# Southern States brand goat feed



## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

Does anyone here use Southern States brand goat feed? If so, how well does it work with your goats?

They have both a 15% meat goat feed and a general 17% goat feed (the 17% comes in pelleted or sweet feed). We have dairy goats but I'm interested in what everyone thinks of it in general.


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Mar 14, 2013)

If anything get the 17% feed. Do NOT get sweet feed. Sweet feed is crap feed.

Give more nutritional info on it and I can help to tell you if it is good or not.

I at least need the Protein, Fiber, Fat, and Ca ratio.


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## marlowmanor (Mar 14, 2013)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> If anything get the 17% feed. Do NOT get sweet feed. Sweet feed is crap feed.
> 
> Give more nutritional info on it and I can help to tell you if it is good or not.
> 
> I at least need the Protein, Fiber, Fat, and Ca ratio.


Online this is the only info they have listed about it


> Category:	 	Complete
> Form:	 	Pellet
> Life Stage:	 	Meat Goats
> Life Stage:	 	Growing & Mature
> ...


I was curious about it myself recently (only because our regular guy was out of feed when we needed it). I didn't make the trip to SS to check it out though since there was no price listed online. If I have to drive over 30 minutes for feed I want to know as much as possible before buying it and since I was comparing prices too it didn't help to not have the price listed online.


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

I have the feed tag for the regular pelleted goat feed, I'll take a photo of it and post it...


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

Here is the feed tag from the Southern States  17% Goat Feed:













For comparison, here is the tag from Purina Goat Chow:


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Mar 14, 2013)

The feed actually doesn't look too bad. Most SS stuff I see I do not like. 

I like the Protein. I like mine to be 16-18 but really like the 17-18% range. Fat I like anywhere from 2.5-3% and would not go below 2 or above 4%. The fat at 3% is good. Now the Fiber is low for my tastes. I like HIGH Fiber. Goat MUST have alot of fiber. I like mine 16-18+%. I myself wouldn't like going below 15% but if you do be sure you are feeding them hay to get the fiber in them. 

I think that if you got long fiber and more general fiber into them then that food could work well for you. 

The Goat Chow? No way. No sweet feed.


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> The feed actually doesn't look too bad. Most SS stuff I see I do not like.
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> I like the Protein. I like mine to be 16-18 but really like the 17-18% range. Fat I like anywhere from 2.5-3% and would not go below 2 or above 4%. The fat at 3% is good. Now the Fiber is low for my tastes. I like HIGH Fiber. Goat MUST have alot of fiber. I like mine 16-18+%. I myself wouldn't like going below 15% but if you do be sure you are feeding them hay to get the fiber in them.
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We feed free choice alfalfa pellets and free choice lespadeza hay


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Mar 14, 2013)

Well that's the issues. Goats need LONG FIBER. They WILL NOT get that long fiber from alfalfa pellets. If you feed the pellets and you have the feed with 10% Fiber you had pretty much be sure they always have hay out to eat. And I mean real hay, not alfalfa pellets. 

I personally am not a fan of the pellets AT ALL but I know some like them. Go ahead and feed it to them but I would get cheap grass hay from some farmer down the road and give it to them at all times. That way they get the feed they need, good stuff from the alfalfa pellets, as well as the long fiber that goat MUST have to live.


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Well that's the issues. Goats need LONG FIBER. They WILL NOT get that long fiber from alfalfa pellets. If you feed the pellets and you have the feed with 10% Fiber you had pretty much be sure they always have hay out to eat. And I mean real hay, not alfalfa pellets.
> 
> I personally am not a fan of the pellets AT ALL but I know some like them. Go ahead and feed it to them but I would get cheap grass hay from some farmer down the road and give it to them at all times. That way they get the feed they need, good stuff from the alfalfa pellets, as well as the long fiber that goat MUST have to live.


We feed Lespadeza hay... free choice... AND alfalfa pellets free choice


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

The Lespadeza is not a pelleted hay, its a baled hay.


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Mar 14, 2013)

How in the world did I miss that? lol

Is that stuff expensive?


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> How in the world did I miss that? lol
> 
> Is that stuff expensive?


We have a neighbor that grows it, we get it for $7/bale. We've been feeding it to our horses for years. Awesome stuff. In ruminants studies have been showing that it acts as a natural dewormer too.


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## SheepGirl (Mar 14, 2013)

want less said:
			
		

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 How much does a bale weigh? I bought two 40 lb bales of alfalfa (which is nutritionally better than lespedeza) for $5 each.


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 14, 2013)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> If anything get the 17% feed. Do NOT get sweet feed. Sweet feed is crap feed.


I disagree.  Sweet feed is just a different texture, with a small amount of molasses mixed in.  It can be the exact same nutritional quality as a pelleted feed.


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

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They probably weigh 40-50 lbs. We cant get alfalfa in this area without getting it trucked in so it is expensive. Lespedeza is a great alternative and it is local.


