This is my first time milking my two and a half yo.ff nubens.They both seem to be loosing weight.I feed them two flakes of good quality alfalfa a day to share and three cops of four way grain each.I also give each of them half a pound of chaffhay a day. they are on a weekly herbal wormer.Should I be feeding more? If so more of what?We don't realy have any place for them to browse. I am milking once a day and getting just under a quart each. Is that an ok amount? Thanks!!
Sounds a little low for milk production but if they arent from strong milking lines or at peak productio that could explain the low output. as to their condition -- I cant say if they are to skinny or not without a picture but do remember that does in milk are putting the energy into milking and not into their own body
For Nubians I would think that they are getting enough, do you have a good quality mineral available for them too? As far as the amount of milk you are getting, a quart does not sound like much from even a FF Nubi.....how long have they been in milk? For grain, I go by "a pound for the doe and a pound for each pound of milk she produces" if you go by this, your does would be getting 3 pounds of grain as that is 1 for her and 2 for the 2lbs of milk. You may need to have a fecal run to see if the herbal is working, if not then your vet can tell you which chemical wormer would be best for your area.
Liz I never go by that -- not saying your method is wrong but I have a feed label here and it says: feed 1lb of feed for every 2-3lbs of milk depending on forage quality. - just seems a bit more to what I do
For standard size dairy goats, I give them 1 lb of grain for every 3 lbs of milk they produce, plus an extra pound if they seem to need the extra for condition.
Thanks for the input! I have a meneral block in with them, but I'm looking into loose.They don't have great bloodlines. They were sort of an experiment, I wasn't sure I would be able to" handle"milking. HeHe.Now that I know I like it, I will be,How do you put it???Breeding up?They are about 6 weeks fresh and both feeding a little one.I keep them in a different pen during the day, then milk them in the evening.The babies stay with them all night.So the quart is in addition to feeding the babies. Also one of the does has dry, cracked, teats.What can I use on them?
rather then going by lbs of milk i look at the goats ondition, and give as much grain as she needs to keep in condition (within reason) I rely more on hay then grain for food. beth
For her dry teats you can use the original Bag Balm, in the green can, it's all I have ever used and it won't hurt the kids. I should "refresh" my feeding method: With my girls, it is a trial and error type thing as far as the amount of grain goes. With Binky,she tends to look bony about 7 weeks fresh and gives at that time 7 3/4 cups = almost 4lbs of milk so she gets 2 cups 18% grain plus 1 cup alfalfa pellets 2x a day.......I don't always have access to "top of the line hay" and my goats eat whatever browse is available in late Spring. This tends to work for me and my girls, now if I think that an increase in grain will increase production I go up by 1 cup split between 2 milkings a day for a week, if there is no increase in milk then I cut it down. If milk production goes down and my girls look and feel in good condition, I decrease the grain too. For my girl that is still in milk since Feb.08, she gives me a pint every day and gets 2 cups of grain plus 1 cup alfala pellets and looks good too :wink:
Feed about 3# of GOOD grain a day(split in half so you can feed at each milkin) and free choice alfalfa. And definately go with loose minerals. If the trim dosent get better give more grain. I use Purina Dairy Parlor for the grain.
