# Male Goat Feeding Advice Needing



## Tiffany L (Mar 24, 2015)

I am bringing home a herd sire this weekend and will be my first buckling to keep as herd sire.  What does everyone feed their bucks?  I keep hearing that a lot of foods trigger urinary calculi and want to hear what you all do for prevention.  Thanks in advance   BTW my girls eats: 16% sweet goat feed, alfalfa pellets when hay isn't top quality, and of course free choice minerals on top of whatever pasture is available.


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 24, 2015)




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## Tiffany L (Mar 24, 2015)

Hens and Roos said:


>


????


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## jodief100 (Mar 24, 2015)

Boys don't need protein levels that high.  10%-12% is fine.  Make sure that you have 2x as much Calcium as Phosphorus in your feed and mineral.  I personally recommend feeding bucks very little grain, 0.5% of their body weight at MOST, maybe a little more when they are breeding.  They should be fine on browse, hay and mineral.  A little grain if they are loosing condition.  If you feed grain, add Ammonium Chloride at the rate of 2 lbs per 100 lbs of feed.  Goats shouldn't be fat.  Fat bucks have trouble breeding, fat does have trouble kidding.


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## Tiffany L (Mar 24, 2015)

Currently my loose minerals consist of Dumor Mineral Blocks and Manna Pro loose minerals - are the sufficient for the bucks?  Do bucks creep feed the same as does? (I always sell my boys as bottle babies so I'm not sure)  Or do they just need hay and minimal grain as creep feed?  He's currently 6 weeks old and only playing w/ grain now not actually eating it.


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## Tiffany L (Mar 24, 2015)

This is the analysis of the Dumor Block
Crude Protein (min.) 18.00%, Crude Fat (min.) 2.00%, Crude Fiber (max.) 8.00%, Calcium (Ca) (min.) 3.20%, Calcium (Ca) (max.) 4.20%, Phosphorus(P) (min.) 1.00%, Salt(NaCl) (min.) 10.00%, Salt (NaCl) (max.) 12.00%, Sodium (Na) (min.) 4.50%, Sodium (Na) (max.) 5.50%, Copper (Cu) (min.) 50.00ppm, Copper (Cu) (max.) 55.00ppm, Iodine (I) (min.) 10.00ppm, Selenium(Se) (min.) 1.00ppm, Selenium (Se) (max.) 1.10ppm, Zinc (Zn) (min.) 170.00ppm, Vitamin A (min.) 20,000IU/lb, Vitamin D-3 (min.) 1000IU/lb


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 24, 2015)

Tiffany L said:


> ????



I'm watching to see what others reply with so I can learn also


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## jodief100 (Mar 25, 2015)

I wouldn't use the block.  Loose minerals are better.  Goats can break their teeth on blocks. 

Lets look at the nutritional analysis

Crude Protein (min.) 18.00% :  Higher than needed.  Usually not a health issue but can be a waste of money.  May be a health issue for bucks if they eat A LOT of it.
Calcium (Ca) (min.) 3.20%, Calcium (Ca) (max.) 4.20%, Phosphorus(P) (min.) 1.00%, :  Calcium is 3.2 times the phosphorus, this is good, it needs to be at least 2x.

Copper (Cu) (min.) 50.00ppm, Copper (Cu) (max.) 55.00ppm,
Iodine (I) (min.) 10.00ppm,
Selenium(Se) (min.) 1.00ppm, Selenium (Se) (max.) 1.10ppm,

It has copper, iodine and selenium- all good.

I am not a big fan of creep feeding in general, but especially for bucks.  The grain is good for growing kids but you don't want it to be too high of a percentage of their diet.  I would give them as much as they can eat in 20 minutes a day- no more.  Take it away after 20 minutes.  Make sure it has Ammonium Chloride in it if feeding bucks. 

How old is the buck you are bringing home?


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## Tiffany L (Mar 25, 2015)

He's 6 weeks old.


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## jodief100 (Mar 25, 2015)

At 6 weeks he could use some grain for growth.  Again, not too much- no more than 1% of his body weight.  All of the hay and browse he wants.  Do you have a buddy for him? 

My vet had a situation this year with a male goat, about 6 weeks old with a severe case of UC.  He had to reroute the boys entire plumbing system.  He barely survived and is now a wether, who pees out the back end.  This boy is a pet, otherwise he would have been put down as opposed to having several hundred dollars worth of surgery.   

- cause-    High grain diet.  He was getting 2-3% of his body weight a day in 18% protein grain.