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## want less (Mar 14, 2013)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Straw Hat Kikos said:
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We've been using textured sweet feed for our goats and have had no problem on it. But everyone has their own opinion on pellets vs sweet feed... in the goat world and in the horse world. That's why I was asking in general for SS brand goat feed. However the tag I have pictured is for pelleted, that's just what they happened to have on hand at the store (I didnt buy any, they just gave me a tag)

I use SS brand feeds for our horses.


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 14, 2013)

want less said:
			
		

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I think SS brands are okay feeds, I haven't used them but know it is sold in our area and hear of people using it.


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## Mamaboid (Mar 14, 2013)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

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X2  We use a special goat sweet feed that our mill guy makes up for us.  My goats will NOT eat pellets of any kinds.  They just push their noses around in it and shove it out of the dish.  We tried the sweet feed out of sheer frustration with trying to find something they would eat.


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 15, 2013)

We just bought a new buckling, 12 weeks old, and he was on a sweet feed. Umburg brand.  the seller carried on about it for her show goats. She does have nice looking goats.  I was really worried about getting him to eat our pellets and got almost a full bag from her so I could have a lot of time to slowlyl transition him over.  Now our feed is a mix that we designed and it has a fair amount of alfalfa in it and smells wonderful, way better than the bagged co-op feed that I was buying.  It was 3 days and he was digging through his feed picking out and eating only our pellets.  LOL.  No problems getting him to transition over. 
I had a buck I purchased 3 or 4 years ago that I had a heck of a time getting him to switch, since he wasn't ona pelleted feed and he refused to eat the bagged pelleted feed fromt he co-op.  It was months before I got him to eat any grain.   

That was really not that important to the discussion. LOL.  

I am okay with the non-pelleted feeds, it is all the same ingredients just not pelletized.  Some people feel the grinding and smashing of the feed degrades it and they don't want everythign all smashed up, so then a sweet feed typ texture would be the way to go so you can incorporate more whole grains in it.  I am not sure I am on that band wagon and I am okay with a pelletized feed. 

We had problems with our show wethers that were on high amounts of grain, just pickign through the sweet feeds and eating the whole grains and levign the protein pellet part of the feed behind.  Even a sweet feed often has a pelelt in it, that woudl be the part that contains the protein. Often soybean  and then the vitamines and mineral packs. In our case for wethers the protein pellet in the sweet feed mix would also contain the ammonia chloride and that makes the pellet not tasete as good in the sweet feed mixture. So they woudl eat the oats and corn and everything around it and leave the protein pellets behind.  Kind of hard to grow nice wethers that way.  
So we ony do pelleted feeds.  
One of our local co-ops show feed for wethers is sweet feed,  I know they sell a quite a bit of it, but I didn't care for it and so we would only buy a pelleted show feed.  

sorry that was kind of wordy, but does pertain to feeding wethers. LOL>


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 15, 2013)

I'm not against either kind of feed.  I feed a sweet dairy goat feed, because I like it (and the goats like it) and that's what my feed place carries.  My sheep feed is textured, but doesn't have molasses (or very minimal molasses).  The sheep love it.  I used to feed pelleted and they liked that too.  My animals will eat anything, they're not picky at all.


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## Jewls819 (Mar 24, 2013)

I have been feeding my lactating doe alfalfa pellets with her grain.  She just picks at her hay that she has out all the time.  SHould I offer the alfalfa free choice?  I was afraid she would eat too much because she loves it.
I want to get her alfalfa hay but geez it is 28 dollars a bale here and if she wastes it what is the point when she gobbles up the pellets.


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Mar 24, 2013)

Jewls819 said:
			
		

> I have been feeding my lactating doe alfalfa pellets with her grain.  She just picks at her hay that she has out all the time.  SHould I offer the alfalfa free choice?  I was afraid she would eat too much because she loves it.
> I want to get her alfalfa hay but geez it is 28 dollars a bale here and if she wastes it what is the point when she gobbles up the pellets.


Some give the pellets to improve the milk production so if you want more milk from her it won't hurt her.  I would put her on the real hay because goat need hay and long fiber. They won't eat to much hay. Mine have hay (not alfalfa) and they spend just about all day eating it. They won't overeat hay. besides it's good for them. I would give her all the alfalfa she can eat in hay. 

WOW! Ok just saw that price. Well if it's that much and she wastes alot then go ahead and feed pellets but you have to give her hay too. If she doesn't eat the hay you are giving her do one of two things. 1. Change your hay 2. Give her nothing but that hay for a few days and she'll be forced to eat it. Goats do and will eat what you put in front of them if they are hungry. People spoil their goats to much. Make her eat the hay for a few days and she may very well eat it from there on out. worth a shot.


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## marilyn1 (Mar 25, 2013)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

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Wow like those hay prices.  I found some nice timothy and alfalfa mix hay and Pay 13 a bail and our coastal which looks crappy is 8.  They love the t&a hay


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