Feeding corn

[Goatfarmer]

So where is it that yall buy this purina or pelleted goat feed?? What is the price for the pelleted or purina "GOOD" goat feed? We hate to keep changing feeds, its hard on them to keep doing that isnt it? I am thankful for any information that you can share, its the last thing we want to do is harm our goats. Thanks!

 

[helmstead]

Just search for a local dealer on the mill's website. Google ADM Alliance (my preference) or Purina Mills (for Noble Goat).

Expect to pay $10 to $15 a bag.

 

[cmjust0]

I was helping a buddy -- a serious goat guru -- this past weekend and his phone rang.. It was a friend of his with a really nice, really expensive young buckling with waterbelly. He recommended drenching with as much apple cider vinegar as he could get down the goat and possibly clipping the pizzle...otherwise, wait and see.

When he hung up, he kinda shook his head and said "Yep...tried to save $2 on his feedbill by cutting it with cracked corn, and now it's probably gonna cost him a couple thousand dollar billy..."



Make sure your feed is formulated with a 2:1 calciumhosphorus ratio.. Some feeds even have a little ammonia chloride added to prevent urinary calculi, too.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

not sure if this is beatin' a dead goat.. i mean ... horse...

but the original question was about chicken feed - from what i understand layer mix (for chickens) has a mineral that can be toxic to goats. so thats why you've heard not to give it to them

personally we give some sweet feed mixed (just a little handful) with 16% dairy goat pellets (as much as they want while milking 2x's a day) that we get from our local feedstore. i think its the AMD brand.

in the winter tho, we give a little cracked corn to keep them warmer - extra calories.

 

[alba]

The main ingredient in Purina goat feed is corn according to their website.
http://goat.purinamills.com/OURPRODUCTS/PRODUCTS/Overview/default.aspx

 

[helmstead]

Of all the Purina products, the Noble Goat line is the best. Back when I used Purina - this is the feed I preferred:
http://goat.purinamills.com/OURPRODUCTS/PRODUCTS/NobleGoatGrower16/default.aspx

The feed we are using now is made by ADM. The pellets are green, indicating a high alfalfa content...and you can even purchase a completely alfalfa based feed which is a wonderful product.

Corn is used in most goat feed (it's filler, cheap energy and empty calories), the AMOUNT of corn differs by brand. If you look at the pellet, and it's yellow like chicken feed, try a different brand. If it is brown or greenish, it is more oat/barley/alfalfa meal based.

Just because we know corn is bad for goats doesn't mean feed companies are going to stop making corn based goat pellets - I mean, they still make sweet feed for goats and market it for wethers and bucks without any supplemental AC. Go figure.

 

[alba]

Yes Purina Goat Chow also says it is a sweet feed in addition to having corn as the main ingredient. So I take it alfalfa and oats would be a good feed blend for goats in general. You can get big bags of each and blend them together quite economically.

 

[helmstead]

Nope. It's not the same as buying a feed with vitamins and minerals added. Are you going to add yeast? Are you going to work the ca/ph ratio, adding things to get to 2:1? Are you going to add copper and selenium, proteins, etc? AC? A coccistat?

By the time you buy the mixers to make it balanced & complete, you've actually spent more.

Some people do mix their own feed with success, but it's more than buying a bag of this and a bag of that.

 

[currycomb]

unfourtunately, there is not alot of research done in the goat field, so many feeds are blended like cattle or horse feed. even though there are more goats being bred and raised, the $$$$$is not there like say in horses, so you must pick and choose the best feed for your goats,IMO

 

[freemotion]

My philosophy is a bit different. All my grain-eating animals....chickens, turkeys, guineas, and until recently, my horse....get whole grains. I read an interesting study a few years ago on chickens on whole grains and the rarity of diseases such as coccidiosis when on this diet, so I switched. I also put some needed weight on my senior mare when I switched her over to lacto-fermented whole oats. This was after doing some study on grains, digestibility and nutrient bioavailability and anti-nutrients, in human diets.

Although I would definitely not consider myself an experienced goat person, to my milking doe I feed whole barley (lactofermented to increase nutrients and protein) and a bit of oats if I am running low on barley...I have to travel to get it....soaked beet pulp, BOSE, alfalfa pellets, and any veggie scraps...a chopped carrot in winter if we have no scraps. She gets alfalfa and grass hay, and free access to a weedy/grassy pasture. She was a starved and pregnant rescue, and is glowing with good health and gives milk generously just a few months later.

I let them all into the woods on occasion or bring leafy tree branches to all the goats almost daily.

The baby doeling is getting a tiny handful of barley and BOSE, and alfalfa pellets twice a day. She doesn't clean up the soaked food, so she isn't getting it in the hot weather. She goes into a stall by herself at night with a full rack of alfalfa and grass hay, and a bundle of fresh leafy branches tied to the rack.

The pigmy-x pets get no grain, just pasture and grass hay, and some alfalfa when it goes into the communal hay rack in poor weather.

All have access to a red salt block, loose salt, goat minerals, and baking soda.

I do NOT have purebred goats, though, they are mostly rescues, and all mixed breeds. My current goal is to have hardy goats on a self-sufficient homestead, so it is a much different way of thinking. If they are too "modern" to do well here, they will be sold. My goal is hardiness. Time will tell if this philosophy works with goats available currently. When I was a teen back in the 70's, we had goats reproducing and providing milk and meat for the family on only grass hay and oats and pasture/browse, we didn't even know about minerals and baking soda. We never had a loss or a sick goat, and always multiple, healthy, live births, trouble-free. From what I've read here, though, a lot of hardiness has been bred out of modern purebreds.