# feeding 1 mos old goats



## brianw258 (Mar 17, 2012)

Does anyone feed Beet Pulp to their goats and if so when do you start using it?? We are bottle feeding 5 babies (goat milk) and have just introduced them to grains today, they also have hay but they're not really interested yet. They are LaManchas and a Nubian.


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## SDBoerGoats (Mar 21, 2012)

I feed a natural goat grain to my does made here locally that has beet pulp in it, but I've never fed straight beet pulp. The babies I always feed Boer Goat developer, as I want them to get the medication for cocci. And they are growing babies.


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 21, 2012)

We have used beet pulp to put weight on a thin doe, and also to add fiber and calcium to a nursing does diet. 

We feed it dry mixed into their grain raiton, 1 cup per adult doe per day, plus their grain

I am not sure about feeding it to young kids.


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## SDBoerGoats (Mar 21, 2012)

Do your does eat it OK dry 20K? One of the does we bought is fairly thin. The grain I feed the does is called High fat, PLAIN DRIED BEET PULP, SUN CURED TIMOTHY HAY, SUN CURED ALFALFA HAY,GROUND FLAXSEED MEAL, RICE BRAN, CANOLA OIL. Has 6% fat. Free choice hay and free choice minerals but she is still not gaining weight like I would like her to. I wonder if I gave her extra beet pulp if she would eat it.


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 21, 2012)

SDBoerGoats said:
			
		

> Do your does eat it OK dry 20K? One of the does we bought is fairly thin. The grain I feed the does is called High fat, PLAIN DRIED BEET PULP, SUN CURED TIMOTHY HAY, SUN CURED ALFALFA HAY,GROUND FLAXSEED MEAL, RICE BRAN, CANOLA OIL. Has 6% fat. Free choice hay and free choice minerals but she is still not gaining weight like I would like her to. I wonder if I gave her extra beet pulp if she would eat it.


The feed we are using only has 2.5% fat in it, and it is our biggest complaint about the feed. We would really like to get it up to 4.5 or 5% fat. the feed store said they could spray on the feed, soybean oil to be exact, for an additional $40 a ton, but I have wasn't sure how I felt about just soybean oil. But my does look dull coated and I think they need more fat in their diet. Sun flower seeds are way too expensive. 

I let a thin doe that I had last year, have free access to a bag of dried beet pulp and some grain and she put  lots of weight on and is in the best condition she has been in for a couple of years, I also drenched her with red cell a few times and gave her a copper bolus last summer. She is nursing twins right now, and is maintaining pretty well just on the regular ration this year. 

All my adult does eat the dried beet pulp just fine, the younger does and kids, seem a little pickier about it. 


the mix you are using sounds interesting.  How much protein and fiber is in the mix?  

Also, it does take time to put weight on a goat, I would say a good 3 to 4 months before you really start noticing some real finish back on them, especially if they have been run down by an illness,  My bucks were really thin last fall coming out of breeding season, and it took most the winter to finally get them back into shape, 3 lbs of grain a day(each) and all the hay they could eat. They are still not in show condition, but they are looking a lot better.


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## SDBoerGoats (Mar 21, 2012)

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: crude protein-min 18%; crude fat-min 6%; crude fiber-max 12%; calcium-max 1.5%, calcium-min 1.0%; phosphorous-min 0.5%; selenium-min 0.3%; salt-max 1.2%; salt-min 0.8%; copper-min 30 ppm; zinc-min 230 ppm; vitamin A-min 6000 IU/lb; vitamin D-min 1500 IU/lb; vitamin E-min 7.5 IU/lb.

It is a feed that a local company here is making. They have a veterinarian nutritionist who worked out the formula. They make it for horses, cattle, pigs and chickens too. Different formulas. I kept looking at all the goat grain labels and 3.5% was the highest fat content I could find. I complain to them all because does need more fat when they are milking. One feed store told me to try their own feed, only thing it does not have medication in it so I feed the developer to the kids. 
That's interesting about letting your doe have free access to the beet pulp, I might try that. I can start out mixing it in with her grain and then letting her have more and more. And she has a rough coat too. I've dewormed her and got her on the good mineral but I know it's going to take time for her condition to change. But the extra beet pulp might help.


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