# Newbie here, please help with feeding issue



## NicholsAcres (Sep 6, 2013)

We are newly retired and are new to goats. We have 3 does and 2 bucks (Nigerian Dwarfs) and are learning as we go. 

We currently feed them all Noble Goat Feed Grower 16 which is medicated at the advice of our vet. The does will be switched off the medicated and onto the Goat Dairy Parlour 16 2 months before they begin giving milk. 

The Bucks and Does are obviously kept separately, and fed separately. We have limited forage at the moment. We do have 11 acres, that will eventually be divided up into 6 or 8 paddocks to rotate the goats through.

That is all background - now for the question:

The does eat ALL of their feed (Noble) they even lick the feed tray clean. No waste at all. The Bucks on the other hand convert about 1/2 of the feed (Noble) to dust and ignore the dust. It seems like a lot of waste to me.

Any suggestions on how to cut down on the waste? They are all receiving about 1 1/2 lbs per day per goat plus free feeding perennial peanut hay.

Thanks,

Frank


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## junkprospector (Sep 6, 2013)

new to Nigerian Dwarfs too... i've just been giving mine alfalfa hay and loose minerals rather than any feed or pellets. That's what i gathered from most of the readings - it sounded like the pellets were good but just an unnecessary expense... but i'll be awaiting some recommendations here. Congrats on your new goats! they're pretty fun huh?!


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 6, 2013)

The goats are great, but I am wondering if there is a problem with the bucks because of their picky eating habit. 

Frank


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 6, 2013)

What kind of shape are your goats in?  Under weight, over weight or just right?  ND's are basically a dairy goat and shouldn't carry a lot of extra fat.  Are your goats 'working' for a living?  Are the does bred or nursing babies?  With two bucks and 3 females I wouldn't expect that your bucks could be working too hard, even though bucks use a lot of energy just by being a buck, lol.

Just my opinion - but it seems to me like your goats are getting a lot of feed and very rich feed at that.  I've raised Pygmies for over 20 years and I've lost more goats to being 'overconditioned' than to being underweight.  In fact, I've never lost one for being underweight. 

Extra weight in breeding females leads to a higher incidence of kidding problems.  Bucks don't need to be over conditioned either.  For them, you might just cut back on the amount of grain you give them until they stop wasting it.

I'm not familiar with peanut hay, but from what I've read it is a high protein hay.  If forage is limited you might consider giving them gass hay free choice and just use the peanut hay sparingly.

Again - just my opinion and others may feel differently.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 6, 2013)

Thank you very much. 

The bucks are 12 weeks old at this point and do not look over weight  to me, but the only comparison I can make is to photo's online, where most Nigerian Dwarfs appear much more "robust" than these. My does are 6 months, 1 year and 1 1/2 years old and the oldest is pregnant and will be delivering in December. None appear to be over weight.

The does are not in milk yet, and the first will be in December. Our purpose for the goats is to have milk for ourselves to drink and make cheese.

Forage is limited at this point - until I have the paddocks installed for the rest of my property, they are fenced in our back yard, about 1/2 acre for the girls and 1/4 acre for the boys. Some low hanging limbs but not much.

The bucks will not start "working" until December when we will be breeding our 1 year old doe. But, we don't expect the bucks to ever have that much work to do. Eventually we will be increasing our herd to about 8 to 10 does. Just a small herd. 

Yes, Peanut hay is higher in Protein than Alfalfa and was recommended by our vet.

We are not so worried about costs right now, we are more concerned with getting things "right". We will become more cost conscious once we are sure we ar not killing the goats because of our ignorance.  

I had planned to cut back on the Bucks feed to see if they got a little hungry maybe they would eat the dust? Or not create as much? 

Thanks for the comments,

Frank


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 6, 2013)

Peanut hay is great stuff but it very rich. Is that their only source of long stem fiber? 

Personally I would give them a grass hay for free choice and just use the peanut hay as an appetizer and dessert. I prefer to use timothy hay pellets and then alfalfa/peanut hay as the long stem hay. My goats always have been hay wasters though but they sure don't waste their dessert though!

