# ? about boer does



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I figured I'd ask this here.

I have 2 problems I need to figure out. 

First, I know my daughters doe needs less hay/more grain as she has a hay belly But it's also genetics too, hay just makes it worse lol
Problem is, our other does need hay 24/7, they are nursing, and trying to maintain their weight. 

I have no clue how to do this. My son wants to sell her sister and get a non related doe to show, so it's possible we could seperate and put the new doe with her. But if we don't get a new doe?
How do you all do it if your planning to show/kids are showing? 
My kids have never shown a young yearling before, just babies.
We do have 2 young does but they won't be weaned until probably mid March.

Second, my son has a young yearling who is nursing a 6 week old buck kid. She's getting 2- 2 1/2cups of 16% pelleted feed 2x a day, plus alfalfa and clover/grass hay.
She is ribby to the touch, but looks okay. Should we start trying to put weight on her now, or wait until she weans in a few weeks? I was thinking we could go ahead and start adding rice bran oil to her feed. 

I don't plan on using show feed, just the feed we buy plus a supplement, and I know rice bran oil is good. When I worked with horses years ago, they loved that stuff, so I am hoping Miss Particular will too lol

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. I'm just not sure what we should be doing now. My husband says to wait until next month to start getting them ready, but I think we need to start now.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would start feeding the nursing doe now. It is so hard to get weight back on them once they get really thin.

I have Nigerians so can't help with the hay belly.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

ksalvagno said:


> I would start feeding the nursing doe now. It is so hard to get weight back on them once they get really thin.
> 
> I have Nigerians so can't help with the hay belly.


Thanks, I appreciate it. Yep that's what I told my husband, it can take months to get them back up to weight when they are nursing and it starts to show on them. She was extremely stressed out too, she's my son's doe that lost her babies the day after Christmas, had a difficult time getting them out, she went off her feed mourning and frantically calling for them. So 5 days later we grafted a baby onto her and her appetite started to pick up again. Now she's a piggy haha.

I posted this in another topic, but thought I'd post it here too, the feed tag for the feed we use:










I'm going to guess that she weighs 130lbs right now. So I wonder how much grain I should feed, and how much rice bran oil to use? She gets the alfalfa & clover hay and don't want to cut her down because she doesn't have a hay belly.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Some boer lines do have a belly that looks rounder, they get worse after each kidding, it is most likely genetics in that Doe. And no matter how you feed, she will always have it unfortunately.  I prefer selling them, cause they are hard to show that way. If you don't want that kind of genetic belly, then it will be wise to sell her.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks, I guess I should have explained them a little better.

Wysteria <Miss Hay Belly lol> will be 12mo next week, she's not bred. 
She carries her belly high, and is a magnet for hay.


















This was yesterday, first time she's been walked since August lol She's not a big, fancy show doe, but my daughter wants to show her this year and breed her this fall. She needs to start putting on weight but needs to be backed off on the hay.

Star is the other doe that has the baby, she's just loose in the belly not terrible or too wide, etc. She needs more weight/bulk put on her. 
This was taken on 1-03, she's more sunken in around the hips & loin.

The woman at the feed store suggested I start with about an ounce in the morning and an ouce in the evening. Then work her up another ounce or two after that.
This was about 4 days after she got her baby









1-24 she was lifting her belly up to nurse lol but that's the only pics I can find from recent, she's usually in the barn munching on hay or attached to my hip when I am out there with the camera lol










She does have a thick coat.

I don't expect great big show stopping results, but if I am going to spend the $$ to help the kids get their goats in shape, I want to make sure we're doing it the best we can with the funds I have to spend 

Thanks again for the help, it's really appreciated.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh sorry about that. 

yeah, not as much hay, it is good to start out slow, when you switch her back from and increase the other. So the feed store person, is most likely correct.


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