# Goat with no teeth left, help on what to feed please



## elaine (Feb 20, 2010)

My goat Barney who is now at least 16 has been struggling with his weight for some time, he has ad lib haylage and chaff, is fed with a horse youngstock pellet which i have just changed to a mix as he can eat it easier and has an acre paddock with shelter. He has also been rugged over winter and is regularly wormed.

Anyhow yesterday i decided to look in his mouth as hadnt given his teeth a thought to be honest as the cause of his weight loss as he was appearing to eat ok until the last week or so, i was shocked to see at the front he has no teeth at all just tiny stumps! Havent investigated up at the back yet.

Has anyone any suggestions to help put weight on him, he is quite fussy, i was thinking of soaking his bucket feed but not sure if he would approve, also have the problem that he is kept in with another goat who has plenty weight on him so if what i give him takes him a long time to eat Timmy will try to eat it.

I saw something called Dyne but i am in the UK and cant find a stockist over here. Will he be managing to eat grass with no front teeth?

Any help much appreciated, thanks in advance.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

No he's not going to be able to graze enough to keep weight on. Does he still have back teeth? As long as he can pickup pellets and eat them, you can give a half and half mix of alfalfa pellets and pelleted horse food for senior horses to keep his weight up.


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## Jodi_berg (Oct 29, 2012)

Also at 16 I wouldn't worry about uc, I would mix grain and hay pellets together and soften them with water they will turn into a mush and I would feed him a free choice serving twice a day, I would use alfalfa and maybe timothy if you were concerned with lowering the calcium but at this point the straight up alfalfa pellets with some grain would help with the weight or at least give him a full tummy, if he won't eat it try drizzling some sesame oil or sprinkle some seeds on top,my wether is a sucker for sesame! And god bless you for loving that sweet goat and taking such good care of him!


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## elaine (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks both for the advice.

Not had a look to see if he still has back teeth but will later.

He has no problem picking up pellets or grain and he is much keener to eat since i changed the very small pellets (spillers youngstock pellets) to a mix made for mares and foals perhaps as its more flakes with not many pellets in it so easier to chew. Could make time to feed him a few times a day with it as maybe little and often will do him more good? will also change the mollassed straw/hay chaff hes been getting to alfalfa chaff and get some hay pellets and sesame oil, thanks so much for that suggestion Jodi.

Hes my best little buddy and hate to see him looking thin although he runs round playing with Timmy as though hes a two year old so hes obviously not feeling low in himself with being thin. 

Thanks again x


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

You can add ammonium chloride to the feed if you are concerned. If he is turning his nose up at a mash, maybe you can try adding molasses to it? I know my girls always turn their nose up at new foods, but once they try it sometimes they take a liking. Often I've had to "sweeten the deal" at first.

We soak beep pulp for our horses, beep pulp is very good for helping goats gain some weight.


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## elaine (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks will try those suggestions too, he has a very sweet tooth so think what you said about molasses would definitely get him to eat anything.

Beet pulp also crossed my mind, a friend is feeding her horse that at the moment so will get a bit off her to see if he likes it and go from there.

Thanks again x


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

Would Chaffhaye work?? Its mildly fermented Alfalfa & very soft.... www.chaffhaye.com


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

Do yall do a mash? For his pellits

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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I agree with beet pulp..it can act as a helper for the lack of long stem he may not be getting enough..


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## pubgal83 (Oct 31, 2012)

I didn't read all the posts on your thread buti want to comment on the dyne. YES! I had a doe loose tons of weight a year ago from being down from a parasite and I supplemented her with dyne. My local TSC and CoOp knew nothing about high calorie supplements for livestock and my mom suggested dyne. She uses it for her dogs I gave my doe 15 cc's two times a day. I found it in the dog section in my local CoOp . Oh I wanted to ad that I think it's impossible to overdose on it. And I gave it to my doe for two or three weeks.


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## elaine (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks for the replies and suggestions, much appreciated 

Cant get hold of the Dyne in the UK unfortunately, been looking for an alternative but cant find anything, very frustrating!

Made some progress anyhow, looked up in to the back of his mouth and there are still lots of teeth there  so what i will do is get the horse dentist to look at them next time he is doing my ponies as maybe theres some loose or sharp.

