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Barnyard Buddies:  What do you feed your goat?  |
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farmeratlast
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Jana
OR
USA
35 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 10:46:38 AM
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I just purchased a purebred nubian who is currently being bred. She will come along with a whether in about three weeks. The woman who has been helping me feeds her animals alfalfa and rolled oats that she gets each two weeks so they are fresh. She thought with pasture I would need about 1T. I think it is $240 a ton out this way. I have 3 acres or so of pasture that would be for them. I have never had goats so I want to do the right thing by them but it seems to me that there is plenty of pasture for them especially if I am giving them oats as well.
Any advice or thoughts would be welcome.
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 12:36:47 PM
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Well you certaintly aren't going to feed a couple of goats a ton of hay. I feed some alfalfa to mine because they are penned up most of the time. I give them Purina Goat Chow too. They seem to thrive on that. Buy a few bales of the hay . The goaties get free run of the place for a limited time everyday ans since they are browsers I cut alder, willow and apple tree branches for them. the gobble the leaves right up. MB
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"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 12:38:30 PM
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Jana, I only feed my does grain when they are in milk. Then they only get it when they are being milked. They also get a little hay. When they are not in milk they only get hay and what they eat in the pasture. Then a few weeks before they freshen I start feeding them a little all-grain again. I can't find alfalfa around here so they just get regular hay and do fine with that.
Will you be milking her when she kids? I have found that if I give them anything else besides 16% all grain they don't give as much milk. I have experimented with other grains and feed but just do all-grain with a little alfalfa pellets mixed in. Oh, and right before they kid I start giving them black oil sunflower seeds for the selinium, too. Plus a loose mineral mix free choice and a salt block. Plenty of baking soda, too.
Hope this helps.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 12:54:02 PM
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Just becareful with the Selenium additives-Some salt licks have selenium added and a lot of grain does as well. If you live in an area with naturally high selenium you can give your animals selenium poisoning which can be fatal, however some areas are really poor in selenium and that can affect their fertility.
The goats I have always been around have been penned so they needed hay 3x a day. However, 3 acres sounds like a lot for two little goats. Is the grass really high in the pasture? Also consider that since it is coming on winter time the pasture is probably in declining condition as far as food grade grazing is concerned. I would let them graze with just one time a day added hay for now. If they leave the hay and are content to graze, let them mow the pasture down a bit. But I am sure that by december you will need to be feeding 3x a day hay because the grass won't be growing enough to keep up with them. Once spring comes and the grass is growing- if it is good pasture I would think you would be able to cut back on the hay or just let them be pasture-fed.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 5:05:06 PM
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My goats get free choice of hay at all times and I give my 1 quart of grain 2xs a day.
Maggie |
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kmbrown
True Blue Farmgirl
459 Posts
Misty
Waynesboro
Pennsylvania
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 5:40:02 PM
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Wow Maggie your goats are really spoiled.
I do about what Kris does. During breeding, pregnancy and lactation our goats get 1-2 cups of grain a day. Other than that....just a 1/4 cup per goat a day for a treat and free choice hay. All of our goats have lots of grazing and I do give them some corn or carrots once in a great while if they are not pregnant or in milk.
They LOVE their salt and mineral blocks as well!!! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 6:05:55 PM
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Alee, we are really selinium deficient here. And magnesium, too. So I have to load my goats and cows up on both those. I had a steer that got really sick from magnesium deficiency plus some kind of mold that grew on some of the grasses in the pasture. He almost died. He did end up dying from other problems beyond my control.
So I guess ya'll need to do soil samples to see what's lacking in your areas.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 6:50:24 PM
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Yes Misty they are very spoild. But that is what I read in the books and what the owner told me to do when I got them and she's been raising them for over 20 years. :)
Maggie |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 6:51:20 PM
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Another problem with feeding so much, is you end up with fat does, who will have a harder time concieving. Excess fat on any livestock is bad, so watch their intake. Also what grasses do you have in your pasture, and with only two goats you could cross fence and rotate.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 6:55:58 PM
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So Maybe I should not feed them grain?
