Milk production question

They certainly don't look like they're starving!
Minerals are an issue for me. Specifically copper. I have to really watch my does for signs of deficiency, or the milk quality goes down. I imagine the quantity would also drop if I wasn't proactive. Just something to consider! Giving her a break and letting her start over might be good. I'm doing that with a doe right now, drying her off early, as I feel she needs a break.
If you're interested, this is a really good article about boosting a doe's udder capacity and production while dam raising kids. I have followed a lot of the pointers, and been pretty happy with the results. http://glimmercroft.com/Udder.html

 

Never had one self nurse (yet) but I have used band-aids to keep a kid from nursing. One curving under the teat, with the padded part against the teat orifice, and another horizontally wrapped around the teat to help hold the other band aid on. Does that make sense? It didn't leave a residue or irritate her skin.

 

You do realize that prevenative worming is not a good thing right? You worm only when needed per the fecal. And choose the appropriate wormer for the worms that need treated for.

Taping teats.... a bandaid from top to bottom making the pad be on the orifice tip. then i use cloth med tape around the bandaid. I use cloth bandaids because they are a bit less sticky. One or two pieces around should be fine. Youtube has a few good teat taping videos. If she is taped she should not be able to get the tape off so easily. You tape for a while then try to leave it off and see if the habit is broken. If you start losing milk again repeat for longer. Just continue until she has stopped. I jave heard that a self nurser is a hard hard thing to break them of though. So do not be suprised if it take a good while.

 

^^What she said!!^^

Please do not rotate dewormers! That is a sure fire way to create resistance. It used to be thought that this would work to stop resistance, but it actually causes the worms to build resistance faster by introducing the worms to all dewormers.

Pick a dewormer that works and stick to it until it doesn't.

 

My Mini Nubian is about 95 pounds and 28 inches at the withers. I read a full size Nubian weighs a minimum of 120 pounds. I wonder if you really have Minis? How tall are your does?

 

I don't know what to tell you. I've heard of people not having any dewormers work in their areas anymore because of the old technique of rotating wormers. I was told this by my vet, so I just thought I'd warn you.

 

This is interesting.. Way too much conflicting information out here, some say it's good, some say it's bad.. Someone needs to write some research or something and give a definitive answer!

 

Here's an interesting article if anyone's interested: https://www.successful-horse-training-and-care.com/deworming.html

 

Might surprise you! Sometimes they weight more than they look like they do!

 

Feel along the spine and ribs. If those are bony, then she is thin- belly size and winter haircoat can really screw up what we think they weigh and their body condition.

 

Heart Girth measurements for an approximate weight estimate in addition to the body score?

 

I use this method to calculate weights for my goats

1. With a cloth measuring tape, measure in inches around the goat’s heart girth and the distance from the point of the shoulder to the pinbone. Use the following formula to estimate the weight in pounds:

heart girth (inches) X heart girth (inches) X shoulder to pin distance (inches)
Divided by
300
Not as precise as a scale, but I think a bit more precise than just measuring heart girth.