Hip Hollows - 14 Weeks

Aozora

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I'm a first time goat owner and probably paranoid about every little detail, but I wanted to ask the experts about my two girls. I have 2 Nubian doelings, 14 weeks old as I say. They're still getting one 20oz bottle a day, and they're each getting about 10oz of grain a day. They're getting too heavy to pick up, about 50 pounds each I'd think. They have free choice of alfalfa/timothy/orchardgrass hay, as much as they can eat.

Recently, they've started to develop a hollow right in front of their hip. They've always been butterballs, so I'm kinda concerned. Their eyelid colors are normal, not pale like they would be if there was a parasite load. They love their grain and milk, and it seems to vary with the hay. Some days, I can't keep enough hay for them. Others, they barely touch it.

I have about an acre of forest/scrubland fenced with combined woven wire and electric for them, but I've been having problems getting the electric wires to function properly so I haven't let them out there much at all yet. I don't want them to learn they can challenge the fence before we get the electric working properly, because I've already seen they're smart little monsters and extremely stubborn.

What could be causing them to develop hollows by their hips? They've got good rumens. Will the problem fix itself when they have free range of the forest, do you think? Is it possibly due to the heat? I know my rabbits don't eat as much when it's this hot. Or is it due to not getting a much of the fatty calorie-heavy milk? Is it normal for kids approaching weaning to lose a little weight before learning to eat like adults?
 

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Can you post some pictures?
You may not have anything going on, you may be having some cocci issues. Cocci is different then parasitic worms. Your does may be growing into their bodies and elongating.
 

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x2

You can get a fecal run to be sure they don't worms or cocci. Are they skinny or losing weight? How do their back, ribs, and brisket, feel? Sometimes a goat will look terribly thin to a newbie, but the reality is that the doe has a mostly empty rumin.

Do they eat all their pellets right away? For larger breeds, I prefer to raise kids on free choice feed. Never free-feed a goat that isn't used to it.
 

Aozora

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Try #2... It ate my post first time after all the trouble I went through.

They eat their pellets immediately. They love the pellets to the point where they will leave the bottles as soon as they sense the milk getting low so they can rush over to get pellets.

I don't think they're losing weight--I can't pick them up anymore, and that's very recent. I can feel their spine and ribs, but I'm trying to get some pictures to work and you can't see them in the pictures--just their hips/hollows in front of their hips. Their coats are glossy and soft, they're very active, and their stool is standard pellets.
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Southern by choice

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A straight on from the side shot would be better... iow kneel down and get pic straight on.

Hard to tell from the pics.

I will say even though their poo may be pellets you cannot tell if they have cocci OR parasites from that. Many a goat have cocci that kills them and never had diarrhea. Cocci can sometimes constipate.

The black doe... it looks like she has a little nasty on her tail... is that mud or feces?

Many goats go crazy for feed but if they have internal parasites or cocci then they are being robbed of nutrition and will eat and eat.
10 oz is that by weight or volume? It seems a little "light" IMO for growing standard Nubians.

Their weights seem good... it would be good to run a fecal and if they are not on a cocci prevention program they should be.

Some goats do lose a bit- it really depends on your feeding program.
For our bottle babies we start putting Chaffhaye and pellet feed in a trough and hay in the feeder at 3 weeks.... they nibble and don't eat much but as time goes on they transition easier. We leave ours down free choice (so much for the day with pellets) .. because they are raised this way they don't go crazy for the pellets. Of course over time that changes as our Nigerians are pigs and our Standards and minis are slower eaters.
 

Aozora

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Here are some side-on pics. The black doe looks skinnier than she is, since she has brown on her belly which matches the brown of the wood. Look at the vertical slats to see her actual belly line. She's always been smaller than the roan doe, even though they're twins. It's not actually poo/mud at the base of her tail--that's another random brown spot (you can see it again in this picture).

Should I dose them again for coccidia just to be safe?
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Aozora

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Oh, also: It's 10oz by weight. How much should they be getting? The feed bag recommends 8oz, but I also mix in alfalfa pellets so they're really only getting about 6oz of the grain and the remainder alfalfa pellets.
 

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Basically, IMHO, you start with the recommendation on the feed bag, then adjust as you need for your animals. Some process food faster (higher metabolism) than others. some animals get fat on poor hay, while others seem to be starving on good hay, browse, grain, and treats. Watch for them to start filling out and when they get to where they should be, start cutting back till they are maintaining. Then go from there, adjusting on the fly over time. I'd probably start them out at 2 cups, twice a day.
 
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