some of that tomorrow. Could I have stunted her growth somehow and not known?


----------



## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Not to hijack the thread, but is Purina goat chow (its a sweet natural feed what ever that means) a good feed? We have 4 month old doelings....


----------



## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Personally, I don't like Purina anything. Nor do I like sweet feeds. A sweet feed is any kind of feed that has molasses in it. The molasses can change the ph of the rumen and is basically empty calories with no nutritional value. Another factor is that sweet feeds tend to be damp and sticky. In the heat of summer they will mold quicker because of that. I don't like Purina because they tend to add extra salt to their products, and salt acts as a limiter when it comes to feed. If you look at the label on a bag of Purina goat mineral you will find that it contains almost 50% salt. I tried Purina Goat Chow way back when - it was over priced and the girls didn't like it. It's a funny thing about feed - it doesn't do any good unless whatever it's being fed to actually eats it. I much prefer Essential or ADM to Purina. The weaning kids meet me at the gate and pretty much literally dive into their feeders to get it.


----------



## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

I feed Purina Dairy Goat Parlor. My doe eats it, but she doesn't goble it up. After I finish the 1 and 1/2 bags I have left I am going to see what a different feed store about 45 mins away has for goat feed..


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

Could I have stunted her growth in anyway since I didn't put her on a grower feed? What's the difference between grain feed, pellet feed, and grower feed or are they all just the same? I will definitely stay away from purina.


----------



## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Probably not. Goats are pretty resilient and hardy. I think she will catch up and do just fine. I suspect the only result is going to be she was slowed down a bit. 

Grain is actual grains either in their natural state or processed in some way. For example whole corn, whole oats, whole barley, rolled wheat, rolled oats, steamed/cracked/ground/flaked corn, or combinations of grains as in COB (corn, oats, and barley mixed with molasses). You can actually see the different kinds of grain. Each grain has a different crude protein content, a different amount of energy, and has its advantages and disadvantages. Pellets and grower pellets are more processed, you can't readily see what is in them, they have different formulations designed to support different goals (show goats, milking goats, young growing goats, etc.), different crude protein levels, different fat levels (energy), and have usually had vitamins and minerals added. Because of how they are processed, and what is put in them, they also vary in how they taste and how readily the goats will eat them. Some are medicated with coccidiostats such as monensin, rumensin, bovatec, or decoxx to help prevent coccidiosis, some aren't. Because of the way they have been formulated, they are sometimes referred to a 'complete feed' or a 'balanced ration'. All you need to add is hay and a good loose mineral. The key to knowing what will work best with your particular situation is to know what your goats need in the way of nutrition at their particular stage of production/development - not bred, short bred, heavy bred, lactating, growing, non-breeding buck, breeding buck, growing wether, and mature wether. If you're not sure - ask on these forums or do a search on goat nutrition. Sheepandgoat.com has a lot of articles explaining what each level of goat development/production needs in the way of protein, energy, etc. Does that help? I apologize if I was long-winded.


----------



## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Well darn we bought a big bag of purina (but if we are feeding a pound plus each a day) it should be gone next month and then I will switch-- I didnt know about the minerals either-- it was either meat goat minerals or dairy and these are babies so I bought the all purpose goat minerals and its Purina too! They dont like it but love the chow....


----------



## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

For mineral you might want to check out Sweetlyx Meat Maker Mineral, Onyx Cattle Mineral, Essential Goat Mineral, ADM Goat Mineral, and Manna Pro Goat Mineral. I'm sure there are other good goat minerals out there, too, I'm just not familiar with them. The main thing about mineral is that you want a 2 to 1 ratio for calcium and phosphorus, and at least 1800 ppm for copper. The salt content shouldn't be more than roughly 15 to 20%. You're paying for mineral, not salt. You can pick up a bag of stock salt at any farm supply for probably 10 bucks, if that much.


----------



## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

GoatCrazy said:


> For mineral you might want to check out Sweetlyx Meat Maker Mineral, Onyx Cattle Mineral, Essential Goat Mineral, ADM Goat Mineral, and Manna Pro Goat Mineral. I'm sure there are other good goat minerals out there, too, I'm just not familiar with them. The main thing about mineral is that you want a 2 to 1 ratio for calcium and phosphorus, and at least 1800 ppm for copper. The salt content shouldn't be more than roughly 15 to 20%. You're paying for mineral, not salt. You can pick up a bag of stock salt at any farm supply for probably 10 bucks, if that much.


I use sweetlix magnum milk for my dairy does (they also get alfalfa pellets and the magnum milk phos. ratio is balanced specifically for that) and they love it. It is the only mineral i have tried to date that my goats will gobble up. I need to get some meat maker for the rest of the goats.


----------



## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

WarPony said:


> I use sweetlix magnum milk for my dairy does (they also get alfalfa pellets and the magnum milk phos. ratio is balanced specifically for that) and they love it. It is the only mineral i have tried to date that my goats will gobble up. I need to get some meat maker for the rest of the goats.


They had Sweetlix minerals for dairy does... but I didnt know if 17 weeks was too young to start them out on it (I even told the guy- hmmm I have heard good things of Sweetlix before)....
Not sure what I am going to do with this huge bag of purina minerals and it is 40% salt!


----------



## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Oh and I pounded up some of the alfalfa cubes (got a huge bag of those too) with a hammer today and mixed it in with the sweetfeed.....so we will see how that goes....
(Not sure who is going to take the time to pound up the cubes for them when I am gone Tues and Wed I guess I will leave some out prepounded for them...)....


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

Thank you all so much for the helpful information, I will be going to the feed store today.


----------



## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

brittanymarie719 said:


> Thank you all so much for the helpful information, I will be going to the feed store today.


Yeah I have to go back too-- dont make my mistakes Good luck with your adorable little ones!


----------



## brittanymarie719 (Feb 10, 2013)

Thank you!!!!


----------



## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

CAjerseychick said:


> Oh and I pounded up some of the alfalfa cubes (got a huge bag of those too) with a hammer today and mixed it in with the sweetfeed.....so we will see how that goes....
> (Not sure who is going to take the time to pound up the cubes for them when I am gone Tues and Wed I guess I will leave some out prepounded for them...)....


I mix mine with some water when I get cubes, and they just fall apart into a moist grassy mass. My girls love it. It did take them a while to get used to it, though.


----------

