Feed Questions

[Aped]

Okay

I have two feed questions:

1. I have goats and I recently acquired a katahdin sheep. So I bought sheep feed from TSC. Now I see they also sell "sheep and goat" feed. I'm assuming this is just sheep feed with a different label? Because I know sheep can't eat goat feed due to the copper. Is the sheep and goat good for goats? Right now i feed purina show goat, noble goat, or Dumor goat feed(not sweet) listed in order of which one I prefer the most. Is the sheep and goat feed nutritionally equivalent to these pelletized types?

2. Are minerals really required when feeding a pelletized or any other complete feed? For my goats I do buy loose mineral but I mix it into their feed when I make a batch. But looking at the nutritional info on feed, all essential minerals are in the feed itself. The same goes for the sheeo feed.

Basically I'm trying to figure out if I need to buy separate sheep feed, separate goat feed and separate minerals for each. Goats need copper but sheep don't seem to need anything special so if it's in the food why buy minerals for them?

 

[cmjust0]

Okay

I have two feed questions:

1. I have goats and I recently acquired a katahdin sheep. So I bought sheep feed from TSC. Now I see they also sell "sheep and goat" feed. I'm assuming this is just sheep feed with a different label? Because I know sheep can't eat goat feed due to the copper. Is the sheep and goat good for goats? Right now i feed purina show goat, noble goat, or Dumor goat feed(not sweet) listed in order of which one I prefer the most. Is the sheep and goat feed nutritionally equivalent to these pelletized types?

"Sheep and Goat" feeds and minerals contain no copper. Goats absolutely need copper.

I'd actually hazard a guess that most goats in the US are copper deficient, to one degree or another.

2. Are minerals really required when feeding a pelletized or any other complete feed? For my goats I do buy loose mineral but I mix it into their feed when I make a batch. But looking at the nutritional info on feed, all essential minerals are in the feed itself. The same goes for the sheeo feed.

Most feed contains a mineral/vitamin pack, but at what levels? Are they sufficient when the grain is fed in small quantities, as grain kinda sorta really should be fed?

In my experience, the answer is no.

We screwed the pooch on mineral for a long time there, before we really knew better.... Basically, we were working on the old wives' tale that goats "take what they need" of the mineral, and I didn't really know what was what when it came to mineral anyway......so we put out bad mineral in large quantities, and they promptly ignored it. Without ever really stopping to think about the super picky nature of a goat, we just kinda figured them ignoring it meant they didn't need it..

They were, afterall, getting some mineral in their feed!

Then the black goats' butts turned red, some of their tails started getting the "fishtail" look, some of their coats just started getting bad in general, we started having much bigger parasite problems in a few, we had some hooves start doing weird things....not great.

When I figured out that fishtails and red butts in black goats usually means there's a copper deficiency, I started trying to figure out everything I could about mineral...and then I applied it to the nature of the goat!

Where that got me is A) making sure I'm looking not just at the guaranteed analysis tag on a bag of mineral, but at the actual components of the mineral blend to make sure it includes highly bioavailable forms of everything, and B) setting out small quantities at a time and refreshing it often, because I finally "got it" that a goat's not going to eat anything that's been sitting around in their barn for more than a few days -- especially when that something contains salt, which wicks funky, nasty moisture out of the air to begin with..

Basically I'm trying to figure out if I need to buy separate sheep feed, separate goat feed and separate minerals for each. Goats need copper but sheep don't seem to need anything special so if it's in the food why buy minerals for them?

Absolutely, yes.. The potential for a copper deficiency is a dealbreaker.

 

[Aped]

Thanks for the input, when it comes to the "sheep and goat" feed I was planning ot add minerals for the goat batch. But if I went with separate feeds I was trying to see if I needed minerals added.

I started adding minerals directly to the food exactly for the reasons you stated. It was always wet and while they did occasionally eat it, it got nasty so fast I was throwing so much away so now mixing it I know they are getting minerals.

I think I need to sit down with the labels and see what the recommended daily intake of minerals and what's actually in the feed and how much they are getting from the feed.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I can't STAND when feed companies make "sheep and goat" feed or "All-Stock" feed. Different species have different requirements. Yes, it's possible to feed some animals feed meant for others, but generally they can't just be switched willy nilly.

I'd recommend feeding them separately and adding the loose mineral to their feed ration.

 

[nmred]

"I started adding minerals directly to the food exactly for the reasons you stated. It was always wet and while they did occasionally eat it, it got nasty so fast I was throwing so much away so now mixing it I know they are getting minerals."

Aped, how much mineral do you feed a day? My goats hardly ever eat the minerals and I worry about them getting enough, so would like to try this but have no idea of the amount. BTW I use the Purina Goat minerals. Is this a good brand?