I would cut back on the bucks' feed some and/or add a little bit of oil or molasses to make it more yummy. I do use oil on my feed, they like it better than the molasses, but I've heard some goats HATE oil on their feed. They like sunflower oil or cocosoya the best. I would also make sure the bucks are getting ammonium chloride in their diet.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 6, 2013)

AshleyFishy,

Thank you,

Currently the perennial peanut hay is the only hay I feed them. I will check with our feed store and coop and see what other hays are available in our area. I assumed the Noble Goat Grower was "complete" and so anything else I fed them was extra.

I do know the goats HATE straw. I mean they won't walk on it, lay on it or go near it!

Thanks for mentioning the Ammonium chloride, I checked and the Nobles feed does have that for the bucks.

My vet strongly recommended against sweet feed or adding molasses to anything, so we have not been doing that. Maybe I will try a little to tempt them to eat things I want them to eat.

Thanks,

Frank


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 6, 2013)

Well even the complete feeds need a boost when it comes to fiber and minerals. I would suggest, if you haven't already, adding a loose mineral free choice for your goats. Mine love the manna pro loose goat mineral. Also adding probiotics every now and then helps, I love probios but everyone has their fav brand.

I would also check to see if your area is low or high in iron, copper and selenium. That will better help you plan out your critter's diet. Down here in the south we have a ton of iron and it blocks copper from being absorbed properly. So we have to supplement heavy handed with copper. 

and I think I speak for everyone when I say... where are the goat photos, we want to see your new cuties!


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 6, 2013)

AshleyFishy,

Thanks, I got free feed minerals yesterday along with Probiotics. 

We have a website with some photo's on it, nothing much there yet, but we hope to start making regular weekly entries: nicholsacres[dot]com (excuse the format, the forum won't let me post a URL).

Frank

ps: clicking the smaller pictures makes them larger)


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 6, 2013)

So, I guess what I am seeing here is that I am probably over feeding the bucks and they are just playing with their food - resulting in the dust. I will cut back on the amount I give them and see if they get more interested in eating and less interested in wasting it  

Thanks,

Frank


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## NaturesPace (Sep 6, 2013)

We got our doelings about 2 months ago and we haven't fed them any grains yet. They are on chaffhaye, grass hay and alfalfa pellets. They also have grass pasture and tree leaves that I try to pick most days. They seem to be doing well so far. Had some trouble with cocci, but I hope that is now done with. Free choice minerals, kelp and baking soda are also given. We haven't found a buck for them yet. I'm hoping to breed the late winter early spring. Theyare also Nigerian dwarfs.

I'm hoping we can keep grains to a minimum. Goats aren't really built for grains, even thou, they love them. Actually, my girls won't even try grains yet. I also tried sunflower seeds, but they don't care. They are about 7 months old now.


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## jodief100 (Sep 7, 2013)

I do agree, they are getting too rich of a diet.  Plain grass hay mixed with the peanut hay would be good.  Cut back on the pelleted feed, bucks shouldn't need it at all unless they are breeding.  

You can't tell how over or under conditioned they are by looking at them.  Put you hands on them.  Feel the backs, the rump, up and down the spine.  You want a layer of meat over the bones but still be able to feel them.  


I agree with your vet on the molasses.  It has no nutritional value.  Feeding it regularly is like giving your kid sugar on their veggies to get them to eat them.  A healthy goat shouldn't need "encouragement"  to eat.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 8, 2013)

Jodief100,

Thank you for you comments. The bucks are quite boney, the love to climb on me when I go to feed them and so I get plenty opportunity to feel their backs and shoulders 

I will look into grass hay at our local feed and coop. 

Frank


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 8, 2013)

Here are a couple shots of the goats that AshleyFishy asked for 

These are my girls using a hay feeder I built to try and cut down on waste - notice there is almost no hay on the floor around them. Before it wa piled up on the floor and wasted.







Now notice how the girls quickly learned how to defeat my attempt to keep their hay clean - 






And the guys using their hay feeder in their shelter logic  shelter - I need to make some benches for them to climb on today. Notice all the hay on the ground from their previous hay feeder which was just an open container.






Here is Sullivan and Jake (our LGD pup) in front of the Shelter Logic shelter for the bucks. The bucks really like this shelter when it rains, and I like that it is tall enough to walk into to clean up. It was the same price as a big dog house would have been.






