thin nursing doe

[rmgeary]

I have a doe nursing a litter of 10. This is her 1st litter & they look very healthy, with large frog bellies (almost 5 days old). She was in good body condition, but has very quickly become thin after kitting. Feed is free choice 17% protien pellets, hay, 1 tbs calf mana, & just started 1 tbs boss. Is there anything else I can do to put weight on her?

Thanks,
Rachel

 

[dayna]

You are doing exactly what I did and my girl didn't gain back any weight until I early weaned the kits. She was sooo skinny! I weaned my kits very early at 4 weeks, but I felt I had to because they were taking so much from her. Mine had a large litter too.

 

[rawfeeder]

You could try adding oats or increasing the amount of calf mana??! Limited her cage/exercise space if she has a huge pen and limit any time on pasture? Maybe breed several does at the same time and foster some of her litter over onto other better mothers?

My doe always gets skinny around kindling because she stops eating 2-4 days before hand. But she gains it all back within a week or so of the birth. The fact your doe isn't holding condition (despite being fed a good quality diet) isn't a good trait for a doe intended for production. Depending on the doe's other qualities and value to your program... I would consider replacing/culling her, or breeding away from the issue quickly through her offspring and careful pairing.

 

[Dood]

The next time you breed her, breed a back up doe who typically has smaller litters that you can foster some of hers to or cull the litter to a more managable size to prevent this from happening again and possible complications with eclampsia in the future.

And I agree with Rawfeeder that I would also not keep any of her offspring for breeding stock and think about culling her.

 

[rmgeary]

I will add some oats as well....how much can I up the calf mana? I did bread my other doe at the same time, but she had a litter of 13. The thin doe stopped eating a few days before she gave birth. The thin does babies are much fatter than the other does babies. It's only day 5, hopefully I can put some weight on her.