Maggie |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 10:20:58 PM
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When I had milk goats (before I got Mona the cow) I fed them basically the same as Mona..but much less. I buy local alfalfa/grass hay..since I don't have pasture they get free choice hay...with Mona and two small sheep and one angora goat(also small) I use about a 65 lb. bale per day..alot less with goats of course...a couple nice sized flakes in the morning and again in the evening. For two goats I would use 3 nice big flakes. As far as grain..mine got about a quart of rolled corn/barley with mollasses and 1/2 cup calf manna at each milking. I didn't give grain otherwise, except as rare treats..and then just a small handful. If I don't feel like my hay is very good I supplement with alfalfa pellets..and that happens alot in early spring, or if I am milking over the winter. I have added things like sunflower seeds at times, but my usual dairy ration for milking is the corn/barley with mollasses and calf manna with alfalfa pellets, when being milked. I guess it would depend on your goat's condition and what they are used to getting too. Be sure to ask alot of specific questions.
I don't know how you buy hay there, and I bought my hay every couple weeks when I lived in Calif, but here you have to buy your hay from the farmer when it is cut. I go through roughly a ton a month (a little less) so I buy at least 8 tons at the end of summer and then I am totally ready to buy more at first cutting in June. I buy more at each cutting, making sure I am well stocked for winter.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
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homsteddinmom
True Blue Farmgirl
441 Posts
Brandee
bullard
tx
USA
441 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2009 : 03:37:48 AM
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My goats always have free choice of hay, get sweet feed 1x per day plus forage in there 2 acre fenced in area. I got them to clean up alot of overgrowth and like them so much i kept them when they cleaned it up...lol
Homesteading Mom in East Texas. Raising chickens, Rabbits and goats here on my farm! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2009 : 06:51:59 AM
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Maggie, I just milked the goats and measured the feed. It is a little over a quart that they get but only when they are being milked. I am down to once a day milking now and only 3 of them. I dried Abby up because she was only giving about a pint. I may be drying Sandy up soon because she's way down. So they will not get any grain then. Maybe a handful between them.
I do not give my bucks any grain at all. These bucks have never had any. I just decided not to this year and they are nice and healthy without it. They have plenty of pasture and I throw them leaves every day. And of course a hay rack full of hay. You know to NOT give a buck corn, don't you? That can kill a buck and wether. They get some kind of urinary infection and it's not good.
Anyway, you might want to back off with the feed right now especially before breeding. Like Teresa said it's harder for a fat doe or even buck to breed. Maybe just a quart once a day would be enough right now. Then if you plan on milking them it's a whole different story. The more feed they get the more milk they produce. And when they are nursing kids they need more, too. But a non producing goat should not get that much grain. Just browse and hay. Hope this helps.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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farmeratlast
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Jana
OR
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2009 : 07:00:07 AM
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Thanks for all the great information and advice. We just did a soil test recently on a different pasture that has been used for hay in the past so suppose it won't tell me anything about the pasture I am using. I will check locally to see about selenium in this area. I guess I could do an orchard grass and alfalfa mix but the $ is only $5 a ton.
Jenny how many animals and what kind are you feeding a ton a month? Here it is 240 a ton (well at the one place I have talked to).
I don't want to be paying a ton for feed. I have 77 acres. It just is not all fenced for goats. We are just finishing up fence adjustments now in anticipation of the goats. I plan to leash them around blackberry brambles after they get to know their new home. I just don't have many of those in the pasture we chose for them.
Thanks again for all the responses. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2009 : 9:52:41 PM
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I am feeding a Jersey milk cow, 2 small icelandic ewes, and an angora goat. The local grass/alfalfa hay I bought here was only $85 a ton this year. Thank goodness!!! Wow..at $240 a ton I think I would have to get rid of my sheep or something. Not the cow. Not ever.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 19 2009 : 07:12:28 AM
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I have no idea what a ton of hay is here. But I pay $2.50 a bale out of the field and I get about 150 bales a year. This year I will only have 1 cow and 4 does and 5 bucks. But the bucks will be gone soon. I got 120 bales and have already used 38 bales. That is roughly 3 long bed truck loads of hay.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Oct 19 2009 : 9:10:58 PM
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We paid $315.00 for out 70 bales of hay.
Kristin, yes I do know never to feed a buck corn.