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## Tiffany L (Mar 25, 2015)

Is there a type of grain you suggest for males?  I was suggested to use Blue Seal Meat Goat Grow and Finish DC
here's the label:
MEAT GOAT GROW & FINISH DC PELLET - MEDICATED A Complete Feed for Growing and Finishing Goats For the prevention of coccidiosis in young goats caused by Eimeria christenseni and Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae. ACTIVE DRUG INGREDIENT: Decoquinate (from Deccox)Ö. 18 g/ton GUARANTEED ANALYSIS Crude Protein, Min....................................................... 16.0% This includes not more than 2.0% equivalent crude protein from non-protein nitrogen. (NPN from Ammonium Chloride) Crude Fat, Min.............................................................. 4.0% Crude Fiber, Max. ........................................................ 16.0% Calcium, Min................. 0.50% Max........................ 1.00% Phosphorus, Min......................................................... 0.45% Salt, Min........................ 0.50% Max........................ 1.00% Copper, Min. .................18 ppm Max...................... 28 ppm Selenium, Min......................................................... 0.30 ppm Vitamin A, Min. ......................................................4000 IU/lb INGREDIENTS Corn Meal, Wheat Middlings, Soybean Hulls, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Wheat Flour, Oat Mill By-Product, Cane Molasses, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Yeast Culture, Vegetable Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Ammonium Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine. CAUTION: This feed contains supplemental copp


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## Tiffany L (Mar 25, 2015)

Also says:




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*Meat Goat Grow & Finish DC Medicated*




A highly-fortified, complete medicated feed for growing and finishing goats with Decoquinate for the prevention of coccidiosis. The fixed-component formula contains yeast culture for increasing digestibility, ammonium chloride to aid in the prevention of urinary calculi, and chelated trace minerals for increased bioavailability to promote muscle tissue and bone growth. Decoquinate has no withdrawal period.


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## babsbag (Mar 25, 2015)

None of my boys get grain. Never. Perhaps if I was raising meat goats I would creep feed to push the weight gain but the dairy boys do not get grain. The get a loose mineral, Sweetlix or Purina. They get Alfalfa hay, same as my does. On occasion, like once every few months, I feed a bale of wheat hay. The wheat is very high in Phosphorus so have to be extremely careful but the alfalfa is high in calcium so it is an offset.

I used to feed a palletized goat ration that I could sprinkle the Ammonium Chloride on, only way I could get them to eat it. But I haven't done that in a few years.


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## Tiffany L (Mar 25, 2015)

babsbag said:


> None of my boys get grain. Never. Perhaps if I was raising meat goats I would creep feed to push the weight gain but the dairy boys do not get grain. The get a loose mineral, Sweetlix or Purina. They get Alfalfa hay, same as my does. On occasion, like once every few months, I feed a bale of wheat hay. The wheat is very high in Phosphorus so have to be extremely careful but the alfalfa is high in calcium so it is an offset.
> 
> I used to feed a palletized goat ration that I could sprinkle the Ammonium Chloride on, only way I could get them to eat it. But I haven't done that in a few years.


What do you feed as far as Purina - they have several products where I am located?


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## Tiffany L (Mar 25, 2015)

Tiffany L said:


> What do you feed as far as Purina - they have several products where I am located?





babsbag said:


> None of my boys get grain. Never. Perhaps if I was raising meat goats I would creep feed to push the weight gain but the dairy boys do not get grain. The get a loose mineral, Sweetlix or Purina. They get Alfalfa hay, same as my does. On occasion, like once every few months, I feed a bale of wheat hay. The wheat is very high in Phosphorus so have to be extremely careful but the alfalfa is high in calcium so it is an offset.
> 
> I used to feed a palletized goat ration that I could sprinkle the Ammonium Chloride on, only way I could get them to eat it. But I haven't done that in a few years.


 

And how do you wean your boys?  Just cut down on the bottle until they're eating hay?


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## jodief100 (Mar 25, 2015)

I don't like that feed. Not enough calcium, copper or selenium. Those meat goat grower feeds are designed for fast growth on terminal animals. They aren't concerned about the long term health of the animal. Can you get Purina Noble Goat?  

At six weeks your boy should already be eating hay. I don't raise many on bottles but when I do I cut down to two bottles a day at 8 weeks, one bottle at 10 weeks and stop at 12.


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## babsbag (Mar 25, 2015)

I was feeding them Purina Noble Goat. I believe it was the grower one, definitely not the Milk Parlor one.

I wean the same a jodief100 does but they are usually on a bucket so I just go to once a day feeding at 9 weeks. If on a dam, problem solved.


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## Tiffany L (Mar 30, 2015)

Over the weekend I was able to find 2 feeds. Could someone compare the two and tell me which would be best for my bucks.


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## Tiffany L (Mar 30, 2015)

Sorry it duplicated the first one and put it sideways - that is the feed that I give to my does.  The 2nd is Purina Noble Goat Grower.


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## SheepGirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I would say the first one due to the Ca being more in line than the second one. However, the second one has more energy, so you wouldn't need to feed as much as the first one. However, a 16% protein feed isn't required for bucks. They don't need that much protein (a 150 lb goat in maintenance needs about 7% protein in the ration). You could probably get by with a 12-14% feed fed in addition to hay.


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