Eating to much ??

[Mitransplant]

I have two ND does, one ND buck and a pygmy goat. I have been feeding them all at the same time from a small trough like thing and that works for now. I tried the individual buckets and they didn't like that. My question is, how much should the two adult does (2 yrs and 1 yr old) be eating? They the little buck is two months old and the pygmy is 6 months old. How much should they be getting? The little buck is almost weened but since mom is there he will still nurse. They all eat like horses and a 50 pound bag of food isn't lasting but about two weeks. They are on pellets. I do have fresh water available as well as baking soda, mineral block and they have a big space to eat grass and things off of. Going broke feeding these four. About to the point of selling them all. Need some advice please. THANKS!

 

[SheepGirl]

Are they growing, gestating, lactating, or are they in maintenance? If you have a goat in maintenance (such as an open doe or a buck), they don't need grain...just hay/browse/pasture. As a general rule, goats need 3% of their body weight in feed each day. If you have a 100 lb goat, they need 3 lbs of hay per day. But if you have a growing/gestating/lactating animal, they will need more feed than that, which is usually supplemented with grain or extra roughage. With sheep, in addition to roughage, a gestating ewe will get about 1 lb of grain per day in her last month of pregnancy and a lactating ewe will get 1/2 to 1 lb of grain per lamb they are nursing. Lambs will tend to eat as much as they need in creep feed, but when they're weaned they get 1/2 to 1 lb of grain per day.

However, I don't know too much about goats. What does the feed tag say? Normally they have instructions on what/how much to feed.

 

[ksalvagno]

Do your goats get any hay? Do you put them out in a pasture to eat grass or browse? I think you are going through way too much feed. You can control it much better if you can feed them individually. I would be giving the 2 little guys about 1/2 cup of grain once a day and slowly increase to 1 cup per day. I would be giving older ND's that are dry or not pregnant just one cup of feed per day. The lactating female I would be giving enough so that she maintains her weight. I'm milking my ND twice a day and she gets 3 cups of feed twice a day. I use an actual measuring cup to scoop out the feed.

Also, they should have a good goat loose mineral. The block is not good for them. The baking is not needed to be out all the time either, only if they are bloated. It actually leaches minerals from the goats if they eat too much.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

There are so many different ways and opinions on how much and what to feed goats. If they are really killing you in feed costs then, providing they have enough good browse and hay, then you could take them off, or nearly off, of feed. What I would do for the does is to feed them about one cup of feed per goat and maybe a little bit more for the lactating doe. I would also feed them some high quality hay and use loose mineral. It works better. Do you feed grain or feed because there is a difference. I would give the bucks one cup too, but if you can get away with it, feed less. And of course hay for them too. This all depends on how good their browse is though.

 

[marliah]

I have 3 nd's and one is in milk, a bag of grain lasts us 2-3 months. I give my milker 3.5 cups a day, the other two goats get one cup shared between them.

I give them free choice hay or graze them too. I think that's way too much grain to be going through!

Hay is way cheaper than grain, at least where I live.

 

[Mitransplant]

I checked the bag and there is no instructions on it. Brown paper bag with a small tag on it telling the ingredients. I have cut them way down in feed since they are still getting into the chicken house and wreaking havoc in there eating the food and tearing down the perches I had up for the younger chickens. No matter how much I beat them with a broom they still do a Houdini and get back in there some how. I have different sizes of wood going this way and that across the only door going into the chicken house from the back and as soon as I walked away I saw one of the goats in the pen area. Before I can get in there to get her she is out. I am at my wits end as to how to keep them out. I can't let the chickens go all day without food and water like I have been doing the ducks, can I? I close the ducks and chickens up at night and the goats can't get in there unless the were to open a door and then the chickens and ducks have food all night long till I let them out in the mornings. Would it hurt the D's and C's to go without food all day? The youngest are 4 months old. Any suggestions? All suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Chickens and Ducks need to graze all day, a little here and a little there, to stay healthy and not pick on each other.

