Goat ate chicken food!! Help!

[KellyHM]

My goats go after the chicken feed every chance they get. They prefer medicated...

 

[username taken]

kelly, yes, the buggers tend to like it. same as one of my boys really likes dry dog food

 

[KellyHM]

And the silly chickens like the goat food if the goats happen to miss a piece...

 

[m.holloway]

well, my 2 cents is just try to feed what the bags says, Goat feed for goats, chicken feed for chicks, cow feed for cows and ect. Sounds like I'm a scaryed cat, But I like my pets to be happy. Not having stomache problems. Now if the feed reads the same ingred. on every bag. I don't think I would try to keep each animal out of the other ones feed can. i know when my animals get sick. This group does give me good advice and I haven't lost one yet.

 

[cmjust0]

Ok, so...what happened to the goat, Virginia?

:/

 

[Beekissed]

alot of chicken feed will contain RAM - Restricted Animal Material. Basically, proteins derived from animal protein, meat, blood or bone meal etc. because chickens are omnivores they benefit from a bit of animal protein in the diet, pigs are the same. but the animal protein will burn out the goats liver and kidneys, and also it is illegal to feed RAM to ruminants because of the health hazards to people, so all of that is #1 reason not to feed chicken feed to ruminants.

#2 reason is the medication - most of the time for coccidiosis, and although usually it is the same stuff which is needed for goats (goats benefit from coccidiostat too) sometimes it is formulated differently for chickens and may have additives/whatnot which dont get along well with the goats

#3 reason is the mineral/vitamin composition of chicken feed - and this is why the 'dont feed goats chicken feed' rule applies to grain only scratch mixes as well as other chicken feeds. simply put, a chicken's mineral/vitamin needs are very different to the needs of a goat, and the feed is formulated especially to meet the needs of the chickens, but it will not be what the goat requires.

So, if your chook feed is not medicated, contains no animal proteins(which mine does not) and they only take an occasional snoot full like the OP's and are not getting fed this as a feed ration...then its okay?

 

[cmjust0]

Your best bet is to never think of it as OK, simply because it's not labeled as feed for goats. Same goes for the chickens with regard to goat feed.. Or horses, pigs, llamas, or any other animal with regard to feed that's not labeled for them.

Basically, just do your level best to keep everybody out of everybody else's feed and you'll avoid any issues that may or may not ever arise out of a 'mix and match' feeding environment.

For instance...I learned that I couldn't walk through the barn with a full chicken feeder without the goats crowding around me and to take swipes at it, nearly knocking it out of my hand. It also prevented me from getting where I needed to go. Those first few incidents didn't cause anybody any problems, but had they knocked 10lbs of it onto the floor and bolted it...who knows? Choke came to mind right off the bat, since it's basically powder..

Either way, all that really mattered to me was that it wasn't goat feed, so I felt like it was prudent to take steps to prevent a potential risk to their safety and wellbeing. That's a big part of my job as the herdsman, afterall...

I made a few tiny adjustments to my routine and it's not a problem anymore.

 

[Virginia]

Hi guys,
Sorry that I am just getting back on here. I ended up contacting a goat friend and had them come over and take a look at Allen (the goat). She said she felt almost certain that he would be okay and that he probably didn't get enough to harm him. He's running around and playing like normal.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[cmjust0]

 

[username taken]

alot of chicken feed will contain RAM - Restricted Animal Material. Basically, proteins derived from animal protein, meat, blood or bone meal etc. because chickens are omnivores they benefit from a bit of animal protein in the diet, pigs are the same. but the animal protein will burn out the goats liver and kidneys, and also it is illegal to feed RAM to ruminants because of the health hazards to people, so all of that is #1 reason not to feed chicken feed to ruminants.

#2 reason is the medication - most of the time for coccidiosis, and although usually it is the same stuff which is needed for goats (goats benefit from coccidiostat too) sometimes it is formulated differently for chickens and may have additives/whatnot which dont get along well with the goats

#3 reason is the mineral/vitamin composition of chicken feed - and this is why the 'dont feed goats chicken feed' rule applies to grain only scratch mixes as well as other chicken feeds. simply put, a chicken's mineral/vitamin needs are very different to the needs of a goat, and the feed is formulated especially to meet the needs of the chickens, but it will not be what the goat requires.

So, if your chook feed is not medicated, contains no animal proteins(which mine does not) and they only take an occasional snoot full like the OP's and are not getting fed this as a feed ration...then its okay?

I would hesitantly say its ok, and it just depends on how often the occasional snoot full is. With your feed you are only dealing with issue #3, the mineral vitamin imbalance. This WILL build up over time and you might find yourself with problems 3 - 4 years down the track. So, best to avoid it completely if you can. But not the end of the world if it is only very, very occasionally (and by that I mean once every few months).