I may be doing this all wrong...

[Wandercreek]

@ragdollcatlady Thanks for the clarification. This helps me tremendously.

Good point about offering a bit of grain daily to keep them coming back. I had a bit of worry that I might not see them for days if I turn them out into the big pasture.

I'm going to call up the feed store and have them deliver Sweetlix and a small bale of each type that they have so that I can see what the goats prefer. I'll check the current bucket to see if it's a protein tub and start cutting back a little on the grain.

Thank you all so very much for your patience and advice.

 

[babsbag]

@ragdollcatlady answered those questions pretty well and I agree with her. The grain is especially nice when you need to catch them...just rattle that bucket. It doesn't work for mine and I wish that it did.

My goats love those protein buckets. To be honest with you, I haven't read the ingredients and I just give it as a treat now and then. Mine have the loose minerals all of the time. They make a medicated mineral and a non-medicated mineral. I would go with non-medicated. The medicine is for cocci which usually isn't a problem with adult goats. The medication can be dangerous for dogs if you have any of those that like to sample goat feed.

There are many kinds of hay out there and much of the time what is fed is what is available. I can get alfalfa year round, many people can't. Alfalfa hay is the hay of choice for goats in milk because it is the highest in calcium and protein but many diary animals eat other hay and are supplemented with a higher protein pellet or grain to compensate. Alfalfa is usually the most expensive too. I don't leave hay out free choice. Mine get a serving in the morning and a serving at night. I don't think they make a big enough feeder to leave hay free choice for 40 goats.

 

[Wandercreek]

@babsbag Holy Moly! 40 goats. I can't even imagine dealing with that number!

As far as protein buckets and minerals go, I have to be careful to make sure they won't be at odds with organic standards for certification. That aspect of the whole thing kinda slipped my mind through the last few posts. I wonder if it's possible to get these things in an organic format?

 

[Alaskan]

I agree with ragdol.

Give them free access to standard hay if they are tubby, alfalfa if they look thin.

Give then daily access to the brushy pasture.

I am not sure what bucket minerals are...loose minerals are what is usually what is recommended since goats cant get enough minerals by licking a block.

And every night a scoop of goat pellets, or whatever treat to make sure they come to the barn to locked up for the night.


Oh...and I would change feed slowly. No sudden shocks to the system.

 

[Wandercreek]

@Alaskan This is the bucket I have

The goats were very interested in it when I first put it out for them. I don't know if they still eat any of it. If so, it's very little as the level doesn't seem to be dropping much.

This is the pasture I can open up for them. The photo is from midway down the length of the pasture. There is about the same distance or more behind where I was standing. You can see the barn in the center of the photo in the distance. We have about 30ish acres of untouched woodland to the left of this photo that I can let them into after some perimeter fence repairs.

And a more detailed look at the fenceline browse

I feel pretty confident that this will support 3 goats. It's about 1.5-2 miles worth of fence line surrounding this pasture. These photos were taken today, but the fence line doesn't change much winter to spring that I can tell. I'm not certain about the summer months. We've only been here since December.

Anything glaringly wrong in these photos that I'm not seeing?

 

[Alaskan]

That looks WONDERFUL!!!

I do not see any noxious weeds.

There is plenty of brush coming through the fence for the goats to choose from. And there is a good selection of brush types.

Thanks for the photo of the mineral bucket. Looks like good stuff.


That place will get dry as a bone, and all brown in the summer. Don't worry though, the brush will still hold lots of nutrition for the goats.

 

[Wandercreek]

Thank you @Alaskan. That makes me feel so much more confident.

It isn't apparent from the photos, but this pasture is the literal bottom of a valley. It gets drainage from every direction. The brush line to the right is the edge of a year round creek. The left brush line is the woodland border that is also hillside sloping to the pasture. I may be lucky enough to avoid total crispiness in the summer. We'll see.

As for the mineral bucket, would I need to switch to loose minerals, or provide both loose and the bucket, or... just the bucket?

 

[Latestarter]

OMG your goats will be in heaven if you let them loose on all that woody stuff! You won't need to grain them for ages! Make sure you train them to come running to you for treats before you let them loose though. I guarantee you do NOT want to be chasing them all over that pasture trying to corral them back to the barn. With all that they have available to them there, I wouldn't "waste" money on expensive hay... If you have room in the barn to keep a round bale dry and off the ground, then get a round bale and just break off what you need every day or every other day so they have a little available to them. They'll waste a lot as they tend to pick through and only eat the choicest bits. You want to make sure you buy a bale that has been kept out of the elements though (down here in TX they cut, bale, then leave sitting out in the field in the weather as I'm sure you've noticed) as you do NOT want to have them eat moldy hay... it can kill them. Any time you add to, take away from, or change their diet, you want to do it gradually and over a bit of time, like a few days to a week or so.

Don't feel bad about asking questions! We have a very supportive group here who enjoy helping others succeed!

 

[Latestarter]

Oh, and that bucket is NOT a mineral bucket, it's a protein bucket. You want to buy loose/granulated minerals designated for goats. Goats need more copper than most other typical barnyard animals. There are minerals that say "sheep & goats" or generic minerals... you don't want those as sheep in particular can't handle the amount of copper that goats need, so that mineral, though great for sheep, is lacking for goats. You don't want mineral blocks as goats can't get what they need by licking, so they'll try to bite it, which can damage their teeth. IMHO I don't think minerals factor into organic or not... they are just minerals that animals would normally get from their feed/forage, but can't because they are deficient in the soils/plants.

 

[Alaskan]

Thanks Latestarter....you moderator you.

And yep...good advice.