# Putting weight on nursing nanny



## waymire01 (Aug 27, 2012)

I have a pygmy/nubian cross nanny who gave birth to triplets about six weeks ago. Everyone is doing fine, but they seem to be sucking the life out of mom. She has gotten so thin I'm getting worried about her. They are on grazing 24hrs a day, with plenty of vegetation, mostly grass but a lot of scrub as well. I also give her grain (regular all stock) in the evenings, about 2lbs which she shares with the little ones, and there is always some left after they eat... I tether her (and her brother who is a wether, and in perfect weight) with her grain for two hours while my horses eat. I know it is somewhat normal to loose a lot of weight while nursing... but she is really bony, with both ribs and spine easily visible. Wondering if I should be supplementing her with something, I do have access to rice bran for my horses (which they seem to love, they make a point of licking all the horses feeders clean), also alfalfa pellets (which she does not seem to care for). She gets mineral supplement every day and is wormed as needed (ivermectin). Before the babies I actually had trouble keeping her from getting too fat... any suggestions are appreciated, or am I just overly concerned?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I'm no pro, but if you've checked fecals to make sure your not dealing with a worm resistant to ivermectin, then it sounds like she may be the type that puts everything into her milk/kids. 
Twins can be tough on a mom, but triplets IMO are much harder, and being 6 weeks old sounds about right to me for seeing the weightloss/weardown in a doe with multiples. Just from what I've learned about our boer/percentages.
i'm sure the others can recommend a supplement. Weaning is stressing on a doe, but sounds like you may have to wean them as soon as they are old enough - eating grain/hay/water on a regular basis and not being totally dependant on milk.


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## waymire01 (Aug 27, 2012)

I hope weaning is not the only option. With our set up it would be really difficult to isolate them from her. Our entire property is fenced and gated, and the goats have free run everywhere. I do have some stalls and electric fences for the horses, but the goats can go right through them. They also have an old tractor trailer that used to be hay storage.. Sophie claimed it as a nursery when the babies were born, and still sleeps there at night, but it gets really hot in there during the daytime even with the doors open (we are in S. Louisiana and it averages 90% and 80% humidity this time of year). I could supplement them with milk, I suppose.. during feeding time, but they usually eat grain then and I want to encourage that as well.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

With your doe being a half dairy breed...she really should be getting grained twice a day and you can add 1-1 1/2 cups dry shredded beet pulp to her ration. Alfalfa hay added to the diet. or even the cubes...broken into smaller pieces would help.

Has she been wormed?
If so, with what and was the doseage given correct for her weight?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would have a fecal done. Ivomec doesn't take care of all worms. Then you can worm with the appropriate wormer. Also make sure you are giving the correct dosage.

I would be feeding her twice a day with grain. If you can get a good 16% goat feed, that may be better for her.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

quick question liz - my bag of beet pulp says do not feed dry. but my girls wont eat it wet. is it ok to feed dry?


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

i actually bought it after you said it helped get weight on your lactating doe


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I've not had any issues with feeding it dry, been doing it that way now for months...I mix it into their grain ration. I have fed it warm and wet but mine aren't fond of it that way at all.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

mine hate wet feed hence why they wont eat it. My beet pulp comes in flakes about 1.5cm in diameter - is that what yours looks like? Just want to make sure the products here and there are not vastly different, since when you google about feeding it dry you find all sorts of horror stories about it killing horses


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## waymire01 (Aug 27, 2012)

I tried to post earlier but the site was not cooperating. The rumors about beet pulp killing horses are not true. People just like to spread horror stories online. There are many vet reports out there refuting it. I have six personal horses and did equine rescue for over 10 years.. we have always fed it dry without a single problem. You do have to watch out for hidden molasses.. many brands include it and are not always labelled clearly. Some horse do have a problem with the pellets vs the shreds, but mostly because the pellets are very hard and difficult to chew. Any horse can choke on it's food if it eats too fast, and since most of them are kept unnaturally in stalls and denied food for hours at a time it is a common problem. Feeding at ground level in a large feeder (we use 50 gallon water troughs), and providing hay 24/7 in slow feed nets will solve the problem... or of course keeping them in a more natural environment.

I have a difficult time finding it in my area with any consistency. I will start graining her twice a day and I'm adding some mixed whole grain as well as some beet pulp with her usual feed, gradually of course. Hopefully that will help. She cleaned up the whole bowl tonight (with help from the little ones) so apparently she approves.. there is usually some feed left over. I also put two bowls out because I noticed she would back off and let the babies eat.. now they can all eat at the same time. I will try adding some alfalfa pellets as well, usually she does not care for them, but with the rice bran mixed in she may like it better.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I hope your able to get weight on her. I agree about checking the fecal just to be on the safe side. I'm in KY and worms have been a major issue this year. We used Cydectin to worm in July and ended up with round worms which Cydectin doesn't treat! So we got Equimax and wormed with that.

My goats for the most part won't touch wet beet pulp. But they will eat it mixed in with their feed. At first the young ones wouldn't but the last attempt they were all eating it up. I plan to add it into feed again, just haven't had the extra $$ to pick up another bag as it seems to have gone up in our area by a few dollars.
I think it's around $20 a bag at the feed store we get our goat feed from, bot the local feed store might have it a little cheaper.


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