# What should I be feeding my 6 year old Nubian Doe?



## Bedste (Jul 7, 2011)

Honey is 6 years old and kidded 3 months ago.  She gets probiotics every day and grazes one acre about 4 times a week.  She gives 3/4 gallon of milk every day.  She nursed her triplets but they have been weaned and off the property for about a month.  I want to keep her healthy and increase her milk production if possible.  What should she be eating and how much and how often.  I am very new at this.  I got Honey 3 weeks before she kidded.  Help!


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## 20kidsonhill (Jul 7, 2011)

free choice, grass and alfalfa hay 2nd cutting or 3rd
free choice, goat minerals, loose, sweet-lix is very popular
grain/alfalfa pellets on the milking stand.  
If she needs to put on weight and go up on milk production, probably all she will eat twice a day, while milking, but start out slow, going up every couple of days. 

The milking experts will have to jump in.

I raise meat goats. 

What kind of grain and hay are you feeding her right now?  What kind of overall condition do you feel she is in?


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## Ariel301 (Jul 7, 2011)

If she is not on adequate pasture, you should be feeding her hay. If possible, all the hay she wants. Alfalfa is preferable if you can get it, because it is high in protein and calcium, both of which she needs to keep producing milk. She should get a good quality loose mineral supplement made for goats (not one for goats and sheep, because those don't have enough copper for goats), free choice if possible. Give her grain while she is on the milkstand--a 16% goat or dairy feed is good, or a sweet feed made for all livestock. I let my does have as much as they can eat in the time it takes to milk them, and if they need to gain weight, I let them eat an extra ten minutes or so on top of that. I'm also giving my skinny girls rice bran, about half a pound each per day, and it's putting weight on them fast. 

3/4 of a gallon may just be what she produces. That's not too bad. To keep her production from dropping (and maybe make her go up, but not necessarily), milk twice a day regularly, don't skip days, make sure you get all the milk out of her udder at each milking (leaving some will tell her she's making too much), and make sure she's getting lots of water and enough feed that she isn't losing weight. You could also try top dressing her feed with a supplement like Calf-Manna or some fenugreek seeds to see if her milk production will increase, I have had luck with both of those making does put on more milk.


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## Bedste (Jul 7, 2011)

ok..... remember ..... I am a newby.......

what is free choice?  

What is loose minerals?

what is top dressing?


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## 20kidsonhill (Jul 8, 2011)

free-choice means to be kept out all the time.

Loose minerals are in a bag, they are not packed into a block form, you poor them out into a container. It is like loose salts together with minerals, 
This is one kind from tractor supply comany, there are other brands, you can get them from most feed stores. Going with a goat one is preferred, since goats have a really high copper requirement. 

http://www.tractorsupply.com/livest...g-goat-mineral-trade-supplement-8-lb--5099436


Here is a feeder that can be hung in the barn, under shelter to put minerals in. This one is a little pricey,I saw a different one that is cheaper, google "sheep mineral feeder" The big swival onse are for outside. 

http://www.valleyvet.biz/ct_detail....rce=froogle&utm_medium=free&utm_content=35665

Top dressing, means to put some grain out for the goat, and then if you want to feed a little bit of something else, like loose minerals or some powdered probiotics, you can sprinkle it on top of the grain.  LIke 1lb of grain and then 1 teaspoon of minerals sprinkled on top.


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## Bedste (Jul 11, 2011)

lactation pellets not required??


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## 20kidsonhill (Jul 12, 2011)

Bedste said:
			
		

> lactation pellets not required??


if you are drinking the milk you don't want to feed a medicated pelleted feed to them. Otherwise a feed with around 15 to 16% protein, plenty of roughage in it and 3.5% fat is good. Some people add a little BOSS, black sun flower seeds, to the ration to get up the fat amount.  Plenty of alfalfa hay, or some alfalfa pelets. 

As far as lactating grain, We don't have any around here that are specifically labeled lactating. You want a greener pellet compared to a browner pellet, if you go the pelleted route. some people do more whole grains, like soake barley and oats, ect... I am not as familiar with this and how the protein and fats balance out. 

Corn is a good source of energy for fat and calories and will help with milk production, but if you give too much, it can upset their stomach. 

Make all feed changes slowly.


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## Bedste (Jul 12, 2011)

what is boss-------


Is there any food that has everything in it??


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## freemotion (Jul 12, 2011)

Boss is Black Oil Sunflower Seeds....the kind you buy for feeding the wild birds.  It really puts a shine on the goaties coats!


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## 20kidsonhill (Jul 13, 2011)

Go to your feed store or feed stores and check out what they sell for goats, Tractor Supply Company, Farm choice and Co-ops should all sell bags of goat feed. We have a lot of choices by us, some people aren't as lucky. I would say each time you put her up on the stand to milk her she should have some goat grain and alfalfa pellets put in front of her to eat, while you are milking her. The sun flower seeds wont come in the goat grain, that is expensive and they don't put something that expensive in the grain to keep cost down.


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## Bedste (Jul 14, 2011)

Ok...... 

Goat grain the same as goat food from TSC?

I have------

Alfalfa pellets
Rolled Oats
Goat feed from Tractor Supply
All Stock Sweet Feed

I mixed all of the above together........ 

1 part alfalfa pellets
1 part oats
1 part sweet feed

mixed this up real well with twice as much Goat feed.   Am I on the right track?  If I feed this mixture to her on the milk stand and offer her all the hay she wants, will that work?   Is it ok to mix it all together and do it this way?  I am sorry for asking so many questions.  I want to do this correctly.


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## freemotion (Jul 14, 2011)

There is no one correct way.....but it sounds good, you are on the right track with the basic principles.  Hay 24/7, and grain on the milking stand....what grain you use is up to you.  Sounds like a good mixture.  I feed sprouted whole grains, but I'm a rebel.


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