does anyone not feed grain?

[mistee]

I had a lady contact me asking if she HAS to give grain to her goats.... I dont grain my bucks but they do get good hay and free choice minerals but I have always grained my girls.....

here was her question..

she has a couple of does just being bred.. Do they need grain now? When should they start getting grain when pregnant?

She is getting nigerians..

thanks

 

[Heavenly Springs Farm]

I only grain the does I am milking. I know a lot of people that grain their goats all the time. All of my goats get good alfalfa hay. They are all nice and fat.

 

[mistee]

I have been on the fence w/ this myself as I gots some fatsos!!! I have one doe that everyone that comes out asks when she is going to give birth,,,lol,, she isnt even pregnant~

 

[glenolam]

FWIW - I haven't given any of my goats any grain for the past few months. They are all fat fat pigs and they only have hay and water! I feed according to condition up until a few weeks before kidding. Then I gradually increase the doe's grain, but again only according to condition. You definitely don't want her too fat before kidding!

 

[Ariel301]

It depends on the goats. In general, I only grain them when they are on the milk stand, and even then, the smallest amount I can. But I have one older doe who needs two pounds a day top dressed with corn oil all year round because she is chronically underweight for no apparent reason...and another who will milk a gallon a day only getting a cup of grain during the last half of her lactation period, and barely lose weight.

I have also heard that some people like to cut the grain down during pregnancy to reduce the birth weight of the kids, supposedly carbohydrates especially in late pregnancy can lead to huge kids and rough deliveries.

 

[warthog]

I have always given my goats grain, but that was mainly because when I got them, they were young and on the skinny side.

One doe has just weaned her kid and needs fattening up, so she gets grain.

Another doe has recently kidded and is feeding the kid, so she gets grain.

Polly, (aka Miss Piggy) my third doe is currently having her grain reduced slowing until on nothing at all.

Chops my almost 5 month old buck, get a teeny weeny amount, couple of spoonfuls.

Artorius, 1 week old is feeding from mum.

So, eventually none of them will get grain.

They do have free choice hay and about 12 hours a day browsing.

Grain will only be used as a supplement, if and when needed.

So in a nutshell if really depends on circumstances.

Hope that helped and didn't add to the confusion.

 

[Chirpy]

I, too, only give my girls grain toward the very end of their pregnancys and then while they are lactating. The rest of the year grain is only an occasional treat or 'bribe' if they refuse to come in at night to be locked up -- those are in very small amounts.