And lastly, Gillbert and Sullivan - they don't look over weight to me, and they feel boney. If anything they feel underweight, but they are only 16 weeks old or so here.


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## jodief100 (Sep 8, 2013)

At 16 weeks they are still in that awkward teenage stage.  A little grain won't hurt them any as they are growing still but I would slowly wean them off planning on cutting it out completely by spring unless they are breeding.  though with only a few does, breeding isn't going to take a lot out of them.  

They are adorable.  How do you keep them from ripping up the sides of the shelter?   Mine tore the tarp on the chicken hoop house to shreds and then turned the hoop house into a jungle gym.  Oh, wait.  Yours don't have horns.  

Another suggestion is put the hay feeders up high and cut some holes in the sides at the bottom.  Then they have to pull the hay out the slots.  They still waste it but not as much and it stays cleaner.  I use 4"x4"  holes on my hay racks but I have big goats, not your cute little adorable ones.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 8, 2013)

jodief100,

Thanks for the kind words, we think they are cute too - 

It would seem that there are almost as many ways to feed goats as there are goat herders! We are not feeding ANY grain to our goats. The only reason is that our vet said to stick with Noble Goat Grower and perennial peanut hay - so, that is their diet for now (along with a little forage.) The issue is how much to give them and how to keep them from wasting, since both of those are expensive. 

We obviously were over feeding them and have cut back considerably. The bucks are getting about 1/2 to 3/4 lb per day of the Noble pellets and are freed fed the hay. They also get free fed minerals daily and probiotic's once per week. I think we are going to stop the free feeding minerals (Purina's Goat Minerals) and start adding it to the pellets to see if they waste less that way. And to know better how much they are getting.

We are still debating if "our" kids (when we have some) will be disbudded or not. There seems to be good arguments for both sides - sigh. With the Nigerian Dwarfs  - which come from Nigeria where it is HOT - there is an additional consideration in that they have evolved to have a large blood supply in their horns and that is one of the ways they keep cool in the summer. I expect a goat with horns would make short work of the shelter we have.

Frank


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## NaturesPace (Sep 8, 2013)

Your goats are very pretty. Love those boys.


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 8, 2013)

Ooooo tell me how you made your hay feeder!


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 8, 2013)

AshleyFishy,

I was going to post some pictures of the process of making the feeder, until they started climbing on it - now I need to figure out how to discourage that. I think I know what I am going to do and will post pictures tomorrow.

The feeder so far is a plastic container from Walmart - it was about $12 for that one. The size was chosen based on the Nigerian Dwarfs being able to reach into it and get to the bottom to get the hay. So, it is about 16 inches high. If you have full size goats, you could use a deeper container - at first I was going to make it large enough to put a whole bale of hay in it at once. But, I don't think the NG's could use that as well.

Second I had some leftover PVC pipe parts laying around so I used them. If you need to buy the pvc all the parts should cost about $6 or $7 at the most. I used 3/4 inch PVC pipe - you can use any size if you have some laying around - and you will need 4 elbow connectors. Cut the pipe into 4 pieces - 2 for the long sides length and 2 for the short side lengths. The pipe needs to be short enough so that with the corner elbows connected it is an inch or two shorter that the side of the container - so it will "float" down to the bottom of the container as the hay is eaten. It does not need to be too close - and remember the sides of those plastic containers slope in as they go down, so make the grating at least 2 to 3 inches smaller than the inside of the container at the bottom.

Then you simply put the 4 pieces of pipe together with an elbow in each corner - the result will be a rectangle slightly smaller than the bottom of the container. 

Next I had a piece of scrap welded wire fence. In my case it was 2 x 4 mesh, but almost any size will do. 2 x 4 or 4 x 4, whatever. Lay the rectangle of PVC pipe on the piece of fence and cut the fence to the same size. Then I used plastic 4 or 5 inch long Tie Wraps to attach the fence to the rectangle putting one on each end of the sides and one in the middle of each side. 

Thats it. Make a rectangle - could be wood, pipes, dowels, anything - that will fit inside the container. Then attach a piece of fence as a grate.

