# WHEN DO MOST OF YOU FEED? IN THE MORNING? ENENING? OR BOTH????



## Speedy94c (Jul 29, 2010)

JUST WONDERING WHAT EVERYONE DOES AND WANTING TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO.

THANKS STEVE


----------



## glenolam (Jul 29, 2010)

You do what works best for you.

My goats have hay and water 24/7 and I feed grain around 6 - 7 pm.


----------



## ksalvagno (Jul 29, 2010)

You have to do what is most convenient for you. Animals get used to whatever schedule you put them on. I feed in the am but the goats who get milked get fed twice a day.


----------



## jodief100 (Jul 29, 2010)

Mine browse during the day and I give them a very small amount of grain at dusk just to get them back in the barn.  They always have clean water and if the weather is so they can't go out they have free choice hay.  In the winter they have free choice hay and grain in the evening.


----------



## dkluzier (Jul 29, 2010)

We tie all up to feed twice a day only because we milk twice a day.  Hay and water are offered free choice all the time. And of course they are on pasture 24 hours a day.


----------



## cmjust0 (Jul 29, 2010)

Hay and water, free choice...and they graze, so they can do that whenever.

I've found it's better to feed when it's coolest, though.  Seems they eat better, and that's especially important if you've got goats that NEED to eat some concentrate to keep up condition.

And if they don't NEED it...then you kinda shouldn't be feeding it anyway.


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Jul 29, 2010)

When they are getting grain (flushing time, last half of gestation through weaning), I feed twice a day, with free choice hay.  Now they're all on pasture, with supplemental hay if they want it.


----------



## lupinfarm (Jul 29, 2010)

We feed morning and evening. The goats have hay and water all day and I split their feeding up between two meals.


----------



## Speedy94c (Jul 29, 2010)

So it looks like everyone also keeps hay out, (which I havent been doing). Mine are on about 8 acres and I have about 40
goats on it. I have been feeding them twice a day but my cheep feed it about gone so i will be just feeding once a day and I think Ill do it in the evening  because I have more time then to check them all out also.

Do I need to get a round bale of hay and put out for them?  I bought a sqr bale a few weeks ago and they wouldnt touch it.


----------



## jodief100 (Jul 29, 2010)

I don't keep hay out if they have plenty of browse and the weather coperates.  If they did not touch the hay they probebly don't like it for some reason.  Either the browse is better, the hay got dirty (don't put it on the ground) or it just wasn't good hay.


----------



## warthog (Jul 29, 2010)

I feed early morning and evening.

Mine won't touch their hay either, but that's because it's poor quality more akin to straw than hay.  I am trying to source better, but who knows.

They normaly get a small handful about 4 oz morning and evening, then free to browse all day.

At the moment I have one still nursing, two pregnant and a young buck so they are all getting a little more than usual.


----------



## goat lady (Jul 30, 2010)

We live in Florida and have afternoon storms, so in our 3 pens each has a goat 3 sided house, and a hay rack inside to keep it clean/dry. We always keep some hay in it, and clean water out. But we feed our grain in the late afternoon/evening. Usually 4pm-6pm.  The first two goats we got that is when that person feed them, and since then we found a goat farmer that I have bought 11 goats off him, and he feeds in the evening also.  It works good for us, and when the goats start calling for dinner. The chickens know they are next.


----------



## dkluzier (Jul 30, 2010)

we have a hayrack, our goats won't eat much of the hay if it is on the ground.


----------



## apdan (Jul 30, 2010)

Mine have free choice hay and water all the time, they also can graze. I have them in with a steer so I feed everyone in the pen grain every morning. I used to do it at night but it has become more convenient to do it in the morning.


----------



## Lil_Miss_Farmer_Chick (Jul 30, 2010)

We feed grain in the am and pm, fresh hay and water 24/7, and they get to browse all day on pasture.  

My husband made a welded-wire hay feeder that is attached to the inside corner of their goat shed.  They seem to love it, and it reduces waste.


----------

