I have a wonderful 9 year old doe that is very large with big flat bones who is a heavy producer of milk. She has been fresh about 8 weeks and has not stopped the groaning that they often do during the late part of gestation. I read long ago that this is a sign of a calcium deficiency. Does any one have experience with this. Has anyone used any kind of supplementation for this? She has access to all the typical good stuff. thanks Lee
Sorry Lee never heard the calcium related groaning thing. My girls always stop singing after they kid. Vicki
Lack of sunshine (Vit D) causes less uptake of calcium and years ago with older people it was called "stones/groans and something else" can't remember. If her intake of calcium is high enough like at least 3 lbs of alfalfa pellets per day then personally I would give her a shot of Vit A/D
Thank you for that suggestion. I have that on hand. She is out to graze daily and so no lack of sunshine and does get 3 pounds alfalfa each evening. Perhaps more. plus oats and milking ration in the morning. Thought maybe it was age related. I know I do my fair share of groaning these days!!! I will try the A/D and I am happy to say I picked up a batch of Tech Master today so I can get started on that. Lee
Not sure, but I have a doe that grunts all the time, even after she kids (just a little less). Maybe she's calcium def. too?! She's always done it though and has minerals available.
I have been free feeding ADM Dairy Goat Power mineral mix which I thought was terrific because finally something that was formulated for dairy goats....but Vicki told me about the levels of iron being too high so I ordered the Tech Master. It will be interesting to see if it makes any difference in the coats of the ones with wild hair! I gave her the A&D yesterday but I have not found any info on how often it is safe to do this...I chopped her some butternut squash for the A in that- any recommendations on how how long A and D take to clear their system and when a redose would be appropriate? Lee
UM I don't know on that because these two Vit's are not ones that flush out with the urine like Vit C does so wouldn't give in more than twice a year I don't think will do some research. how much in IU's did you give. In people A is one you don't want to overdose
OK International Dairy Goat for what it is worth says " Never give more than 2cc of vitamin A/D per month to a dairy-size goat."
Thank you Sondra! I have also added dietary A so hoping injectible won't be needed. Thanks for looking for that info! Lee
I just had to jump in here.. I was quite sure that I've heard my does "hummin" even after birthing and had ment to check it out earlier.. anyways, I just got back from cleaning the barn and they are all down there, bedded deep in straw hummin away.. the older does right along with all the soon to be FF's. I'm more inclined to think that it's a contentment thing instead of an imbalance of some sort. Happy Goats Hum! (my new slogan..
Well that makes me feel better- she is pretty calm and contented most of the time but no one else does it unless they are expecting! I will quit worrying about it. I thought it might be an aging thing. Thanks for the positive take on that! Lee
