Newbie here, please help with feeding issue

[NicholsAcres]

We are newly retired and are new to goats. We have 3 does and 2 bucks (Nigerian Dwarfs) and are learning as we go.

We currently feed them all Noble Goat Feed Grower 16 which is medicated at the advice of our vet. The does will be switched off the medicated and onto the Goat Dairy Parlour 16 2 months before they begin giving milk.

The Bucks and Does are obviously kept separately, and fed separately. We have limited forage at the moment. We do have 11 acres, that will eventually be divided up into 6 or 8 paddocks to rotate the goats through.

That is all background - now for the question:

The does eat ALL of their feed (Noble) they even lick the feed tray clean. No waste at all. The Bucks on the other hand convert about 1/2 of the feed (Noble) to dust and ignore the dust. It seems like a lot of waste to me.

Any suggestions on how to cut down on the waste? They are all receiving about 1 1/2 lbs per day per goat plus free feeding perennial peanut hay.

Thanks,

Frank

 

[junkprospector]

new to Nigerian Dwarfs too... i've just been giving mine alfalfa hay and loose minerals rather than any feed or pellets. That's what i gathered from most of the readings - it sounded like the pellets were good but just an unnecessary expense... but i'll be awaiting some recommendations here. Congrats on your new goats! they're pretty fun huh?!

 

[NicholsAcres]

The goats are great, but I am wondering if there is a problem with the bucks because of their picky eating habit.

Frank

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What kind of shape are your goats in? Under weight, over weight or just right? ND's are basically a dairy goat and shouldn't carry a lot of extra fat. Are your goats 'working' for a living? Are the does bred or nursing babies? With two bucks and 3 females I wouldn't expect that your bucks could be working too hard, even though bucks use a lot of energy just by being a buck, lol.

Just my opinion - but it seems to me like your goats are getting a lot of feed and very rich feed at that. I've raised Pygmies for over 20 years and I've lost more goats to being 'overconditioned' than to being underweight. In fact, I've never lost one for being underweight.

Extra weight in breeding females leads to a higher incidence of kidding problems. Bucks don't need to be over conditioned either. For them, you might just cut back on the amount of grain you give them until they stop wasting it.

I'm not familiar with peanut hay, but from what I've read it is a high protein hay. If forage is limited you might consider giving them gass hay free choice and just use the peanut hay sparingly.

Again - just my opinion and others may feel differently.

 

[NicholsAcres]

Thank you very much.

The bucks are 12 weeks old at this point and do not look over weight to me, but the only comparison I can make is to photo's online, where most Nigerian Dwarfs appear much more "robust" than these. My does are 6 months, 1 year and 1 1/2 years old and the oldest is pregnant and will be delivering in December. None appear to be over weight.

The does are not in milk yet, and the first will be in December. Our purpose for the goats is to have milk for ourselves to drink and make cheese.

Forage is limited at this point - until I have the paddocks installed for the rest of my property, they are fenced in our back yard, about 1/2 acre for the girls and 1/4 acre for the boys. Some low hanging limbs but not much.

The bucks will not start "working" until December when we will be breeding our 1 year old doe. But, we don't expect the bucks to ever have that much work to do. Eventually we will be increasing our herd to about 8 to 10 does. Just a small herd.

Yes, Peanut hay is higher in Protein than Alfalfa and was recommended by our vet.

We are not so worried about costs right now, we are more concerned with getting things "right". We will become more cost conscious once we are sure we ar not killing the goats because of our ignorance.

I had planned to cut back on the Bucks feed to see if they got a little hungry maybe they would eat the dust? Or not create as much?

Thanks for the comments,

Frank

 

[AshleyFishy]

Peanut hay is great stuff but it very rich. Is that their only source of long stem fiber?

Personally I would give them a grass hay for free choice and just use the peanut hay as an appetizer and dessert. I prefer to use timothy hay pellets and then alfalfa/peanut hay as the long stem hay. My goats always have been hay wasters though but they sure don't waste their dessert though!

I would cut back on the bucks' feed some and/or add a little bit of oil or molasses to make it more yummy. I do use oil on my feed, they like it better than the molasses, but I've heard some goats HATE oil on their feed. They like sunflower oil or cocosoya the best. I would also make sure the bucks are getting ammonium chloride in their diet.

 

[NicholsAcres]

AshleyFishy,

Thank you,

Currently the perennial peanut hay is the only hay I feed them. I will check with our feed store and coop and see what other hays are available in our area. I assumed the Noble Goat Grower was "complete" and so anything else I fed them was extra.

I do know the goats HATE straw. I mean they won't walk on it, lay on it or go near it!

Thanks for mentioning the Ammonium chloride, I checked and the Nobles feed does have that for the bucks.

My vet strongly recommended against sweet feed or adding molasses to anything, so we have not been doing that. Maybe I will try a little to tempt them to eat things I want them to eat.

Thanks,

Frank

 

[AshleyFishy]

Well even the complete feeds need a boost when it comes to fiber and minerals. I would suggest, if you haven't already, adding a loose mineral free choice for your goats. Mine love the manna pro loose goat mineral. Also adding probiotics every now and then helps, I love probios but everyone has their fav brand.

I would also check to see if your area is low or high in iron, copper and selenium. That will better help you plan out your critter's diet. Down here in the south we have a ton of iron and it blocks copper from being absorbed properly. So we have to supplement heavy handed with copper.

and I think I speak for everyone when I say... where are the goat photos, we want to see your new cuties!

 

[NicholsAcres]

AshleyFishy,

Thanks, I got free feed minerals yesterday along with Probiotics.

We have a website with some photo's on it, nothing much there yet, but we hope to start making regular weekly entries: nicholsacres[dot]com (excuse the format, the forum won't let me post a URL).

Frank

ps: clicking the smaller pictures makes them larger)

 

[NicholsAcres]

So, I guess what I am seeing here is that I am probably over feeding the bucks and they are just playing with their food - resulting in the dust. I will cut back on the amount I give them and see if they get more interested in eating and less interested in wasting it

Thanks,

Frank