# help from my seasoned goat farmers



## crazy4cochins (May 23, 2009)

Hi I am going to be a goat farmer soon, Need help with the whole feeding thing. need help making a feeding plan I guess.
  Herd is 1 buck, 1milking doe and 1pygmy buck.
Question : How to feed them right.
Doe maybe preggers? all are tiny, not sure about the whole 
Browse thing, does this mean grass and weeds? Do you let them eat all they want or do I have to monitor how much they can eat?
We have alot of overgrown areas for them.
2. Hay is ok but do I need to feed Goat food or Sweet feed and get mineral blocks?
the sweet feed seems sticky and reminds me of treat, Is this true or am I being fussy?
Please enlighten me on how to do this.
I can tell you they are not being fed right as of now and I want them
to have a diet that they are suppose to.
Thanks everyone


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## Chirpy (May 23, 2009)

First:  

Let's see if I can get you started:

Milk doe:  I'm assuming you are going to milk her.  Anything she eats, out of the ordinary - like weeds - can change the flavor of her milk; it might not but can.  Thus, most people who milk their does keep them in a large enclosed area and control their feed so the milk taste is always the same.  She should be on a good quality alfalfa or grass/alfalfa hay - free choice and give her grain or feed twice a day.  I feed Klassy goat (it is sticky because it has molasses in it and some people don't like it - it's a personal choice - there are other feeds out there) while they are on the milk stand.  That not only gives them something to do but I know exactly how much they are getting (no other goat can steal their portion).

All goats need minerals.   Loose minerals are the best (goats don't do as well with solid blocks) - get goat minerals not sheep minerals.  They need copper - Purina sells loose goat minerals here with the right amount of copper in it.

I don't have extended experience with bucks but here's what I've been told.  Someone else can correct me or add:   They should not have alfalfa or grain except in small quantities - as an occasional treat is best; because of UC.    So, a good grass hay should be their daily feed.  They would do just fine on pasture or as browsers in your overgrown areas.


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## Rence (May 23, 2009)

Chirpy, exactly how much grain are you giving your girls on the stanchion?

I've been feeding my does this: two big handfuls of beet pulp, four big handfuls of alfalfa pellets and 6 cups of sweet feed on the stanchion twice a day. They have free choice hay at all times, free choice loose minerals (trust me, I've tried the blocks, not good), free choice baking soda, and I recently added a block of alfalfa/grass hay twice a day (I have two milkers) that they share. They look really good but I want more production. Hopefully the alfalfa hay will help out.

I'd actually like to increase the alfalfa pellets and decrease the grain, but I'm not sure how to do that. I've heard they can bloat with too much alfalfa, so how do you keep yours from bloating with free choice alfalfa hay?

Like Chirpy says, I keep mine in a smaller area than the rest of my does, not only to keep them away from the bucks, but to control what they eat. I wish I had a bigger area for them to browse, but that's my milking doe/birthing pen area.

My bucks get free choice hay at all times, they also have a big area. I go by how they look. When they go in rut, they looks skinny and sickly, so I've had to supplement with grain. When it started getting warmer, I cut back on their grain. Right now they get about two cups of grain each. To avoid UC, I add a handful of alfalfa pellets (for the calcium) for the both of them. They look great right now. But they're just starting to go into rut, so who knows what they'll look like in a month. 

I have a smaller little guy in another area that I just got, and I'll be adding him to the big pen soon. But atm he's in a small pen with a lil bottle baby heifer (and they're the bestest of friends too). He gets about 3 cups of grain twice a day, hay and the handful of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp. You will not have to feed your bucks that much, my area really is small for him. The other two bucks in the big field will probably be fine without grain at all. When it rains again, and the grass grows again, I'll probably take them off the grain and watch them.

Always go by how they look. Go by their poop. Go by the mucous membranes, which should be bright pink.


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## Chirpy (May 24, 2009)

Rence asked:  





> Chirpy, exactly how much grain are you giving your girls on the stanchion?


I milk Alpine and Nubians - they each get 7 cups of feed every morning and every night on the milk stand.  It's a mixture of Klassy goat and BOSS.    I worked up to that amount, starting about a month before they were to freshen.  



> I've heard they can bloat with too much alfalfa, so how do you keep yours from bloating with free choice alfalfa hay?


I have not heard they they can bloat on alfalfa hay.. so I'd love to hear from others with more experience in this area.  I've, obviously, not had any issues with free choice hay for my goats.  

I have, however, added grass hay (for a few days) with the alfalfa when I got new alfalfa that was a much higher quality than what I had before so that they wouldn't gorge themselves on it.

Alfalfa does help with milk production, so does adding BOSS (plus it makes the milk fat go up somewhat too) - good luck, hope yours goes up.


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## kstaven (May 25, 2009)

Our hay used here with all milkers cow and goat is heavy on the alfalfa. NEVER had a bloat issue. Did have a bloat issue from them breaking into a feed shack and pigging out on chicken scratch. I had goat skinned beach balls that day.

They did get into a bag of alfalfa pellets a while back without issue.


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## pattyjean73 (May 25, 2009)

I've read here and elsewhere that alfalfa hay isn't the best hay to feed goats.  So what is the best kind of hay?


Baking Soda?  As in arm and hammer baking soda from a grocery store or is there a special "goat baking soda"? And why feed baking soda?


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## Chirpy (May 25, 2009)

pattyjean73 asked:  





> I've read here and elsewhere that alfalfa hay isn't the best hay to feed goats.  So what is the best kind of hay?
> 
> 
> Baking Soda?  As in arm and hammer baking soda from a grocery store or is there a special "goat baking soda"? And why feed baking soda?


The hay part depends on what type/sex of goat you have.   A milk doe gives a higher amount of milk when on a good alfalfa hay.  I also feed my does alfalfa when they are pregnant nursing - before I start to milk.   I would not feed a wether alfalfa hay (except for a treat or occasionally) because of the higher possibility of UC.    I have no idea about meat goats.   

Arm and Hammer baking soda right from the grocery store is what you need.  There's no special goat baking soda - that I know of anyway.   They use it to help with their digestion and keep things working properly in their rumen.  It can help prevent bloat.  Leave it free choice and they will use it when they need it.


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