Where exactly do I measure with the tape and how accurate can i expect it to be? My boer doeling is really big. She's 9 weeks and I can't really pick her up anymore and my nubian babies are 13 weeks, I think and smaller. I know a lot of it is the breed but i want to make sure to keep track of their growing. They're( the younguns) are getting alfalfa hay and browse. They don't eat a lot fo the hay, though. They only have about an hur in the morning and an hour in the evening to eat without my bossy older girls harrassing them. On another note, we had some excitement here yesterday when I was walking the girls out in our pasture and looked over and saw a BEAR eyeing us from anout 100 yards away. Yikes! Goats saw it before i did and started running for the barn. I must confess, I ran right along with them!
:/ I think I'd add a can of pepper spray to my daily walks! Oh, I know...it's probably illegal...but I'd be inclined to add some form of high velocity protection, or at least a Depends.( :blush I don't run for anything any more.) I start out using a weigh tape and use the same tape all the way through until the girls get about 100#'s. I've found them to be within 5#'s of an actual scale. Kaye
i thought that just using it around the chest was for dairy only.. (maybe i need to go back and re-read, but I thought she said Boer and Nubian's)... i believe... and everyone feel free to correct...( on meat goats) you measure the chest and measure the length take the chest x the chest x the length and divide by 300 and just use the tape on your nubs.
When I weigh I do it right behind the front legs. It is usually pretty close to scale weight if I verify.
There is a picture of it on your weightape isn't there? Mine has this comic goat with it pulled right under her front legs and up over the top with her withers (the pointy top of her shoulders) showing not being pulled with the tape. Vicki
Oh crud. yes, I have a weight tape, but I can't find it, and I need it. meant to buy a new one when I went to the feed store today. Saw it right there behind the counter, but had to stand in line so long I FORGOT to get it. Is there somewhere online or on this forum that correlates a regular tape to a weight? I need to weigh for treatment. Oh darn. They are MUCH too heavy to weigh on a scale...unless I can find a sling to use the milk scale...and my scale only weighs up to 50 pounds I think, or maybe I can get my 21 year old son to pick them up and step up on the scale while I look at the weight..now, that just might work! Anita
http://www.saanendoah.com/weighchart.html this is the one I use and a dress makers tape from Wal-Mart. Kaye
I do the same as Kaye, only I use this chart for my Nigerians http://hometown.aol.com/goatlist/weights.htm
Thanks for those links! I've always wanted that for the many times that I can't find any of my THREE weight tapes. *blush*
