savingdogs
Overrun with beasties
It sounds like you have plans for a fun environment for your goats. If you have a small space, you will just have to buy their food and bring it to them year round, which is less "sustainable" but at least you will know where your dairy products are coming from.
I take my goats on walks, I just put one on a dog collar and leash and the other two follow, they are such a herd animal that mine stay all together and act silly when they get too far apart, bawling and crying for one another. I think they enjoy this and I get some weeds cleared, but I don't know if it has any major impact on their diet. We can also let ours browse where we are here, and what they tend to do is go out and nibble for a few hours, then they want to lay down and rest and chew their cud for awhile back at their enclosure. So if I time things right, I can direct them towards certain areas where I want the brush cleared. I wouldn't ever leave them tied anywhere, they are too dorky about being tethered and would get themselves hung up in a jiffy. I did have to get to know the local plants, but to some extent they seem to avoid the wild plants that would be bad for them. In my garden, however, they head right for plants that I know to be poisonous like azaleas and rhododendrons, so you can't let them loose in an area that has "landscape" plants or fruit trees, they will eat the poison ones and demolish the fruit trees. They like to strip off bark so that isn't so good for trees.
I was taught when I got our first baby goats that they DO need grain, but a very small amount. Someone more experienced with your breed ought to suggest amounts, but males need to have LESS and as they get to be full grown, males don't need grain anymore and it can be harmful to them to have too much. Females, however, need to have grain as they are lactating especially, so the amount of grain that you need changes, but you need to always provide plenty of fresh good hay. And find a way to hang it or they will just stomp on it and throw it all down, they are very wasteful. We let the wasted hay lay on the ground as bedding.
I don't pre-treat for cocci as I believe in only treating animals for what they have wrong with them. I do worm my goats but only when they need it, not "just because." I supplement with an herbal selenium and copper pellet our feed store offered and offer free choice minerals designed for goats, and add a mineral block at kidding time because that is what my does seem to prefer. I put these in a dispenser we bought at the feed store that mounts to the wall. It is also helpful to have a bucket that cannot be knocked over that you attach to the wall. Goats need very clean water or they refuse to drink it. You could have your goats tested for being low on selenium or copper, etc. Black goats look reddish on their fur when they are low in copper. Sheep cannot have copper and goats must have it. So sheep mineral blocks would not be appropriate. I have always bought food labeled for goats and fed the same ones to different ages, but remember that male goats do not need very much, like a handful for a TREAT is all they need, except when they are growing and when they are in rut. If they get too much, it causes a problem called urinary calculi and it sounds pretty awful for them, you want to avoid that. But the grain is the more expensive thing you give to them, so having to limit the amount is economical as well.
I am a small back yard milker type goat owner and not an expert but these are things that haven't been answered for you yet. People might have different answers for you as there are many ways to raise a goat and you might want to learn from someone local to your area. For instance, in my area, the good hay all comes from the eastern part of the state because of selenium levels, so we pay more for what is sold as "eastern hay." I am not as concerned about the selenium levels when I know that they hay naturally has a higher amount. I'd prefer not to give them shots for supplements and would prefer a more holistic approach, but again, there are many ways to raise a goat and mine are just plain backyard milkers.
I take my goats on walks, I just put one on a dog collar and leash and the other two follow, they are such a herd animal that mine stay all together and act silly when they get too far apart, bawling and crying for one another. I think they enjoy this and I get some weeds cleared, but I don't know if it has any major impact on their diet. We can also let ours browse where we are here, and what they tend to do is go out and nibble for a few hours, then they want to lay down and rest and chew their cud for awhile back at their enclosure. So if I time things right, I can direct them towards certain areas where I want the brush cleared. I wouldn't ever leave them tied anywhere, they are too dorky about being tethered and would get themselves hung up in a jiffy. I did have to get to know the local plants, but to some extent they seem to avoid the wild plants that would be bad for them. In my garden, however, they head right for plants that I know to be poisonous like azaleas and rhododendrons, so you can't let them loose in an area that has "landscape" plants or fruit trees, they will eat the poison ones and demolish the fruit trees. They like to strip off bark so that isn't so good for trees.
I was taught when I got our first baby goats that they DO need grain, but a very small amount. Someone more experienced with your breed ought to suggest amounts, but males need to have LESS and as they get to be full grown, males don't need grain anymore and it can be harmful to them to have too much. Females, however, need to have grain as they are lactating especially, so the amount of grain that you need changes, but you need to always provide plenty of fresh good hay. And find a way to hang it or they will just stomp on it and throw it all down, they are very wasteful. We let the wasted hay lay on the ground as bedding.
I don't pre-treat for cocci as I believe in only treating animals for what they have wrong with them. I do worm my goats but only when they need it, not "just because." I supplement with an herbal selenium and copper pellet our feed store offered and offer free choice minerals designed for goats, and add a mineral block at kidding time because that is what my does seem to prefer. I put these in a dispenser we bought at the feed store that mounts to the wall. It is also helpful to have a bucket that cannot be knocked over that you attach to the wall. Goats need very clean water or they refuse to drink it. You could have your goats tested for being low on selenium or copper, etc. Black goats look reddish on their fur when they are low in copper. Sheep cannot have copper and goats must have it. So sheep mineral blocks would not be appropriate. I have always bought food labeled for goats and fed the same ones to different ages, but remember that male goats do not need very much, like a handful for a TREAT is all they need, except when they are growing and when they are in rut. If they get too much, it causes a problem called urinary calculi and it sounds pretty awful for them, you want to avoid that. But the grain is the more expensive thing you give to them, so having to limit the amount is economical as well.
I am a small back yard milker type goat owner and not an expert but these are things that haven't been answered for you yet. People might have different answers for you as there are many ways to raise a goat and you might want to learn from someone local to your area. For instance, in my area, the good hay all comes from the eastern part of the state because of selenium levels, so we pay more for what is sold as "eastern hay." I am not as concerned about the selenium levels when I know that they hay naturally has a higher amount. I'd prefer not to give them shots for supplements and would prefer a more holistic approach, but again, there are many ways to raise a goat and mine are just plain backyard milkers.