Feed wise i went and got this which is ideal i think as its fed soaked and he loves it!! http://www.allenandpage.com/Products/Older-Horses-and-Conditioning/Calm-and-Condition.aspx
i also got this instead of the hay/straw chaff as will be much more fattening http://www.dengie.com/pages/products/alfa-a-and-hi-fi-ranges/alfa-a-oil.php

what i am going to do is shut him in side his shed on his own every morning for a few hours so he can munch on his alfalfa without Timmy, poor Timmy but hes plenty fat enough and doesnt need extra.

how much a day dry weight does anyone think i should give him of the soaked calm and condition? with horses they need 2% daily of their body weight in feed to maintain condition, is it similar in a goat? and more obviously or less depending if you are wanting them to gain or lose weight.

http://www.allenandpage.com/Products/Older-Horses-and-Conditioning/Calm-and-Condition.aspx


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

We give my horse mash (soaked feed) and she loves it even more than when its not soaked!! She even walkes away from her hay now!!!

Lol glad he likes it!

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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

night have you vet see if his back teeth need floating...I think it was goathiker who suggested that before on another post...
On his food..dry hay should be offered free choice and with the grain..go slow too much too fast will set off his rumen.....he may get the runs...Goathiker is wonderful with the boys...im sure she will have some advice on how much..


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

At 16...he certainly has been well cared for! I have a 13 year old doe who still has her front teeth but a couple of her back are missing so she really enjoys her soft grasses and water moistened alfalfa pellets... so far no signifcant weight loss but she has arthritic hips.
I would go for the soaked beet pulp shreds, add in his grain pellets and even some corn oil for added calories, if he can manage those pellets, a senior horse pelleted feed may just be what he needs to put some weight on.


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## elaine (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks for the replies all very helpful 

He has hay out all the time but unsure how much he has been or can eat, the net is empty everyday but theres a lot of waste too, think they just like to make their bed thicker lol.

I have been feeding him a youngstock pellet Liz similar contents to senior feed but he started struggling a little with it hence looking for something he would eat as a mash, will be trying the beet pulp too 

Our horse dentist that does the ponies i very good, i trust him more than the vet to be honest, i know he has very small rasps so was thinking they will be perfect for a little goat mouth 

Hopeful after all this Barney will still be going strong in ten years time if i can get his diet right lol, the only other goat i have had apart from Barney and Timmy made it to 16 but i lost him a couple of years ago when his backend went weak and he could no longer get to his feet himself bless him.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Don't worry too much about the Dyne. It's powdered milk and eggwhite . 
The reason I didn't suggest floating for this boy is because my boys always have to be made sleepy. In this case the drug may be too much for him. It can be a hard call sometimes. 
The beet pulp has super high calcium. Maybe add a bit of wheat bran to it so that it is more balanced?


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## elaine (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks Goathiker, difficult one as you say about floating the teeth, hes a fairly placid goat so may be would be ok with no sedation, suppose could just see what hes like and if no good just leave him.

The new feeding regime went well today so hopefully he will start putting on the pounds, i will know now to continue with the extra feeding even through summer this time as he went in to winter thin so must have been with his front teeth being non existent that caused the weight loss if the poor boy couldnt eat grass very well.

Much appreciated all your replies and help thanks all


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## wekayim94 (Jun 24, 2021)

pubgal83 said:


> I didn't read all the posts on your thread buti want to comment on the dyne. YES! I had a doe loose tons of weight a year ago from being down from a parasite and I supplemented her with dyne. My local TSC and CoOp knew nothing about high calorie supplements for livestock and my mom suggested dyne. She uses it for her dogs I gave my doe 15 cc's two times a day. I found it in the dog section in my local CoOp . Oh I wanted to ad that I think it's impossible to overdose on it. And I gave it to my doe for two or three weeks.


I've had good luck also using Dyne with goats to help with short-term high-calorie needs. Note, however, that it CANNOT be safely used in cats or kittens.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

I have a 31 yr. old horse with 4 teeth (none of them touch, either). She is eating this feed: Pro Force Senior Horse Feed | Nutrena. It's been a game changer and is the only beet pulp product she's ever eaten, I have the option to dampen it but so far she gets it down okay. She also gets water-softened alfalfa pellets with some BOSS and Calf Manna pellets. She eats 2-3 loaves of day old wheat bread from the Day-old Bread Store: I tear it into quarters and it goes into a separate bucket from her feed. She gets a pack of cinnamon sugar poptarts every day, her favorite treat. I also feed her a lot of breakfast cereal, cooked oatmeal is good but she loves dry Cheerios and Raisin Bran. I try to keep food available to her 24/7 as she gets bored eating and wanders back and forth to it. She hates Dyne. She does graze but I don't know if it does her any good. She ate lots of hay this winter past - that surprised me. I have tried Chaffhay (fermented alfalfa) but she doesn't eat a lot of it and it doesn't do well in storage in our climate. 
If you have a cheap source of bread available, try that...it is so easy for her to eat!


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