Can male goats eat grain

[taylorm17]

Please vote on what choice best fits you. Thanks everyone and please only vote once.

 

[Southern by choice]

I did not vote because I believe there to be many factors involved.
We feed a high quality feed to balance nutrition to all of our goats. It is not a sweet feed and has proper Ca/phos ratio.
Our Nigerian Bucks get 1 cup of feed per day as well as our does.
Because of an iron issue with our well we have a toxicology/mineral analysis done with random samplings of our goats. In the samplings we include male goats and meat goats.
All levels are great except the suspected iron levels.
We have no problems with the small amount of feed we give.
We have intact bucks no wethers.

 

[taylorm17]

I live in Warren County in ohio. Thank you for replying! My male is a buckand we are getting a new wether soon.

 

[AshleyFishy]

I did not vote because I believe there to be many factors involved.
We feed a high quality feed to balance nutrition to all of our goats. It is not a sweet feed and has proper Ca/phos ratio.
Our Nigerian Bucks get 1 cup of feed per day as well as our does.
Because of an iron issue with our well we have a toxicology/mineral analysis done with random samplings of our goats. In the samplings we include male goats and meat goats.
All levels are great except the suspected iron levels.
We have no problems with the small amount of feed we give.
We have intact bucks no wethers.

2x

 

[elevan]

I did not vote because I believe there to be many factors involved.
We feed a high quality feed to balance nutrition to all of our goats. It is not a sweet feed and has proper Ca/phos ratio.
Our Nigerian Bucks get 1 cup of feed per day as well as our does.
Because of an iron issue with our well we have a toxicology/mineral analysis done with random samplings of our goats. In the samplings we include male goats and meat goats.
All levels are great except the suspected iron levels.
We have no problems with the small amount of feed we give.
We have intact bucks no wethers.

x3

 

[Rocco]

yeah, what Southern By Choice said. We've fed bucks, bucklings and wethers grain-based feeds for years. Never an issue. But, they get minerals, good hay and pasture also...not just feed.

 

[goatboy1973]

Many, many variables factor into complications from feeding grains. Corn does have an excess amt. of Calcium so using it as a sole source in male goats is not recommended. Corn can also cause ruminal acidosis which can be fatal. Corn is a great source of energy for the winter time and actually increases the body temp of a goat. Feed corn diluted with other feedstuffs like grass hay and always make sure you have free choice goat specific mineral with AC to help prevent UC's in male goats.

 

[themorethemerrier]

First time posting and first time goat "mom". I've been doing a ton of reading and chatting with a few other goat owners and I must admit, I'm now totally confused about what to feed my three 8-week old wether nigerian dwarfs. I'm still bottle feeding them and plan to wean by 12 weeks. They have access to plenty of hay grass and a half acre backyard to forage. I provide loose minerals and fresh water. I was also told to supplement them with goat pellets, so I give them Purina Noble Goat. I chose it because it contains ammonium chloride which I was told to be sure they got since wethers commonly get urinary calcili. I give 2-3 cups of pellets for all three each day. First, is this too much? Second, and I'm completely embarrassed even asking this, but are goat pellets and grains the same thing? Or are grains more like oats, alfalfa, corn, etc? Third, since they are kids, is providing the pellets okay right now but less and less should be given as they transition more to hay?

 

[Southern by choice]

You are right about grains and feed, although many use the terms interchangeably. They are and aren't... as illogical as that sounds. All feed contains grains but are often formulated and balanced for nutrition with supplements added. High amounts of corn will cause bloat.
You will want to cut back on the amount or you could end up with some very sick goats. At 8 weeks 1/4 cup per goat is sufficient. Our adult goats (Nigerians) get 1 cup of high quality feed per day. Your kids would do best on allowing their rumins to develop... they need hay for that. Hay hay and more hay.
Wethering too young can create other issues. Breeders do things differently, not all will agree as to when but we would not wether anything before 4 months.
Your Calcium phosphorus ratio should be 2:1 or better.

Also welcome to BYH The more the merrier

 

[themorethemerrier]

Thanks Southern by Choice, I will definitely cut back on the pellets. They eat hay very well so I will just continue to encourage that.

I didn't realize prior to having them that wethering so young may cause problems. I bought them from the breeder this way and then learned of the potential problems. I wanted wethers as I truly want goats as nothing more than pets. Hopefully all will be okay as I have really fallen in love with these little guys!

Question, you stated my calcium phosphorus ratio should be 2:1 but I'm honestly not sure what you are referring to.