Maggie |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2009 : 05:50:04 AM
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Wow! that's alot. For my 120 bales here was just $300. I had a feeling you would know that about the corn, Maggie! Do you get the Dairy Goat Journal magazine? They had a really good article a few months back about a young boy who started a small dairy and is now planning on a bigger one. He's doing really well at this and wants to keep going with it. He's paying for his college doing this. Or a lot of it.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2009 : 08:17:09 AM
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Our bales here are 60 to 65 lbs each too. In calif I bought bales that were more like 90 lb. I think we get 32 to the ton.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2009 : 10:14:05 AM
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yes we did pay a lot and I'm finding out every time I go and get hay out of our loft that there are some moldy bales. :(
Maggie
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wooliespinner
True Blue Farmgirl
1311 Posts
Linda
Manchester
Ohio
1311 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2009 : 10:43:19 AM
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I raise Nubian goats and even when they are dry they get anywhere from 1/3 to 1lb of grain a day depending on their condition. I have had trouble with Ketosis in years past and the vet always had me increase their grain intake 6 to 8 weeks before they freshened.
I feed a ration made of 300 lbs rolled corn, 350 lbs of oats, 100 lbs of rolled barley, distillers grain,soybean meal, and a natural 38 percent dairy pellet, ADE,yeast, molasas. They seem to like it pretty well. They also have 8 acres fenced in for the girls and they get free choice hay in the winter. During the spring and summer only in the morning or when its raining. I have free choice minerals, soda and kelp.
I have found that some breeds seem to need more grain and others seem to get by on less. But just by looking at their condition you will know whether to increase or not.
Hay this year is plentiful in Ohio thanks to good rainfall. Several years ago we had a drought and bales of hay were 8 to 12 dollars. It was horrible and thats the year I had to sell my cows because I could not afford $90 dollars a round bail when they usually went for 20. The other problem was finding them to buy. I miss my cows so much.I kept 2 very old ones and was able to feed them and they passed away 1 1/2 years later. They were sweet Herfords.
Good luck with your Nubie's.I really love my girls.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2009 : 12:15:07 PM
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Don't feed moldy hay to goats! Most won't eat it but if they do it will make them sick and possibly kill them. I know it will horses, too. So be careful. It sure is upsetting when you pay good money for hay and it goes bad. I lost a whole barnful the first year I put hay in my goat barn. The roof leaked and I didn't know it. And we had a riany winter. And the next year we just left hay on our 2 trailors and covered them with tarps. Not a good idea. They got holes and we lost most of those bales, too. So now the people I get hay from have extra space in their barn and I keep it there. I go get a truckload when I need it and put it out back in a small shed.
I just drove by several people baling hay today. So I hope there will be plenty if I run out close to spring.
Linda, do you have a web site? I love seeing other people's goats.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2009 : 1:20:44 PM
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I never feed moldy hay to my goats. Thats really sad that you lost all your hay Kristin! Thank you for the reminder. :)
Maggie |
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wooliespinner
True Blue Farmgirl
1311 Posts
Linda
Manchester
Ohio
1311 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2009 : 4:23:51 PM
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Kristin,
that is terrible about losing all that hay. I too have a fella that keeps my hay and I pick about 50 bales of hay up at a time and store it in the little space I have. I too lost hay under tarps. I litterally cried because we had payed $3.50 a bail and lost over 75 bales. Hard lesson learned.
I started trying to build a website years ago and never finished it. I had several surgeries and never got back into it. I also need to get a new camera so I can post more recent pictures. I still pay for the website but its kinda korny and outdated. But if you are intersted its www.raspberryrunfarm.com. I am embarassed to say its been over 2 years since I have messed with it. I am not very computer savy and our internet is so slow I lose patience.
This x-mas my mother is getting my husband and I a digital camera. I will take some new pictures and hopefully update and figure out how to finish the website. Take care.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
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aunt boby
True Blue Farmgirl
173 Posts
toby
polo
illinois
USA
173 Posts |
Posted - Oct 23 2009 : 07:41:24 AM
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We have our goats on pasture all summer long but now that it is colder they will only get hay. We are fortunate enough to make our own hay. We give grain to kids we are trying to fatten up to go to market and to our two dairy goats. We mix our own grain in an old cement mixer. We put in ground corn which we grind ourselves at a friends place and we throw in oats and pellets. This is considerably cheaper than the pre-mixed feed. They get free mineral. They also get plenty of treats from the two legged kids. I think everyone does things a little different. Just need to figure out what works for you.
POOR IS THE MAN WHO CANNOT ENJOY THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE- anonymous |
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Barnyard Buddies: What do you feed your goat? |
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What do you feed your goat?
