# Bringing a milking doe back into condition after kidding



## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

OK Tilly girl looks so skinny after kidding. Her backbone, and hip bones are very pronounced and sharp. This may be why shes not giving much milk. How do I get her weight back up without compromising her health? She weighed 120 when I got her and now she looks a lot lighter. She had good condition 3 months ago.

This is what she gets, on top of free choice grass hay. 4C 18% pellets, Alfalfa chops(changing back to pellets) 2x daily

I would like to add C.O.B. and beet pulp to her diet but I don't know what would be the correct amount. 
Could someone come up with a diet plan I can follow using: 

Alfalfa pellets
C.O.B.
Beet pulp
Grass hay is free choice 24/7
And of course water.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Crocee....what she is getting is just fine. It's not been very long since she delivered and her body is still adjusting to the "post baby" demands.

Some does, regardless of how much high quality feed they get will look like milk cows, have a fecal run just in case the stress of kidding brought on a worm overload.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree with Liz..... :wink:


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

OK. She just looks so bad. I guess I just expected her to go back to her pre pregnancy body condition. I will get a new weight on her tomorrow and go from there.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Alot of does get down in condition like that ....I know they can look horrible.. :shocked: ..now that the babies are off of her... she should bounce back pretty quickly .....get her wormed... if it's been a while or like Liz said ...test her stools...to be positive :greengrin: .....


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

She was wormed the day after she kidded. Shes due to be wormed again 14th. I used Ivermectin. I can do a fecal in the morning. I play in poop a lot these days learning to do fecals at home.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

how much grain are you feeding her? she should be getting aprox 4 cups twice a day


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

She gets 4C of 18% pellets but its not exactly grain. I have access to C.O.B. but wasn't sure how much to use. I have also changed her back to alfalfa pellets instead of the chopped stuff.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

a grain is anything that isnt hay or having a specific other purpose or name (ie like beet pulp is its own thing). A grain can be in the form of pellets  

I dont know what COB is so cant help you there.

I feed a sweet feed for grain mixing in some BOSS then Fastrack supplement once a day.


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

COB is a corn oats and barley mix and my goats love it.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

Well my dairy goat (Saanen) who is in her 2nd freshening and still milking, is really thin. She kidded last May and is milking 1.5 litres once daily, she gets a good 3lb of grain (18%) every day, yet she wont put on any weight and you can see all her bones. She seems quite happy about it though. I think she just has a fast metabolism. She used to be chunky and fat before she got pregnant/kidded.

LW


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

Tilly was nice and chunky, not fat but healthy looking, when she was first bred. I have put her back on the alfalfa pellets along with her feed pellets and little bit of COB. Shes making more milk now so she seems to need it. Her udder is quite a bit larger than it was but still small by the pictures I have seen. Its also almost completly healed. I guess kidding has boosted her healing ability. Today is fecal day so we will see whats going on internally.


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

How much protein total do you think she is getting in her diet?
the staple to a goats diet is good quality hay. I would look at your hay before i upped her grain as it sounds as though she is getting plenty.
beth


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

The ONLY hay we can get around here is Bermuda which is very low protein. Between the 4 of them they go through 6 to 8 flakes a day. There is minimal waste as I have made waste basket hay feeders. They have to stick their nose in to get a bite. Very little on the ground. She is looking a little better at almost a week fresh but shes still pretty thin. I will get a new picture of her tomorrow when I take a picture of her udder.


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## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

They say that standard does will loose condition after kidding before slacking production whereas Nigerian Dwarfs will slack production before losing condition. Of course each goat is individual, I have seen this in my Nigerians. Some will slack off production before dropping condition. Where others will look like crap and be producing. I would do what Liz said. Check fecal and ensure she's not dealing with a parasite load and you could enrich her feed but she might just be one of the types who shows wear and tear easier while producing.


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## goatkid (Jan 17, 2009)

My goats are fed alfalfa hay and a grain mix of whole oats, cracked corn, BOSS, 16% dairy goat pelleta and a little sweet feed. Last year, I had a yearling who was milking pretty heavy and needed to gain, so I added a handful of Calf Manna to her milking ration and found that helped.


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

goatkid said:


> My goats are fed alfalfa hay and a grain mix of whole oats, cracked corn, BOSS, 16% dairy goat pelleta and a little sweet feed. Last year, I had a yearling who was milking pretty heavy and needed to gain, so I added a handful of Calf Manna to her milking ration and found that helped.


How much by weight or amount/part are you giving of each ingredient. We only have grass hay but she is getting alfalfa pellets.


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