Let's Look at our Different Feeding Practices *GOATS*

[mollypeters]

Could there be onion in the hay?

maybe? i got it from an organic egg farmer up north of me. its pretty stemmy, but smells good, and they eat it well.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

We had this problem with does we brought in years ago. We bought hay from our neighbor and some weeds do grow in it. Had to move those does onto other hay for a while. They loved it and ate it well too

 

[mollypeters]

it does have a few weeds in it, which he did disclose. i got it when i got her, so i have no way of knowing if it started when she started having it. they both seem to be acting okay

 

[babsbag]

I would be concerned that there is urea in the calf starter. I would pull her off of the stuff ASAP and see if it clears up. Urea is toxic to goats and common in high protein cattle feed.

 

[animalmom]

Regarding soy-free goat feed, have you tried newcountryorganics.com? I just got a 50lb bag of Thorvin kelp from them as I found their shipping to be the most cost effective. I can't vouch for any of their products, but their claim is soy-free organic. 1-888-699-7088

 

[mollypeters]

could it bee dehydration? they weren't drinking much, and their water was freezing completely shut, even though i was going out and clearing the ice several times a day. i decided to fill their buckets with hot tap water, and they really sucked it down (had to go back for more). their pee is now normal, and they're drinking better, even though i've gone back to cold outside spigot water....weird......i'll check out newcountry organics

 

[NH homesteader]

@babsbag wow I didn't know that. How does one find out if it is in the feed? Would it be listed?

 

[norseofcourse]

Urea and a few other feed additives may be on a feed label as 'non-protein nitrogen'. How it's listed in the ingredients may vary, urea is also known as carbamide.

I have a feed tag (not a feed I use anymore) that has a statement beside the protein percentage, that says "This includes not more than 1% equivalent crude protein from non-protein nitrogen". In Ohio, a statement like this has to be on feed tags if they contain non-protein nitrogen, and that may be true in other states, as well. Not sure if it's a national requirement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-protein_nitrogen

http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/901:5-7-06

 

[bgundersen]

North of Springfield, MO / Ozarks of Missouri

Expectant, lactating does and their kids:
Free choice:
Rotational grazing pastures with sections of brushy undergrowth
Alfalfa/orchardgrass mix hay
Sweetlix meat maker (w/o Rumesin) loose-mineral
Baking soda and kelp
Grain: Alfalfa pellet with top dressing of 16% sweetfeed (same as we use for the cow for ease of feeding) - based on amount of milk the doe is producing and her overall condition.
*The sweet feed is more of an enticement at times to come in and get milked. One of our does refuses to come in any more if we don't give her some sweet feed two milkings in a row. It also helps new milkers or soon to be new mothers to learn to get on the stand and become accustomed to handling that goes with milking.*
Parasite Control: Molly's Herbals once per week as a drench

Dry, open does: Everything but the grain and alfalfa pellets unless they get sick, then they will get a small grain ration and beet pulp to help with body conditioning

Bucks: Similar to dry open does except free choice grass mix hay and pasture, no grain unless conditioning is needed and they *may* have some grain and will certainly get beet pulp

Some people have an issue with waste when free choice feeding hay to goats, but I find if you keep a weaned calf with the goats, they tend to pick up the dropped hay without adverse effect, since the parasites that tend to afflict one species is not an issue for the other.

We also have implemented rotational grazing with different animals following one another to "wear out" any parasites left by the previous animal group. For example, My goats love to eat anything but grass. So I sent them through the pasture first. The cow follows and crops the grass short. While the grass is short, I can send in poultry, that prefer shorter grass to see bugs that they love (plus they love to pick the grain out of the cow pies...ew). Once the grass gets about 6 inches high, I can run the alpacas thru, since they don't like eating grass deeper than six inches (at least mine don't, I think it messes with their ability to watch for predators). Meanwhile, since the cow, chickens and alpacas tend to ignore the leafy browse, by the time the goats get back around to that pasture, it has grown up again and three other unrelated species have run over the same ground to deter parasites. I have nine pastures, and can run animals on three of them for over a month, while the other six are smaller and may only be able to have something on it for about 2-3 weeks. Which means on average I can keep any species from ending up on the starter pasture again for about 3-4 months (depending on the time of year) and some pastures may have nothing on them for several weeks.

Probably TMI, but I figure I am here to learn so perhaps others are as well, and maybe I have tried something that will work for someone else, or vice versa.