# Can male goats eat grains?



## taylorm17 (Jan 10, 2014)

all of the vets we have been to say that ALL male goats can't have grain neutered or not! We just took ours off of it. They say that they get blocked up and after a oat gets blocked, it is VERY hard to unblock them and 80% of the time they die. I just wanted to see what other people thought of this because I have never read this before. Also if your male goat has been blocked up before, PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT IT AND WHY IT HAPPENED. Thanks everyone!


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## SheepGirl (Jan 11, 2014)

"Blocking up" is called urinary calculi. It is caused by an imbalance in the calcium: phosphorus ratio in the diet of the male small ruminant. (I'm sure cattle can get this, too.) Proper ratios are 2:1 though ruminants can tolerate 7:1, that is 2 to 7 times the amount of calcium as phosphorus.

The best way to prevent urinary calculi is to feed a balanced, nutritionally sound diet. This usually consists of grass hay and a premixed complete bagged feed or you can feed regular grains provided you make sure to add some calcium in their ration, usually with alfalfa hay or pellets. And always provide a loose mineral labeled for the species you plan on feeding it to.


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