Feeding the LGD and not the goats

[genuck]

My goats love to dive into my LGD's food. Aside from the fact that it's more expensive how harmful is it to them? I need to know what extremes I need to go to in terms of keeping them out of it. She hates being locked up away from them and will chew her way through to get back to them if I don't come back and let her out quick enough.

 

[Bedste]

I feed my LGD at night after dark before I go to bed. His food is gone in the morning well before everyone else wakes up.

 

[Roll farms]

Ours always (from puppyhood) come into the barn (the 'people' area / milking parlor - which sounds a lot fancier than it is) 2x a day to eat while the goats are eating in the stall. When it's hot, they don't eat as much, sometimes will skip entire meals...I let them be the 'boss' of when they want to eat / don't and how much they want.

If they run right in the door, I know they're really hungry. If they aren't at the door....I assume they're not.

They either flop on the floor after sniffing to see if I *maybe* brought them down a T-bone or Porterhouse (ha ha), or they scarf down their kibble. While I fill waterers, feeders, hay feeders, etc...then when I'm done, I open the barn door and out they go. Depending on if I'm milking or not, that can be anywhere from 5 mins to 25 mins. But they know the deal -
You have a short while to eat, do it when you first come in or else you're probably going hungry until the next feeding.

I've never had one miss more than one meal.

 

[lgdnevada]

Here's my experience: goats will eat dog food that is corn based product. I feed Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice, which has no fillers, soy or corn....and...the goats will NOT touch it, even if it is sitting out there in the field. I free choice feed my dogs, there is food around all over (with almost 20 dogs you have to spread it around) 24/7. At night, I pack pans of food out into the goat pasture for the dogs that will be out with them during the night. The goats don't touch it. Corn-less dog food is much better for your dog, your dog will process the food better, less waste, more energy. It costs a little more but really because it is more efficient in the manner the dog's metabolism processes it, you really save money in the long run. Oh and less potties.... The birds still try to get to it but I suffer minimum loss there. Anyhow, you might try switching for a test run to a different brand of dog food and I'll bet you will see a difference, particularly if no corn in the food.

 

[Julie_A]

Good thread!!!

 

[cmjust0]

Ok, so here's my experience.. Corn-heavy dog foods like regular ol' Purina dog chow -- while maybe not **omgah the best evar** -- will absolutely keep a dog very much alive and in really good shape, provided you use it correctly. Mostly, that just means don't overfeed your dog(s), which is something I think most people do. For example, I have 5 dogs totalling..meh..I'd say about 500lbs, and I go through a 44lb bag of Dog Chow every 8-9 days.. Yep...I feed just under 5lbs a day to about 500lbs of dog. That's it.

Having said that, there's a really cheap, easy trick to feeding corn-based dog food to LGDs without having to worry that the goats will get in it.. It's called an egg. Before you set your LGD's food down, splatter an egg in the bowl -- shell and all. The dog will love it, but the goats?...mmmyeah, not so much. Eventually the goats will figure out that the stuff in the dog's bowl is of no interest to them, and they'll stop even paying attention.. I used to do this with every feeding when I had an active flock of laying hens and more eggs than I knew what to do with, but I only got one chicken left :/ ...so I quit doing it. I haven't put an egg in their bowls in forever, but the goats still don't even bother to walk over.

 

[genuck]

I think I will try the egg thing, we have plenty of those and I know the food has corn in it. I'll also put out some of my indoor dogs food to see if the goats will eat it. They have a 'eat now, taste later' kind of thing going on.

 

[redtailgal]

.

 

[Beekissed]

Ok, so here's my experience.. Corn-heavy dog foods like regular ol' Purina dog chow -- while maybe not **omgah the best evar** -- will absolutely keep a dog very much alive and in really good shape, provided you use it correctly. Mostly, that just means don't overfeed your dog(s), which is something I think most people do. For example, I have 5 dogs totalling..meh..I'd say about 500lbs, and I go through a 44lb bag of Dog Chow every 8-9 days.. Yep...I feed just under 5lbs a day to about 500lbs of dog. That's it.

Having said that, there's a really cheap, easy trick to feeding corn-based dog food to LGDs without having to worry that the goats will get in it.. It's called an egg. Before you set your LGD's food down, splatter an egg in the bowl -- shell and all. The dog will love it, but the goats?...mmmyeah, not so much. Eventually the goats will figure out that the stuff in the dog's bowl is of no interest to them, and they'll stop even paying attention.. I used to do this with every feeding when I had an active flock of laying hens and more eggs than I knew what to do with, but I only got one chicken left :/ ...so I quit doing it. I haven't put an egg in their bowls in forever, but the goats still don't even bother to walk over.

Excellent solution! And I agree about the corn-based food....while not the best and I'd love to be able to afford premium steak cuts for my dog, life is just not about that for me. My dogs always thrived well on Ol' Roy and I've never had to feed them more just becuse it is supposedly less nutrient dense.

 

[honeymeadows]

I've tried the egg and mostly it works - except for one or two goats. What works best for us is I trained my LGD to guard her food. She loves her goats, but now if one even looks sideways at the dog food bowl they get a full throated growl. If they keep coming they get a growl and a snap. They always try anyway.