Help! More on all of that later. Ill have to check availability on Standlee; the other brand was not available locally and became too costly to have shipped by freight. Nationally its available through Tractor Supply, which has an exclusive contract for one year, but after that you should be able to buy it at any local farm supply store that carries Standlee products. What To Feed Goats: Goat Feeding Diet on a Farm, In the Wild and During Love your site. It is only bucks or DRY does that do not need the calcium in alfalfa. We feed grass hay to our goats and I was going to start giving them alfalfa pellets but I see that is not a good think unless they are in milk. Advantages of hay pellets over hay for goats If that doesnt work, Id suggest contacting Standlee through their website to see if there is another local dealer near you. I have 3 Nigerian Dwarf does , if I decided to switch to pellets and also give some hay easy day..how many bags should I expect to go through in a month? It is also very high in calcium, which is great for milk production. Being overweight is really one of the best case scenarios when over-feeding grain because too much grain can also cause enterotoxemia, thiamine deficiency, bloat, and other rumen problems that can cause death. Leaving doe kids with the main herd will result in undernourished doelings that are bred too young and too small; these animals will never reach their production potential. My doe eats way too fast and tries to have me stop milking until she gets more.. New to Goat ownership this summer- love reading all the comments! Weve fed them to sheep before. Yes, Timothy is a type of grass hay. If you don't raise alfalfa, but you want your goats to get that extra protein, then feed them alfalfa hay twice per day while they forage too. I heard a lot about alfalfa for milking does in your article, which is what my friend does for her does, and is what my doelings have been on for their whole lives. The only possible problem with too much alfalfa would be too much calcium, which causes zinc deficiency, so if she starts to blow her coat in the middle of winter or foam at the mouth, Id switch to timothy only. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/what-do-goats-eat-it-depends/ However, this can vary depending on the type of pellets you are feeding, as well as the age and size of your goats. Nitrate in drinking water should also be of concern because it is becoming the predominant water problem for livestock. Si.ce the first of the year we have gotten 9 goats 2 of which are in milk. For years, Ive also been recommending them to others who have trouble getting their goats milked before the does finish their grain and start to protest about being on the milk stand. I cant imagine that he is actually getting bloat. Under those conditions, it is advisable to provide a mineral mix that contains 5 to 10% magnesium. I asked my vet and she said they look fine, but like most vets, goats arent her specialty. Im so bummed about this. What can I do at this point to supplement the zinc? Major minerals likely to be deficient in the diet are salt (sodium chloride), calcium, phosphorous and magnesium. If you can easily see the backbone and ribs, the goats are most probably undernourished. Fiasco farms says: Does-. Goats raised for meat need high quality feed in most situations and require an optimum balance of many different nutrients to achieve maximum profit potential. My two does are in milk, plus I have a doeling and a wether, coming up on 8 months old. Because of their unique physiology, meat goats do not fatten like cattle or sheep, and rates of weight gain are smaller, ranging from 0.1 to 0.8 lb/day. Should I start giving him 1/2 cup alfalfa pellets to his diet per day. Im going to have to look for the organic!! Ive done this for years. Whenever we need to entice them to come to us, rattling some alfalfa pellets in a bucket does the trick. I feed alfalfa pellets everyday. It would be wonderful to have an organic option like this to keep them from getting restless on the milk stand! I think she has lost her back. If they start losing hair in random spots or foaming at the mouth, Id suspect zinc deficiency. Grains Grains are a great source of proteins and vitamins for goats. Keep in mind that ruminants really should not get grain because its not good for their rumen period. Can I feed alfalfa pellets to my dry does?? https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goats-need-baking-soda/, Thank you so very much for responding back. to fatten them up. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/do-goats-need-grain-during-pregnancy/. How much should I feed my goats? We do not milk them, nor will be breeding them. Producers should develop an eye and a touch for the condition of their animals and strive to maintain a moderate amount of condition on their goats. Feeding may be the highest expense of any meat goat operation. I would just as soon take her off grain, but with her still being young and pregnant Im not sure what to do. Since it is just hay that has been pulverized, she can eat as much as she wants. Molasses not only adds iron and sugar to the treat, but as you can imagine makes the grain/pellets more desirable. Looking forward to offering this pellet to our American Guinea hogs. Wethers and dry does are very easy keepers, so there is no need to try to trick them into consuming minerals or baking soda. commitment to diversity. Is this correct or did you just state it in the reference to the lack of other things that person that had the goats, where one died & a friend took the other ones but you stated they looked really bad. Alfalfa has a 15:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio, which