Then fill the container with hay and drop the grate on top. The goats will pull a small piece of hay out through the grating (fence) and eat it, then go back for more. And we all know how much the goats enjoy eating through fences -  As the goats eat the hay the grate will settle down inside the container until the goats have eaten all the hay. And almost none will be wasted.

The modification I am going to make is to add a "top" to the feeder so the goats can not stand on the hay, but will have to stick their heads in underneath the top to eat.

It is easier to make than to explain 

Frank


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 9, 2013)

I just saw the thread.  First welcome to the forum and congratulations on an excellent choice in Nigerian Dwarfs.  They are awesome.

First of all, your goats look great, I would use the term "very well conditioned" at this point, not "over conditioned"  But, with ND's particularly you have to watch that closely.

I agree with what everyone else said about the feed.  Find a good source of grass hay like Bermuda, or Teff and feed that free choice.  You said you were feeding perennial peanut seems some of the replies started to refer to it as peanut hay.  It is different, but it is rich.

We have access to actual peanut hay in the fall and I stock up.  But, I use it like the others said, not as their main source of long stemmed roughage.

We usually reserve peanut hay and alfalfa to lactating does, or an animal whose conditioning needs improvement.


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## bonbean01 (Sep 9, 2013)

I don't have goats...I have hair sheep, but loved the photos...beautiful goats and that pup is adorable!!! 

Welcome to Backyard Herds!!!  I see you are from Live Oak, Florida...know your area well...used to live in New Smyrna Beach and loved going to the Live Oak flea market on weekends...is it still a busy place?

Nice looking website!


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 9, 2013)

Thanks for the advice.

The hay is perennial peanut hay. I got preoccupied with Chicken eggs hatching a day early today, so I will go to the feed store tomorrow and see what kind of grass hay they have available.

The hay feeders are working very well and cutting the bucks back on food has solve the problem of them converting pellets to dust. They now eat all that they get within 15 to 20 minutes.

Frank


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 9, 2013)

bonbean01,

Thanks for the kind words.

Jake - the pup is so huge already it is hard to believe he is only 16 weeks or so old. Still in his puppy fur. We are really happy that he has taken up sleeping with the goats and not inside.

We have been in Live Oak only a year and a half now, and honestly we have been so busy we have not been to the flea market. We just started going to the farmers market in Jacksonville to buy bulk and can it until I have time to get a garden going.

So many fun things to do setting up a small farm like this - loving retirement 

Frank


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 9, 2013)

Yeah, I checked your website out as well.

I've got a doe "Ginger" who looks like your tan colored doe, and a buckling we retained "Moonshine" who has similar color patterns to your bucklings.

If you go to my website, I have a professionally taken photograph of Ginger on my homepage if you want to see what yours will look like after a couple of freshenings


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 9, 2013)

OneFineAcre,

You have very lovely goats. My wife Sharon wants to show ours also, but I don't know if the goats are up to it 

We need to spend more time with ours getting them used to being handled. I think the breeders didn't handle them much and so they have never become accustomed to being on a leash or even touched much. The bucks are very comfortable with us, in fact they love to climb on my and sit on my lap while chewing on my clothes.

Frank


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 9, 2013)

NicholsAcres said:
			
		

> OneFineAcre,
> 
> You have very lovely goats. My wife Sharon wants to show ours also, but I don't know if the goats are up to it
> 
> ...


Thank you.
Your animals are very nice looking in the photos. 
Just takes some time, attention and treats to warm them up to you.  Alfalfa mini cubes or pellets work good.
Get them very comfortable with you before you try walking on a lead.  There are some tricks to teaching them to walk good on a lead when you get to that point.  You need to get them to warm up to you and your wife first.

There is a misconception when it comes to bucks.  All of ours are super friendly.  Kind of smelly right now.

Showing is very fun, my wife, daughter and myself all enjoy.


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## Egg_Newton (Sep 9, 2013)

You might check your local craigslist. You can usually get hay a lot cheaper there or from local farmers than the feed stores.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 9, 2013)

Egg_Newton, 

That is a great idea, thank you very much!

Frank


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 10, 2013)

Egg_Newton said:
			
		

> You might check your local craigslist. You can usually get hay a lot cheaper there or from local farmers than the feed stores.


