Introducing new foods to goats

[Our7Wonders]

Just how slow are we supposed to go with new food introductions? I had some organic apples that we haven't been able to use fast enough and their starting to get a bit soft, though not bad. I thought I'd share them with the goaties - but is an apple each too much to start with?

I've been paying so much attention to all their other *goat* food that I haven't started giving them any of our scraps yet. I've got some squash too that we aren't likely to use all of before it goes bad - so just how slow do I need to go?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

No, an apple each isn't too much. A couple apples each probably isn't too much. I don't go all that slow w/ my animals. Grain is one thing, but vegetable matter is another. I don't always have a consistent supply of scraps, and when I do have scraps it's not all the same thing (one day maybe it's apple peels, the next might be carrots, etc). As long as you don't give them a crazy amount, they should be fine.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

No, an apple each isn't too much. A couple apples each probably isn't too much. I don't go all that slow w/ my animals. Grain is one thing, but vegetable matter is another. I don't always have a consistent supply of scraps, and when I do have scraps it's not all the same thing (one day maybe it's apple peels, the next might be carrots, etc). As long as you don't give them a crazy amount, they should be fine.

Same here. We went through a bushel of apples in the Fall making apple butter and fed the peels over the course of a couple days without any dietary scours. And loads of watermelon rind in the summer- my MIL's friend is a watermelon farmer. Makes me pine for summer just thinking about it!