# Goats not gaining weight



## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

I weighed my three little 8 month old LaMancha does about a month ago, and then weighed them again today. Two of them gained 1 pound, and my biggest girl, who was 80 pound a month ago was 78 pounds today, so she actually lost a bit. I dewormed them a handful of times already despite their young age. I give them access to hay (brome) 24/7, and a scoop of goat pellets every day. I can't see my hay being so deficient so that three little growing does would actually be losing weight (it seems like good, fresh hay with no weeds...they regularly devour it), so I dewormed them again today with Safeguard in case of Barberpole, and am planning on giving them a different pellet dewormer tomorrow. The best I can guess is they have a high parasitic load? Besides deworming them, I think I'm going to also look for some alfalfa to give them in the next few days as well, and give them a bit more pelleted feed. ALL that said, anyone have any other ideas on what I might do to make sure they are gaining??? They all look and act like healthy little goats, so it certainly surprised me when I weighed them that their weight was basically static and that one even lost a bit.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

You need to have a fecal run and worm them with something better than Safeguard. Ivermectin or Cydectin are a lot more effective and a better choice for this area. Pelleted dewormers don't work very well either, so I wouldn't waste my time with that. They should still be gaining weight, but may be leveling out and will grow slower over the next year or two. Alfalfa is excellent for growing goats and really helps to develop a nice large rumen.


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## Hobbyfarmer (Sep 7, 2011)

80lbs at 8 months sounds average. Are they from slower maturing lines? 

I would run a fecal. Shotgun deworming technique won't work or be cheaper looking at longterm management. 

Adding alfalfa sounds like a good idea. Certainly won't hurt. Just add it slowly, especially if it's rich.


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## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

I've used Ivermectin on other animals I have, but have not heard of Cydectin, so thanks so much for throwing that out there. I'll definitely look into that. I agree Hobbyfarmer. I'm not worried about her being 80 pounds at 8 months. The others were initially smaller goats, so I'm not worried about them being smaller. I am worried that they are not gaining quicker however, especially at this young age, and I am still particularly worried that at this age they shouldn't be losing weight. Doing fecals is definitely optimal, but I don't yet have the equipment for that. Thanks for the advice, and keep it coming if there are any other ideas that are being neglected. Thanks.


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## Tlambert95 (Oct 16, 2012)

I had a heavy worm load goat and my vet had me use Panacur and Zimectrain Gold for horses on her. The Panacur covers most worms the Zimectrain Gold kills tapeworms. Since my doe was so heavy with a load of worms she got Panacur for 5 days straight at the 350lb dose for a horse. If you are concerned about them gaining weight before I would worm them yet again I would increase the feed slowly of course and see if that helps. I would also take in a sample and let the vet look at it and test it to see if you even have a worm problem. Worming your goats is very stressful on their digestion system so just worming alone can effect their rumen and maybe that is why one lost some weight.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

At this point, I would be taking a fecal sample to the vet. Using Cydectin is great but that is the latest and greatest of the Ivomec family. So if your herd becomes immune to that, then you will have bigger problems. You can't just keep worming them without knowing what worms you are treating. Ivomec and Safeguard don't work for coccidia. Safeguard doesn't work on Barberpole as far as I knew. Plus what are the weights of the goats and what dosage have you been using?

How much are you actually feeding them with grain? What is a scoop and is that a scoop per goat?


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## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

Karen, I agree. I never intended in the long term to just treat them indiscriminately for worms, but I'm the kind of person, If I'm not sure what the problem is, who will try and treat with whatever may work immediately, and THEN go try to find a vet or whatever needs to be done. I do plan on doing fecals, but as of right now, I don't have the equipment. I don't have many vets where I am located (I'm new to the area), but I'm still looking for one. As far as the Safeguard, the reason I got it is it specifically says that it IS for treating Haemonchus Contortus right on the bottle, which I'm fairly certain is the technical name for Barper's Pole. The dosage is on the bottle, and I gave it to them accordingly. However, even though it looks like it is designed for Barber's Pole, from what other people have been saying, it sounds like it might not be very potent, or it might not be the best thing for the job.

As far as how much grain I am giving them, I have a goat pellet I give them. I only give them a half cup a day, but my goats are only around 8 months old, so they aren't lactating or anything, and they already have access to hay 24/7, so I was just giving it to them as a vitamin and mineral supplement to their hay. But despite that I just started doubling it because of their weight loss. So the consensus seems to be I have to keep looking for a vet and do some fecals I think. That was my first thought really, I just didn't know how normal or abnormal it was for goats that age to slow down and almost stop gaining like that already and wanted to see what people thought. Thanks for the advice.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

You may or may not have a parasite problem. Keep in mind, at the age
your girls are at, they don't grow near as fast as they did while they
were younger. It is concerning that one lost a little though.
Your brome hay might not have enough protein. 
Unfortunately, Safeguard is often safe for worms.


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