# sugar beets



## hillbillycitygirl (Oct 14, 2011)

I want to feed my goats some sugar beets over the winter to help keep some weight on them....
I need info on how to feed, how much etc.  Do I need to cut them up, pulverize them or what????

Also, is it okay for them to have while pregnant? 

Thanks!


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## freemotion (Oct 14, 2011)

How many goats do you have?  I just have a few so I chop root veggies by hand or in my food processor and put a bucket in the downstairs fridge until it is cold enough to put it in the garage or cellar.  Then I chop enough to last about 3-4 days.  Small, small pieces.

I've read that you can feed up to five pounds a day.  If I have a lot of veggies to feed, I just gradually increase the amount until someone's poo changes, then I back down.  I make changes every 3 days or so to give them time to adjust.  I don't think I've ever gotten up to five pounds, though.  I've never had sugar beets, but I'd feed them if I had them.

I'd feed them to pregnant does.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Oct 14, 2011)

I have three nubians, but my 10 mo old isnt interested in them at all, just my 5yr old and 2yr old.  Especially my 2yr old, shes a hog when it comes to the beets.  I need to get them some more veggies, what would you suggest?


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## freemotion (Oct 14, 2011)

What do you have available?  I can get pumpkins and squashes for free after Oct 31 from the nearby farm.  In a good year, they keep well in the cellar and I put hundreds away and can get through Feb.   The mini ones are hard so I cook them first by putting a big pot with water and little pumpkins on the wood stove overnight.

Any root veggies except potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Anything leafy and green.

Fruit like apples and pears.


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## that's*satyrical (Oct 14, 2011)

I have offered my goats fruits & veggies & they don't seem interested. AT ALL. Any suggestions??? Oh, except watermelon. But that is not in season, nor will be for a while....


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## hillbillycitygirl (Oct 14, 2011)

mine eat apples if you crush them or cut them up, but only by hand, not from the feed bucket.  I dont give them alot though because they get the runs.....

what about corn? I know they cant digest it well, I have TONS of corn (feeder corn) 

my goats LOVED the left over tomatoes and tomato plants that we uprooted after the tomato season was over, I let them demolish my veggie garden, they loved it.  our new pasture doesnt have trees, where our old one had tons of them so I am afraid they will not have enough food until winter, I dont want to blow through my hay supply either...They are such wasters...sooo much is on the ground, I need to find a new method for feeding that doesnt let them toss it all over the place.


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## willow_top_farm (Oct 14, 2011)

I didn't think goats could eat the tomato plants?  BTW my goats would eat only a small amount of apples, preferred them peeled and sliced, but even then would only eat a few. But when I offered them warm apple mush (skins, cores, etc. leftover from the food mill when making applesauce) they went crazy for it.  However, I only gave them around 4 or 5 cups worth (I have 4 goats) to avoid giving them belly aches and I actually saved the mush in the refrigerator for a few days, and yes, I even heated it up for them every day. My husband is quite jealous of my goats!

Good question about the sugar beets, I was thinking about them myself.


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## freemotion (Oct 14, 2011)

that's*satyrical said:
			
		

> I have offered my goats fruits & veggies & they don't seem interested. AT ALL. Any suggestions??? Oh, except watermelon. But that is not in season, nor will be for a while....


I've found that the younger goats aren't as interested in new foods.  Put a small piece or two in the feed bin if you grain and let them get used to the smell.  I had one little doeling who would carefully pick the veggies out of her grain and line them up on the ground nearby.   Once she got pregnant for the first time, her picky attitude went away.  By the time she was lactating, she'd inhale anything I put in front of her.

Some youngsters want proof that a new food is safe, so if appropriate, take a bite (have a clean bit just for you) right in front of the picky goat's face, letting her see you take it from the pile and eat it, making yum noises and letting her smell your mouth as you eat.  Some will then eat it, after you, mommy, have shown that it is a safe food.


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## balluba03 (Oct 30, 2011)

willow_top_farm said:
			
		

> *I didn't think goats could eat the tomato plants? * BTW my goats would eat only a small amount of apples, preferred them peeled and sliced, but even then would only eat a few. But when I offered them warm apple mush (skins, cores, etc. leftover from the food mill when making applesauce) they went crazy for it.  However, I only gave them around 4 or 5 cups worth (I have 4 goats) to avoid giving them belly aches and I actually saved the mush in the refrigerator for a few days, and yes, I even heated it up for them every day. My husband is quite jealous of my goats!
> 
> Good question about the sugar beets, I was thinking about them myself.


I have two nigerians dwarfs and the decimated four tomato plants in a couple days. They were just fine.


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