Hi, I have a question that may seem out of date here, but I thought I would ask anyways. Our pygmy goat kidded last year and she had 4 kids. All born healthy and are still with us. After she kidded she continued to look like she was expecting 4 more kids...meaning she was extremely FAT... A year later, she looks exactly the same..FAT. Everyone asks me if she is expecting babies. This goat gets hay like everyone else free choice, and gets grained once a day with approximately 1 cup of grain. In the summer she gets access to brush. All of my goats (mostly wethers) are fat, but she looks awful. Why didnt' she loose the pregnant look and how on earth can we slim her down?? She gets wormed on a regular basis. The babies did stay with her to nurse. Any ideas?? Thanks.

-- Julie (dabanks@harbornet.net), March 14, 2002

Answers

Julie, fat as in she has a huge belly, or fat as in she has a roll of fat you can grab over her ribs? Because it is two different things. Carrying very heavy with kids, does can displace one of their stomachs their obamossum, but, it is usually more pronounced on one side than the other. A rumen full of hay is huge when you buther a goat, like 5 gallon bucket size! So always feel over their ribs and at their tail head (where the tail meets the butt) now if their are rolls of fat, and a very fat tail head then you should cut out her grain. Most full grown pets only need grain when they are nursing babies. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 14, 2002.

Do you mean that she is fat, ie you cannot feel any ribs or backbone, or does she have a potbelly? Pygmies typically have that pot bellied look, and my guess is that a doe would have it more than a wether, because she needs the body capacity, and especially after quads! What a doe!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 14, 2002.

Thanks for answering. What I mean by fat, is she looks totally pregnant. She never lost the pregnant look. Her 4 yearlings are chunky too, but they don't look pregnant like she does. She is really solid feeling. Is it normal to retain such a figure after birth? I thought it was strange after she kidded she still looked the same, but a year later?? Yes, they are a little spoiled, and I would hate to stop giving them grain (I am sure the neighbors wouldn't appreciate all the hollering they would do...it gets pretty bad when we try to sleep in!! :) Pygmies are not the only goats we have, we also have nubians, saanens, alpines and dwarfs too..they all are chunky. Would the little bit of grain they get every day really cause them to be so fat (about a cup)? I know goats are infamous for eating steady, we thought about moving their hay feeder to a farther area of the goat yard just to make them "work for their supper", so they would get more exercise. Would something like that help? How else does one go about making their goats thinner?

-- Julie (dabanks@harbornet.net), March 14, 2002.

I've had two bucks that are little porkers too. Don't get it because they are even more active than the does and don't get any grain - just good quality timothy/alfalfa hay, some bits of cracked corn and a few small sunflower seeds. Are they just like that? Maybe it's in the genes because one of the moms has a more heavy set build.

-- Lynn (moonspinner@bluefrognet.net), March 14, 2002.

Please- what do you mean by chunky? Good goats are supposed to be wide in the barrel and deep in the belly. But, their ribs should be easily felt. Good goats should look like they are always pregnant.

I went to a fair one year when my friend had her goats exhibiting. The does were laying down resting. A lady comes along with her friend, points to several does and says, 'it looks like they're pregnant.' Then, she points to Reflection, and says,'My! She looks like she's due any minute!!' Reflection wasn't pregnant at all, she just had a lot of body capacity and was a huge, lovely doe. Guess which one I bought a buck from... ;-) I get such a kick out of the people at the shows. You tell the that no, not one of these goats is pregnant- they just look at you in disbelief!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 14, 2002.