Goats

[Goatgirl101]

What do you feed your goats while they are on the milking stand? Can goats have royal wing black oil sunflower seeds? Thank you

 

[Alaskan]

What do you feed your goats while they are on the milking stand? Can goats have royal wing black oil sunflower seeds? Thank you

Depends on how much they are producing (high production means they need higher quality nutrition), and their personality (a super "suck up all feed in 2 seconds" goat needs a big rock in the feed bowl, or more filler so she doesn't finish too soon).

Also... if she is both lactating and pregnant, then she probably needs some supplements with a high quality feed...

Or... do you have a cute, not in milk doe that is up there on the stand for training?


Also... whatcha got on hand?


But yes, some sunflower seeds are good for goats.

 

[Goatgirl101]

Depends on how much they are producing (high production means they need higher quality nutrition), and their personality (a super "suck up all feed in 2 seconds" goat needs a big rock in the feed bowl, or more filler so she doesn't finish too soon).

Also... if she is both lactating and pregnant, then she probably needs some supplements with a high quality feed...

Or... do you have a cute, not in milk doe that is up there on the stand for training?


Also... whatcha got on hand?


But yes, some sunflower seeds are good for goats.

I am milking her on the milking stand. I am just feeding grain from TSC right now but I'm trying to see what else I can feed her while she is getting milked. I have 1 goat that produces a lot and another 1 who only does 5 oz. Ok, so goats can have sunflower seeds that are meant for birds?

 

[Mini Horses]

I use BOSS for birds, goats & horses. Good feed, yes sometimes the ones for birds. When I'm milking I have grains and some real high quality hay. Even buy some that is just too expensive to use as the daily fed the herd...not all are milking. So, they enjoy that once the grains are gone. Milkers get oats, alt pellets, and flaked barley on the stand. They also eat hay, grains with rest of herd....pasture most of the year in my area.

 

[Goatgirl101]

I use BOSS for birds, goats & horses. Good feed, yes sometimes the ones for birds. When I'm milking I have grains and some real high quality hay. Even buy some that is just too expensive to use as the daily fed the herd...not all are milking. So, they enjoy that once the grains are gone. Milkers get oats, alt pellets, and flaked barley on the stand. They also eat hay, grains with rest of herd....pasture most of the year in my area.

Ok. Where do you get your alfalfa pellets, barley, etc?

 

[Mini Horses]

Rolled oats and alfalfa pellets are at most feed stores. The flaked barley I had a store special order, Blue Seal brand. That was the hardest to find. Looked like oats. Wasn't. They would get a shipment first of month for me, so 5 bags in my case. I use a good amount when working 3-7 full sized does. I mixed about equal parts of those three.

 

[Goatgirl101]

That definitely helps! Thank you so much!

Rolled oats and alfalfa pellets are at most feed stores. The flaked barley I had a store special order, Blue Seal brand. That was the hardest to find. Looked like oats. Wasn't. They would get a shipment first of month for me, so 5 bags in my case. I use a good amount when working 3-7 full sized does. I mixed about equal parts of those three

 

[Ridgetop]

Any good dairy grain ration is fine for dairy goats in milk. I was able to get a cattle dairy ration for milkers at the local feed mill in bulk which was cheaper. Since we were milking 20 standard heavy milkers daily it helped the feed costs. Since goats need copper, the dairy cattle feed worked very well. I had high yielders.

The standard ratio is to feed 1 lb. of grain for every lb. of milk. You have to weigh the individual goat's milk at each milking and keep records of the weights. Do not measure by liquid volume since milk weighs and measures differently according to the amount of cream which varies through the lactations period. Cream is lighter than milk.

With heavy milkers you can practice "challenge milking". Feed 1 lb:1 lb until the goat reaches top production for a week. Then gradually reduce the grain by half a cup until the milk yield starts to decrease slightly. Add back the last half cut to bring the yield up to the to high amount again and continue with that amount of grain until the goat naturally starts to decrease in preparation for breeding her again. Every goat is different and will take different amounts of grain to reach top production.