This is definitely true.  It is even more cost effective if you have the means to transport and store the large round bales.  I get 4x5 round bales that weigh between 800-900 lbs of coastal Bermuda for $35.  That is the bulk of mine's long stemmed roughage.

I see you are in Florida, there would probably be an abundance of Bahia grass hay there.  I know they do pastures with it in FL.  Probably coastal Bermuda too.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 10, 2013)

Will a 4x5 roll fit in the back of a 3/4 ton pickup and make it home? And will anyone selling rolls consider selling just one? That would likely last me 6 months.

Frank


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 10, 2013)

It should, just be prepared that if it gets wedged in there it'll be a JOB to get it out!  (guess why I know...)

We had to tie the bale off to a tree and drive out from under it - and even then it wasn't easy!


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## SheepGirl (Sep 10, 2013)

I put round bales in the back of our 4x4 dodge pick up. Just make sure they load it in so you can just roll it out. And l buy one bale at a time, of course it all depends on your hay supplier. l love my hay guy, he is very nice.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 10, 2013)

Tying it to a tree sounds better than backing up real fast and hitting the brakes 

Frank


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 10, 2013)

Oh, we tried that!  We tried pry bars, we tried muscle power - we briefly thought about leaving the truck in the pasture until the critters ate the hay!  

Finally - nylon straps and a strong tree and we STILL had to use the pry bar.  Maybe because it was a truck with an 8 ft. bed and it settled in real nicely between the wheel wells and the cab of the truck... I dunno...but it is a day that sticks in my memory!


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## Egg_Newton (Sep 10, 2013)

IMO With only 5 ND and your boys still being so young it would be more of hassle to mess with round bales than its worth. If you had horses cattle or a large herd then I'd go with round bales.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 10, 2013)

Egg_Newton, 

I think you are right. 

Frank


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 10, 2013)

yeah tried the round bale thing too...was more work and energy than I wanted to spend. I'll gladly pay more for squares.


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## jodief100 (Sep 10, 2013)

They waste a lot more with the round bales too.  I will stick with squares.  Much easier to store and move around.


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## bonbean01 (Sep 10, 2013)

Tying it to a tree is probably better...BUT...backing up really fast and hitting the brakes is WAY more fun!!!


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 10, 2013)

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Tying it to a tree is probably better...BUT...backing up really fast and hitting the brakes is WAY more fun!!!


Especially when you make the truck rear up for a few seconds then slam down. Redneck roller coaster anyone?


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## Egg_Newton (Sep 10, 2013)

AshleyFishy said:
			
		

> bonbean01 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 10, 2013)

NicholsAcres said:
			
		

> Will a 4x5 roll fit in the back of a 3/4 ton pickup and make it home? And will anyone selling rolls consider selling just one? That would likely last me 6 months.
> 
> Frank


You can find someone who will sell you one bail at a time.

I have a short bed Ford F150 and a 4x8 trailer.  I get two at a time, one in the bed and one in the trailer.  I found a local place that mixes feed and sells hay.  I buy 2 bales and (8) 50 lb bags of feed at a time.  Lasts me a month, but I have a "dry lot" and 17 goats ( including 4 dry yearlings) plus 7 kids right now.

Back up to my barn and roll the bale off.  I flake it off and put it in my feeders.

Your are right, one round bale would last you several months.

Like I said I supplement with alfalfa hay, I usually by 10 square bales at a time which will last 2-3 months.


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 10, 2013)

jodief100 said:
			
		

> They waste a lot more with the round bales too.  I will stick with squares.  Much easier to store and move around.


They only waste a lot if you put it all out at one time.  We keep ours in a barn.  Back up and roll it off. 

Then pull it off in flakes and put in feeders.

