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?
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?