When I was only feeding 3 goats....1 ND dry doe, one ND wether and 1 standard sized Nubian, I was going thru about 1 1/2-2 flakes of alfalfa hay a day and 1 bag of grain would last me about 3 months.

I think you would be on target if you were going thru about that much now, maybe a bit more grain because your younger animals might need 1/4 to 1/2 cup of grain a day, and mama needs a couple cups at least if she is only feeding the one baby and not being milked.

What others said about minerals is absolutely necessary too.

Also the chicken grain will cause bloat if they eat too much in too short a time so its in their best interest to keep the goats out of the fowl food.

Sorry you are so frustrated.

Edited to add: that added up to only about 2-3 bales of hay per month at that time. $12- 18 per bale of alfalfa (california prices) and $16 or so per bag of show grain. Minerals $18 a bag (#25) lasted 6 months sometimes more, sometimes less.

 

[treeclimber233]

I don't konw what kind of wire you have around your chicken pen but if they can stick their head thru it can you put the feeder ouside the chicken pen where the goats cannot get to it? I have my water containers outside my chicken pens so they cant walk in it all day and make it nasty. As others have said chicken feed is for chickens only. Very bad for goats.

 

[Mitransplant]

It is my fault that they are eating way to much. When I got them I could see their ribs and hip bones and to me that is to thin so I have let them eat when ever they wanted. I have since cut them back to about a cup each a day. I feel guilty since every time I go outside and head that way they go running into the barn and wait for me to come in and feed them since the pail is empty. I have to grow a pair and not let in the the big brown eyes and cute little ones with the baby blues. It is for their own health I have to cut down as well as the heat of summer that is showing this week. Mid to upper 90's and that isn't good on a full tummy.
I have my chicken food inside the chicken house with a chicken wire pen on the back where the chickens come and go out the door. The goats were walking right in like a chicken even into the smallest door where the bigger chickens had to squat down to get in. Goats would squeeze their body into that opening. The little buck would just about 4 foot onto the shelf where I had the feeder for the chicken and knock it all off the wall to where I had to redo it at least once a week. I now have 2x2's making an X as well as some other boards going from side to side to where the ducks and chickens can get in BUT as I was walking back up to the house I turned around in time to see one of the adult goats squeezing her fat body through one of the smallest spaces just to get into the chicken house. I went out this morning and redid the opening and am praying this takes care of that problem. I also attached a couple of square boxes to some pallets and not the chickens can lay outside in the shade if they want to. I have a tarp over the top of the chicken run for shade but they prefer to be outside most of the time. I do find a few inside panting like crazy when they could be outside. Dumb chickens!
I will be going tomorrow I think and getting another bag of goat good and will continue to only feed them a cup each of food no matter what they do or how they act. I can't afford a bag a week even though it is only 10 buck and some change for a 50# bag. Rabbit food is almost 15 for a 50# bag. Chicken food is 10 something. That all adds up when you are feeding a lot of animals even though I know others have way more than I do.
I really think I made a mistake getting the goats and now I need to do things better for their health. There are days I wish I could sell the two older ones. Have had a few calls on them but so far nobody has showed up. Time will tell. Love my rabbits, ducks and chickens though. Goats have started eating the barn walls so that isn't going to sit right with the hubby. THANKS everyone for you help.

 

[verkagj]

If you have a farmers market in your area you might be able to get inexpensive veggies/fruit to use for feed also. Here in Belize, I know of folks who get all the outside cabbage leaves and other "day old" veggies to feed their goats, chickens, ducks, pigs, etc.
I got some for awhile but they got tired of eating them so my compost pile was the beneficiary. I don't get to town often enough to get fresh stuff any more. Found my goats love mangoes. It's funny watching them suck on the big pits to get off all the good mango. Lots of slurping going on!
I notice them checking the craboo fruit to see if it's ripe yet. They will have to fight the wild green parrots to get any when they are ripe.