It is definitely worth the effort for me.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 12, 2013)

Okay, I got a bale of Coastal Hay (grass) here this morning. We are going to try to wean the goats off the Perennial Peanut Hay and onto the Coastal Grass hay and see if they are too spoiled to do that. I expect if they get hungry enough they will eat it. I will start at 50/50 mix of the two and slowly reduce the perennial hay content. Then we will use the Perennial Peanut hay as a supplement and treat only. 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions,

Frank


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## junkprospector (Sep 12, 2013)

you might want to look at the nutrient values of the grass hay vs legume hay. i think if grass hay is uesd, supplemental grain is recommended for does in milk, performing bucks or growing youngsters... just going off what i've read so far. the whole feeding thing seems like it can get overwhelming to get it right. is there any place that has somehting like... 

if your breed of goats is: [choose your breed]
your Hay free choice is: [choose your hay]
your pellet feed should be: A for wethers, B for yearlings, C for does in milk, D for performing bucks


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## jodief100 (Sep 13, 2013)

junkprospector said:
			
		

> you might want to look at the nutrient values of the grass hay vs legume hay. i think if grass hay is uesd, supplemental grain is recommended for does in milk, performing bucks or growing youngsters... just going off what i've read so far. the whole feeding thing seems like it can get overwhelming to get it right. is there any place that has somehting like...
> 
> if your breed of goats is: [choose your breed]
> your Hay free choice is: [choose your hay]
> your pellet feed should be: A for wethers, B for yearlings, C for does in milk, D for performing bucks


I have a chart around somewhere I got from a Seminar I went to last year.  I will see if I can find it.  You can also contact Dr. Sparks, he writes for the Goat Rancher.  He was the one I got it from.


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## junkprospector (Sep 13, 2013)

Awesome! Thank  you!
John


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 14, 2013)

I consider my back yard - where the goats are now - to be dry lot, ie. practically no forage. So, my intent is to feed primarily Noble Goat Grower Feed #16 (16% protein) and a hay. My initial thought was perennial peanut hay. My vet approved this mix for feeding the young goats until 2 months before the does begin lactating. Once the goats are ready to milk we are switching to Noble Goat Dairy Parlour 16% with perennial peanut hay. The issue I started this thread with had to do with the bucks wasting pellets by crunching them into dust and not eating them. That has been solved by reducing the amount they were being fed. Apparently I was over feeding the bucks - the does did not waste their food.

The secondary question that was brought up in the thread was whether or not perennial peanut hay should be feed free choice or if it was "too rich" and should be changed to a grass hay which is less rich. I am currently trying our a "coastal hay" which is grass with a small amount of perennial peanut hay mixed in.

I understand that everyone has their own feeding systems and appreciate the comments. I am a newbie and certainly can not judge others choices. My choice is to stay with the Purina Noble Goat Grower 16 for the bucks as I have not read any negative comments about it, and have read a significant number of positive comments. I have also chosen to not feed grain. Grain is probably "better" than the Noble but from what I understand it requires a proper "mixing" of various grains to achieve a balanced diet. And "balanced" depends on a lot of variables. I currently make our dog food and it was a lot of work to come up with a "balanced" blend for that. For the time being I will trust Purina's.

Frank


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 14, 2013)

NicholsAcres said:
			
		

> I consider my back yard - where the goats are now - to be dry lot, ie. practically no forage. So, my intent is to feed primarily Noble Goat Grower Feed #16 (16% protein) and a hay. My initial thought was perennial peanut hay. My vet approved this mix for feeding the young goats until 2 months before the does begin lactating. Once the goats are ready to milk we are switching to Noble Goat Dairy Parlour 16% with perennial peanut hay. The issue I started this thread with had to do with the bucks wasting pellets by crunching them into dust and not eating them. That has been solved by reducing the amount they were being fed. Apparently I was over feeding the bucks - the does did not waste their food.
> 
> The secondary question that was brought up in the thread was whether or not perennial peanut hay should be feed free choice or if it was "too rich" and should be changed to a grass hay which is less rich. I am currently trying our a "coastal hay" which is grass with a small amount of perennial peanut hay mixed in.
> 
> ...


Frank,
You seem to have done your homework and have a good plan.  Go with it and see how things go.  You can always adjust later.
With my goats it is not a "one size fits all".  We have some that are more thrifty and do fine with less input.  We have others that require more attention to maintain proper condition.  You will also have different circumstances, i.e. one doe has a single kid and another has quads.    

You seem to have a good plan.
Good luck and enjoy your goats.


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## NicholsAcres (Sep 15, 2013)

Thank you for the kind words!

Frank


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