Just got some skinny goats

[babsbag]

I don't have the experience with it that others might, I have only used it twice. It is about $15-16 a bag which isn't too bad for a supplemental feed. My goats like it ok, but I don't. I can't throw it into the feeder from across the fence and I have too many goats to go in the pen and get mauled at every feeding time. Also, once you open a bag you need to feed it ASAP as it will mold. Even in nice no humidity CA my bag got moldy after about a week. If I was feeding the bag upon opening it it would be ok, but I was trying to feed one goat that needed some extra nutrition.

The people I know that feed it regularly love it. Just doesn't work for me.

@JenniferDuBay You might want to try a different mineral. I don't know what you are using but I used to use Purina and no one ate it. I figured that goats know what they need and that they were ok. A necropsy on two goats proved that idea wrong. I switched to Sweetlix Magnum Milk and I go through 20 lbs a week...they devour it.

 

[misfitmorgan]

You might try a feed mill for cheaper grain/feed stuffs if you have those by you. We get 50lbs of goat sweet feed from the mill atm for 12.50/50lbs. I might need to swap to that Sweetlix Babs, atm we have an all around livestock loose mineral with copper...and we tried putting out some Manna Pro goat mineral but we still have 45lbs of general livestock loose mineral after 4 months and 7lbs of the manna pro after a month and a half for 14+ goats. I was assuming they were taking what they need but now im not thinking so. I believe i should be going thru 3-5lbs/week.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

I thought it would take longer for the goat girls to warm up to me, but tonight at the dinner meal, I was being mauled! I usually let petunia out to nom the grass around me while I fill their bowls, but today Lily decided to join her! (What a heart attack... I didn't think I would be able to get her back in, should have known the shaking of a food bowl would do it.) Even Myrtle decided to hop out of the house and glare balefully at me from three feet away. I feel loved! The DM seems have taken care of Toony's issue completely, I split her hair all over and didn't see one flea/lice thingie, when the last time I looked she was covered in them (to be fair, she was wet...) Anyway, I dumped a whole bag all over their pen. I can't get the other goats to stay still enough to deal with this, but I figure they've warmed up this quickly, give it a week and I'll be able to hook lily without too much issue. Myrtle is eating out of my hand now, and I can give Lily brief pets on her head when she's eating. (Goats are like guys, right? The way to their hearts is through their stomachs... ) I did get new minerals as per the suggestion, and they all fight over it, so I'd call that a success, though I need to get two more to reduce fighting. (Nice problem to have, right?) Anyway I haven't seen chaffhaye around, and I'm not sure I want something that'll mold so quickly, with the amount of humidity this place has. I've been trying to feed them more alfalfa, though no one but myrtle likes the pellets. (Actually a little handy as she gets spooked off her feed from the kids, and doesn't get as much.) Petunia actually eats around them, but still manages to finish first, the little glutton <3

 

[Latestarter]

Wow, sounds a lot more positive than the way you started out! So happy things are getting to "normal" the way they're SUPPOSED to be! Have no fear, the owner/controller of the food is always loved by all eventually. Seems to me you're hooked!

 

[JenniferDuBay]

Wow, sounds a lot more positive than the way you started out! So happy things are getting to "normal" the way they're SUPPOSED to be! Have no fear, the owner/controller of the food is always loved by all eventually. Seems to me you're hooked!

Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I'm a goat addict... Kidding; well, if Myrtle is pregnant, anyway But yes, it's nice to have something go right this week! I figured y'all deserve to hear the good stuff, too, right? We'll see in a few days after I deworm them all again and what the fecal says

 

[Latestarter]

Ummm just to point it out, there IS a goats anonymous thread... #justsayin

 

[JenniferDuBay]

Ummm just to point it out, there IS a goats anonymous thread... #justsayin

You're just saying that because in 2 weeks I went from no goats to two goats to one goat to three goats. Aaaaaaaand you may have a point. TINY STOMPY FEET GOATS, WITH THEIR TINY LITTLE HORNS AND THE SOUNDS THEY MAKE WHEN EATING... I got it bad, man.

 

[Latestarter]

---wiping tea off the keyboard--- too funny Wait till they start crying when you leave them... Or start screaming at you in joy when they see you. It's the whole package! OK, so maybe not quite... After you get another 6-8 goats you'll really be wanting one (or two is even better!) of them Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) to watch over and protect your babies (and you), and for you to lavish with love and praise. THEN it will be the complete package.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

---wiping tea off the keyboard--- too funny Wait till they start crying when you leave them... Or start screaming at you in joy when they see you. It's the whole package! OK, so maybe not quite... After you get another 6-8 goats you'll really be wanting one (or two is even better!) of them Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) to watch over and protect your babies (and you), and for you to lavish with love and praise. THEN it will be the complete package.

Our neighbors way way way down the street from us raise and train LGD for sale >> I'm not sure I can get much more than 3 goats on a 1/4 acre though... I have an acre total, but that's all that's goat-fenced. And the better half wants to raise a garden... << And I want to do quail... >> << *gives in to temptation and buys 30 more goats* >>

 

[Latestarter]

Well, you'd best run right out and get yourself a realtor to unload your tiny place and buy a more sprawling setup to make room for the foreseen expansion!