Can I just feed Goat Chow?

[mikenandrea]

Ok, I was told that I could choose to feed only goat chow to my goats, nothing else needs to be fed.. I think this man is off his rockers. But I am asking you folks, what your opinions are..

Right now, I am feeding them free choice coastal hay and 1 cup each of Purina goat pellets. They also have a salt block in with them, free choice.. I plan to switch the does over to goat chow once they are preggers. I am getting a buck this weekend.

 

[lupinfarm]

You can feed any animal on just grain, really, the Purina Goat Chow and all Purina Chows give directions to feed as the sole ration (including roughage/hay ration) but its not really right. Your goats need hay/roughage to keep their rumens working. Just feeding the chow isn't going to give the rumen enough work.

Deffo off his rockers I'd say really

 

[ksalvagno]

Definitely the goats need hay and grass. Certainly you want to supplement with a good goat feed to give them the minerals and vitamins that they don't get in the hay and grass. Also, you may want to consider getting a goat loose mineral instead of the salt block. Males don't need as much grain as the females and some people feel they don't need any grain. I like to give mine some grain because I know my hay and pasture is low in selenium. All my goats have free choice loose goat minerals too.

 

[mikenandrea]

thanks.. I was reading about the loose minerals and thinking it may be the way I will go..

 

[cmjust0]

No roughage = no rumen = big problems.

Consider a bred doe who never ate much long fiber to develop a nice rumen, and now she's got kids pushing on what little rumen she had.. Does she have the capacity to consume enough feed to support the kids growing inside her, or are you going to end up with a case of pregnancy toxemia?

Personally, few things make me happier than an empty adult doe with such a well-developed rumen that she looks like she's ready to drop quads at any moment.. That kind of capacity is a good thing.

 

[helmstead]

Don't forget to get AC to your buck one way or another - either with a feed containing it or loose mineral containing it or topdressing it. Manna Pro makes a loose mineral that would work, available almost everywhere these days. It will not hurt your does, so you can use one product for everyone.

 

[lupinfarm]

Helmstead...

Ontario is notorious for being low in selenium, thats why everyones horses have the blue blocks, .. should I get my girls some loose of the selenium or just stick with the dairy cow loose mineral?

 

[helmstead]

Helmstead...

Ontario is notorious for being low in selenium, thats why everyones horses have the blue blocks, .. should I get my girls some loose of the selenium or just stick with the dairy cow loose mineral?

I would use BoSe, same as we do here in the SE US.