is there any hope to get her back up?? Cinnamon is a 2yo 2F LM/Nubian X. She is my TOP milker and has been maintaining WELL until a few days ago... she started to DROP. She is acting and eating normally. This AM she just barely covered the bottom of the pail. She is bred and her due date is Jan 14th. I was counting on her milk! She started dropping Sat....
How much had she been giving before dropping and how many days has she been dropping? Mine have been very very slowly dropping, not suddenly and I am notoriously non-regimented with my schedule and they still are pretty level with their production, even with very little feed.
Usually a severe drop in milk supply is a signal of water problems, go clean out the waterers. A doe doesn't deplete like this and not balk at getting up on the milkstand, trembly etc...if it was milk fever. Due date is correct and not Dec? Temp is normal, no diarrhea? Cudding normally with a normal appetite? Vicki
I also make sure they have fresh fresh minerals as that makes them suck the always fresh water down. I have 2 water troughs in the pen. I had time to only bleach one out of algae and now they won't drink out of the 'dirty" one even though it is not that dirty...they are that picky.
plenty of fresh water waterer scrubbed 3x week no diarrhea no trembling up on milk stand fine no kicking or acting out was at the fence yesterday getting lovies from 2 visitors and me chows down on her grain on the milk stand runs to her feeder for fresh alfalfa we don't bleach waterers... we use vinegar and a *dedicated* toilet brush she is in a pen with 11 other does, 9 other milkers, no one else has dropped like this.... she *could* be due 18 days earlier... as that is when she was put in with buck... due date is based on messy tail dated on calendar... she looks VERY pregnant.... she is always wider though than most goats.... but my dh started calling her "Cinnamon Side Car" again this weekend.... Our temps dropped end of last week.... Will get her temp and get waters scrubbed again today *just in case*..... She is the most affectionate and human LOVING of our goats and that has not changed in the least... we DID move our milk rm on Sunday and everyone incl her balked at walking to the new spot that night... and Cinn hollared her head off Sun night when my dd left her on the stand to get the second goat... (we put up 2 at a time).... no trouble since then... and she stopped hollaring & started eating as soon as my dd got back.
OK, than it's your water is too clean I think the algea that clings around the side of the water troughs is a really good form of trace minerals like my own strain of mini kelp. Vicki
I hope she is NOT teasing you because I don't kill out my algae until I smell something off then i bleach it out and start over. if I can smell something, they can smell something. We have well water that is sometimes tainted.
I was teasing but I certianly don't clean my buckets that often, they are 25 gallon buckets on automatic fills and I don't like wasteing that kind of water being on a well. Vicki
One of mine is a big plastic trash can and I can't waste water either. As long as they are taking big deep drinks, I don't worry. It is right out my window and I watch them.
I'm with you Lynn. We have automatic heated waterers inside the barns that we scrub and clean out a couple times a week with a shop vac. Buckets are dumped and refilled twice a day and scubbed out as needed. I guess I figure if I wouldn't drink out of the buckets then why would I expect the goats to? :biggrin Okay Vicki, I know what you are thinking... don't even say it! Sara
That's my theory too...if I won't drink it, why should they? Applies to all my animals. However, I'm a bit renagade and I'll drink anything :crazy Poor animals...your should see them on hard liquor.
:biggrin Your posts always make me laugh! I have a doe who can slam a bottle of beer faster than a frat boy... no kidding! Sara
Diane!!!! LOL I have a 3ftx2ft round black waterer and we fill it 2x a day... so yep 3x a week we dump what is left & scrub...then refill... Saturdays we scrub with vinegar... no automated fills here... tried them, but did not work well for us see I hear clean clean clean and I listened... LOL
Common Sara tell the board that you pick up every berry through the bedding in your barns also! So I am actually shocked you even let the water sit for 12 hours, let alone days!!! I'm lazy what can I say Vicki