makes it a perfect complement to grain, which is high in phosphorus. We are new to owning a goat and have a female and male dwarf Nigerian goats. The goat is not able to digest the cell walls of plants as well as the cow because feed stays in its rumen for a shorter time period. Or something else? I want to know what to do with all the crumbs. I dont feed goats, but I raise a lot of cattle. How Much Do Goats Eat Per Day? Best Guide Hobby Farm Heaven Where do you purchase your organic alfalfa pellets? In cases of extremely weak kids, they should be tube-fed. There are two main types of hay, leguminous (nitrogen fixing) and grass hay. I have a doe that was bred about 4.5 weeks ago. Any ideas would be most appreciated. A bag of pellets weighs 40 pounds, but since there is no waste, a bale and a bag of pellets are pretty similar in terms of how long they last. We have been convinced for some time that grain is bad for our goats, and do not intentionally feed any. When goats are raised on browse, abundant supply should be made available to allow goats to be very selective and to ingest a high quality diet that will meet their nutritional requirements. When the level of protein is low in the diet, digestion of carbohydrates in the rumen will slow and intake of feed will decrease. Thanks for the opportunity to win some! Corn is the grain of choice for flushing; whole cottonseed is another low cost, high energy and also high protein supplement. Feeding Equipment Water If you're starting a goat herd, you will know that goats require some knowledge to feed them right. Hi Deborah, It is extremely rare for adult goats to have a problem with coccidiosis. Probably. They are coming from two different people and they each feed them different things. The feed store said they would have to order 5 tons of it and they dont have demand for it. When pasture is available, animals having the highest nutritional requirements should have access to lush, leafy forage or high quality browse. What specific mineral do you have available for them? Cooperative Extension prohibits discrimination and harassment regardless of age, color, disability, family and marital status, gender identity, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation and veteran status. Here is more info on what goats eat As we tried to figure out what to do about her piggish ways, we came to the conclusion that if Goatee could have all the alfalfa hay she wanted, perhaps the rabbit pellets would be fine too so we started buying a bag for the rabbits and one for the goat too! See the difference it can make in your goats' overall growth and health. Trees and shrubs, which often represent poor quality roughage sources for cattle, because of their highly lignified stems and bitter taste, may be adequate to high in quality for goats. Male goats and dry does (not in milk and not pregnant) do not need that much calcium. Hi! They only came out a couple of weeks ago. She was right at 60% of her adult weight (my plan was to wait another month, but our buck decided to get smart all of a sudden and figured out how to open the gate). They all have side effects. Nothing is ever engraved in stone, but most normal, healthy goats have done the majority of their really fast growing by the time they are six months old so they dont need the extra protein in a grower feed or the calcium in alfalfa. Goats grazing very hilly pastures will have higher nutritional requirements than goats on level pastures of the same quality because they will expand more energy to gather feed. If she is not chewing much, she wont be producing much bicarbonate, so might need a little baking soda to keep her rumen working well. I have tried switching them to other hay type pellets but they pick out the alfalfa pellets and wont eat the other ones. Id like to add more nutrition to their diet in order for them to gain weight for winter and be healthy. Goats are clearly more tolerant to copper toxicity than sheep. ,y milkers are mini nubians and peaked at 1 1/2 gallons of milk (each) in a 24 hour period. I just contacted Standlee to get the most up-to-date info for you, in case anything has changed since I worked with them last year on this. If you want to get really thrifty, soak the pellets. I cant find hay anywhere. I was trying to keep her away from the boys but she excaped her pen and broke into this so she is once again going to kid. In all cases, make sure to provide high-quality forage as well. Not kidding here. What to know before bringing home goats | Page 209 | Mississippi State Water needs vary with the stage of production, being highest for early lactating does, and during times when the weather is warm and forages are dry. Antibodies are proteins which help the goat kid fight diseases. Tomato and chickens use the extra calcium to prevent blossum end rot and the chickens use for their egg shells. Feeding grain to ruminants is a pretty modern idea. Hello, Therefore, profitable meat goat production can only be achieved by optimizing the use of high quality forage and browse and the strategic use of expensive concentrate feeds. Ive been giving them a small amount if mixed grain to lure them. Will this work for the babies? As a general recommendation, trace mineralized salt containing selenium should be given to all goats year around. Because it's not just for their bodies, it's for the bodies of their offspring as well. Flushing means increasing the level of feed offered to breeding does, mostly energy, starting about one month prior to breeding, to increase body weight, ovulation rate and litter size. I have a 19 year old goat with no teeth and he struggles to chew.
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