Voracious for Grains

[Sweetened]

I've found this winter hard on the goats. My first winter with them was brutal. Constant blowing wind, 15+ ft. drifts of snow, but weight loss was never an issue. We also fed pellets, as the woman I bought them from had them on it. Within about 2 months we had weaned them entirely off pellets and had not had an issue since.

This year has been bitterly cold for us. Hubby just read an article that has December's monthly average temp lower than that of Antarctica. Right now it's -32 C with a -50 C wind chill, just brutal! My poor goats leave the shelter only for the heated waterer.

The weight loss concerns me, but I get it with the cold weather. So I have decided to supplement with oats and grains however, there's a problem. I cannot figure out how to give them oats and wheat without them gorging on it. If anything bagged (pellets included) come near their pen, they become ravenous and aggressive for it, standing on me to try and get at the bag (and my goats are polite, don't push me unless I get in the middle of something).

It's not a hunger issue, they go through about half to 3/4 of their feeder a day and I fill it up every morning with fresh hay and alfalfa. They refuse to eat off the square bales, so I only feed them off my rounds. It would be ideal if I could have a feeder in there to fill with oats and be able to trust that they wouldn't eat themselves until they explode. Is there a way to train this, to teach them not to engorge themselves?

Thanks!

 

[woodsie]

haha...goats are horribly gluttonous for grains always, I don't think there is any training around that! My suggestion is get several pans/bowls and put on good running shoes...I have to run around to different stations dumping bits of grain in different pans so that the little ones don't get pushed out by the others. And watch out being rushed at the gate with a bucket in your hand, they have a way of craning their head into your bucket and pushing or pulling it out of your hand if you are not prepared...have a plan and run! seriously though grains turn the sweetest, best behaved goat into a mugging master that cares nothing for your personal space. The several pans/bowls also seems to prevent a dominant, gulper from ingesting too much grain as they usually run around from bowl to bowl to check out what they might be missing out on and the lower pecking order goats can get some too.

I am sure glad to be on the West coast...sounds brutal in the East right now. Keep warm and hope Spring comes early!

 

[Azriel]

I agree with Woodsie, I don't think you can train them to only eat a bit of grain. There are some feeders on the market that have timers and only let out a set amount of feed 2 or 3 timers a day. I've never checked on the prices. I always take a whip with me when I feed my horses and cows, just to remind them who is on the top of the pecking order (me??). When they start getting too crazy a snap of the whip settles them right down.

 

[Sweetened]

Thanks guys.

My animals are typically very polite, excluding when grain is involved (chickens as well with that)! I have increased the amount of available greens and need to pick up some straw for them to gnaw on, but it's been hard to find straw in our area this year.

I find the cow processes very little of the oats, as they're all whole in her patties still.

 

[Azriel]

My cows get a barley cake, so its all ground and compressed into thumb sized pellets. They dont processes any whole grains well. My animals are normally polite also, but if its stormy or windy they do get a little wild, and I have a bottle baby horse that even tho she knows she is a horse and is very good she still doesn't get that people need personal space.

 

[elbesta]

I mix the grain with chopped alfalfa that makes them eat it slower as they have to look for the grain.