Weights

[OneFineAcre]

I raise Nigerians, but we have many goat buddies who raise all breeds.

I don't know of specific ideal weights, but based on the pictures your goats seem to be in good condition.

They look very well cared for.

And your feeding schedule seems good.

 

[sawfish99]

We have 7 lamancha kids on the farm right now. I wouldn't change anything about how you are doing it. Don't worry about "ideal size". I have a set of twins that have almost a 15lb difference between them at 4.5 months old. They look fine to me.

If you are considering breeding, you will want to make sure they are close to full grown when you breed, or it will stunt their growth. I would say at least 80 lbs when you breed them.

 

[meme]

They look like they have a bigger frame than my Nubian kids, but less coverage. None of them look bad, but some more condition wouldn't hurt. I know at 13 weeks, our Nubian triplets were all just under 50 pounds. I haven't weighed the one we retained since then.

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

None of them look bad, but some more condition wouldn't hurt.

And forgive me for being totally ignorant, how would you go about changing things to improve condition?

 

[SheepGirl]

None of them look bad, but some more condition wouldn't hurt.

And forgive me for being totally ignorant, how would you go about changing things to improve condition?

Give them more/higher quality feed. Usually to increase the cover on an animal you feed grain and/or alfalfa hay. (Or more of it if it's already being fed.)

 

[meme]

None of them look bad, but some more condition wouldn't hurt.

And forgive me for being totally ignorant, how would you go about changing things to improve condition?

Give them more/higher quality feed. Usually to increase the cover on an animal you feed grain and/or alfalfa hay. (Or more of it if it's already being fed.)

Yup! High quality feed and lots of it.

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

And forgive me for being totally ignorant, how would you go about changing things to improve condition?

Give them more/higher quality feed. Usually to increase the cover on an animal you feed grain and/or alfalfa hay. (Or more of it if it's already being fed.)

Yup! High quality feed and lots of it.

So a pound a day of Blue Seal Caprine Challenger is not considered this? Can someone throw out some quantity and brand names?

 

[OneFineAcre]

I would read the reply that ragdollcatlady posted on 7/24 at 7:16 pm again before I was to feed them a lot more grain.

She is correct, goats can founder from too much grain.

I've seen a post on here where someone asked what was wrong with her goats feet, and she appeared foundered.

Before I radically changed their feed I would learn more about how to measure their body condition on the 5 point scale.

You can google and find more information, or search on this site.

Like ragdollcatlady without putting my hands on the goats they do not appear to be "underconditoned".

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

I would read the reply that ragdollcatlady posted on 7/24 at 7:16 pm again before I was to feed them a lot more grain.

She is correct, goats can founder from too much grain.

I've seen a post on here where someone asked what was wrong with her goats feet, and she appeared foundered.

Before I radically changed their feed I would learn more about how to measure their body condition on the 5 point scale.

You can google and find more information, or search on this site.

Like ragdollcatlady without putting my hands on the goats they do not appear to be "underconditoned".

For those of you looking for the body condition score:
http://www.ans.iastate.edu/faculty/morrical/acc/GoatResearch.pdf

I need to go out and feel their sternums, but I think they're somewhere between 2 and 3 which is the low end of healthy.

Thank you.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I would read the reply that ragdollcatlady posted on 7/24 at 7:16 pm again before I was to feed them a lot more grain.

She is correct, goats can founder from too much grain.

I've seen a post on here where someone asked what was wrong with her goats feet, and she appeared foundered.

Before I radically changed their feed I would learn more about how to measure their body condition on the 5 point scale.

You can google and find more information, or search on this site.

Like ragdollcatlady without putting my hands on the goats they do not appear to be "underconditoned".

For those of you looking for the body condition score:
http://www.ans.iastate.edu/faculty/morrical/acc/GoatResearch.pdf

I need to go out and feel their sternums, but I think they're somewhere between 2 and 3 which is the low end of healthy.

Thank you.