Newbie here, please help with feeding issue

[bonbean01]

I don't have goats...I have hair sheep, but loved the photos...beautiful goats and that pup is adorable!!!

Welcome to Backyard Herds!!! I see you are from Live Oak, Florida...know your area well...used to live in New Smyrna Beach and loved going to the Live Oak flea market on weekends...is it still a busy place?

Nice looking website!

 

[NicholsAcres]

Thanks for the advice.

The hay is perennial peanut hay. I got preoccupied with Chicken eggs hatching a day early today, so I will go to the feed store tomorrow and see what kind of grass hay they have available.

The hay feeders are working very well and cutting the bucks back on food has solve the problem of them converting pellets to dust. They now eat all that they get within 15 to 20 minutes.

Frank

 

[NicholsAcres]

bonbean01,

Thanks for the kind words.

Jake - the pup is so huge already it is hard to believe he is only 16 weeks or so old. Still in his puppy fur. We are really happy that he has taken up sleeping with the goats and not inside.

We have been in Live Oak only a year and a half now, and honestly we have been so busy we have not been to the flea market. We just started going to the farmers market in Jacksonville to buy bulk and can it until I have time to get a garden going.

So many fun things to do setting up a small farm like this - loving retirement

Frank

 

[OneFineAcre]

Yeah, I checked your website out as well.

I've got a doe "Ginger" who looks like your tan colored doe, and a buckling we retained "Moonshine" who has similar color patterns to your bucklings.

If you go to my website, I have a professionally taken photograph of Ginger on my homepage if you want to see what yours will look like after a couple of freshenings

 

[NicholsAcres]

OneFineAcre,

You have very lovely goats. My wife Sharon wants to show ours also, but I don't know if the goats are up to it

We need to spend more time with ours getting them used to being handled. I think the breeders didn't handle them much and so they have never become accustomed to being on a leash or even touched much. The bucks are very comfortable with us, in fact they love to climb on my and sit on my lap while chewing on my clothes.

Frank

 

[OneFineAcre]

OneFineAcre,

You have very lovely goats. My wife Sharon wants to show ours also, but I don't know if the goats are up to it

We need to spend more time with ours getting them used to being handled. I think the breeders didn't handle them much and so they have never become accustomed to being on a leash or even touched much. The bucks are very comfortable with us, in fact they love to climb on my and sit on my lap while chewing on my clothes.

Frank

Thank you.
Your animals are very nice looking in the photos.
Just takes some time, attention and treats to warm them up to you. Alfalfa mini cubes or pellets work good.
Get them very comfortable with you before you try walking on a lead. There are some tricks to teaching them to walk good on a lead when you get to that point. You need to get them to warm up to you and your wife first.

There is a misconception when it comes to bucks. All of ours are super friendly. Kind of smelly right now.

Showing is very fun, my wife, daughter and myself all enjoy.

 

[Egg_Newton]

You might check your local craigslist. You can usually get hay a lot cheaper there or from local farmers than the feed stores.

 

[NicholsAcres]

Egg_Newton,

That is a great idea, thank you very much!

Frank

 

[OneFineAcre]

You might check your local craigslist. You can usually get hay a lot cheaper there or from local farmers than the feed stores.

This is definitely true. It is even more cost effective if you have the means to transport and store the large round bales. I get 4x5 round bales that weigh between 800-900 lbs of coastal Bermuda for $35. That is the bulk of mine's long stemmed roughage.

I see you are in Florida, there would probably be an abundance of Bahia grass hay there. I know they do pastures with it in FL. Probably coastal Bermuda too.

 

[NicholsAcres]

Will a 4x5 roll fit in the back of a 3/4 ton pickup and make it home? And will anyone selling rolls consider selling just one? That would likely last me 6 months.

Frank