Goat Feed besides Purina Goat Chow

[aggieterpkatie]

If you are looking for a cheeper alternative, you can add corn to the feed. I usually feed about 1/4 corn with a good brand feed.

I couldn't disagree more..

Corn is extremely high in phosphorus and very low in calcium.. It wouldn't take very much corn AT ALL to throw the correct 2:1 Ca ratio completely out of whack on a properly-balanced goat feed.

Not only that but it's pretty low in protein, so to add it to feed to up the protein doesn't make sense.

A lady came to the mill a few months ago when I was there, and she said, "I've been feeding my ewes whole corn but they're just not doing well on it and they're not making enough milk for their lambs this year. " No wonder, lady!

 

[ABHanna4d]

The all stock and sweet feed are 12% and 10% protein....goats, especially growing / gestating / lactating goats, NEED 16% feed.

Until we started carrying purina, I usually sent the goat / chicken customers who were genuinely interested in what was best for their animals (instead of how to feed them the cheapest) to the local feed mill...the PP and Dumor brands TSC carries just aren't as thoroughly researched and tested as I think they should be.

I have faith in Purina so will recommend it...but I still get my chicken feed at the feed mill....and my shelled / cracked corn, too.

LOL at CM....

What do you recommend at the local feed mill? I would prefer to give my girls the best blend of what I can give them, even if I have to blend it myself.

Also what do you feed your chickens? (do you blend it yourself?) Ive been using Dumor chicken feed (layer pellets) but the girls havent been eating it very much...they tend to go after the goat feed like crazy though if they can get near it (is that bad?). I try to keep all the animals seperate during feeding time, but usually the chickens head over to the goat barn as soon as they are done to try and pick up the leftovers from the goats.

 

[chandasue]

I get my organic feeds (one for chickens and one for dairy goats) from Buckwheat Growers Association of MN. It's probably too expensive to have them ship out of state but check with local mills. Most of them I've found will do custom blends and will help you get the right % of protein.

 

[Roll farms]

Every feed mill is different, what mine has may not be what yours has...

Any 'good' 16-18% GOAT ration (with copper, not a SHEEP AND GOAT feed) that your mill has should work....judge your goats condition if / when you gradually change feed over to something else...if they looked better on Purina, then that'll tell you what you need to know.

I give my does corn in winter (for heat)... but only about 15% of their entire ration...in summer they get ADM 36% Goat Power dairy goat concentrate mixed w/ a 12% sweet feed, and BOSS, so that it works out to around 18% feed.
Top dressed with loose mineral (ADM Goat Power mineral) and Kelp...and DE right now, since it's fly season. (I'm experimenting to see if it will cut back the fly population like some folks swear...we shall see...)

The chicken feed I get from my mill is called 'magic egg mash', it's their personal chicken mix... and I KNOW they lay better with it than they will with dumor...my mill had a fire and was out for 2 weeks last year, so I had to use Dumor. Egg production hit the toilet during that time.

I've been getting my chicken feed at this mill for 15 years...TSC only opened here 5 years ago.

 

[ABHanna4d]

WOW thank you all so much for your advice
I have so much to learn and Im glad my little goats are so patient with me!

 

[ABHanna4d]

Every feed mill is different, what mine has may not be what yours has...

Any 'good' 16-18% GOAT ration (with copper, not a SHEEP AND GOAT feed) that your mill has should work....judge your goats condition if / when you gradually change feed over to something else...if they looked better on Purina, then that'll tell you what you need to know.

I give my does corn in winter (for heat)... but only about 15% of their entire ration...in summer they get ADM 36% Goat Power dairy goat concentrate mixed w/ a 12% sweet feed, and BOSS, so that it works out to around 18% feed.
Top dressed with loose mineral (ADM Goat Power mineral) and Kelp...and DE right now, since it's fly season. (I'm experimenting to see if it will cut back the fly population like some folks swear...we shall see...)

The chicken feed I get from my mill is called 'magic egg mash', it's their personal chicken mix... and I KNOW they lay better with it than they will with dumor...my mill had a fire and was out for 2 weeks last year, so I had to use Dumor. Egg production hit the toilet during that time.

I've been getting my chicken feed at this mill for 15 years...TSC only opened here 5 years ago.

What is DE? Do they eat it to help prevent the flies?

I know it is "toxic" for goats to eat chicken feed, is it bad for the chickens to get into the goat feed?

 

[cmjust0]

]
What is DE? Do they eat it to help prevent the flies?

DE = Diatomaceous Earth..

Lots of folks claim it's one of those "good for what ails ya!" type miracle products that's both 100% safe and harmless, but works on internal and external parasites, as well as flies, wasps, ants, blah blah blah...

Personally...while I think it probably works under some circumstances, I also believe its usefulness has been exaggerated by an absolute TON of pure, unadulterated hype..

Take that FWIW.

I know it is "toxic" for goats to eat chicken feed, is it bad for the chickens to get into the goat feed?

While I'm confident that an accidental swipe of one anothers' grain here and there isn't going to hurt anybody, it's definitely best to keep each species out of all other species' feed.

 

[Roll farms]

I've never bought the "DE will cure what ails you" hype, either....
but a good friend I respect SWEARS her fly population last year was 10% what it was in previous years b/c of DE...So.....now, I'll be the 'control' group....the skeptic who's trying it...My goats, chickens, and dogs are all getting it in their feed, so we shall see.

Supposedly, if the fly lays it's eggs in the poop, the larvae will get cut up on the DE that's IN the poop, and not develop.

I'm fully expecting to find her luck with it was a fluke, the fly pop went down last year at her place due to global warming or something,

And no, I wouldn't let the chickens eat goat feed often or as a habit.

 

[nmred]

Roll, how much DE do you add and how do you feed it? Just sprinkled on their grain? I've been reading in several different places lately about using DE and have been thinking of trying it, but don't know how much to use. Will it cause damage if you use too much? I, too, am a bit skeptical that it is the miracle many people claim...but, I have used it for several years now in my garden as an organic pesticide, and it does work for that, so who knows, it may really work to keep down the flies.

 

[Roll farms]

Ummm....'bout this much *holds up feed scoop* top dressed on a freezer full of feed.

From what I understand, it's 'safe' as a feed additive...If you get the feed grade....I've never read how much is 'needed' so I just sprinkle some as I add layers of feed to the freezer (50# bag of sweet feed, 1/3 of a bag of goat concentrate, 2 scoops of BOSS, then sprinkle in some DE, probiotic powder, and mineral, stir, and do it again and again, layer by layer, until the freezer is full.

My husband hasn't got the patience to wait for me to 'blend' their feed, he helps me haul it into the barn and then wanders off and does other things until I'm done "playing in it", as he calls it.

When I'm done, there's a light gray coating on the feed, just enough to let me know it's there, but not enough that if I wiggle the scoop there's some left in the bottom.
Same w/ the dog feed.
Since the chicken feed I buy is a 'mash' it's a bit hard to see it, but I follow the same principle...bag of layer, 1/4 bag of scratch, BOSS, cracked corn, then DE, then start another layer.