What do you feed your wethers?

[muddipuppy]

Mine has free acceess to alfalfa and gets oat pellets and grain (~1 cup a day). Am I on track?

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Wethers can be fed quite basic. Quality hay(too much risk of Urinary Calculi with Alfalfa*), water, goat minerals, and browse.

* See my note on your other thread as to what I mean about Alfalfa.

 

[crazygoatlady915]

Lots of Alfalfa Hay, and if you are keeping him long-term be sure to give him minerals to prevent urinary calculi.

 

[Ariel301]

If he's just a pet, he probably doesn't need any grain. If you are fattening him for slaughter/market/show that's a different story, I know those boys are usually fed a lot of grain, but I don't raise them so I don't know exactly how to feed show/market wethers.

 

[warthog]

My two guys have free acces to browse, grass hay 24/7 and a little bit of grain in the evenings.

If the weather is bad (rainy season) they get a bit of grain morning and evening (bit means about 4 ounces).

 

[Chirpy]

When I had my wether I only fed him a good grass hay, browsing and no grain except as an occasional treat. Alfalfa hay often times has too much calcium in it - thus why I didn't take chances feeding.

 

[Ariel301]

When I had my wether I only fed him a good grass hay, browsing and no grain except as an occasional treat. Alfalfa hay often times has too much calcium in it - thus why I didn't take chances feeding.

High calcium feed like alfalfa is fine for wethers. It's high phosphorus (grain) you should worry about. Urinary stones in goats are not calcium based like they are in humans.

 

[jcooke1]

When I had my wether I only fed him a good grass hay, browsing and no grain except as an occasional treat. Alfalfa hay often times has too much calcium in it - thus why I didn't take chances feeding.

High calcium feed like alfalfa is fine for wethers. It's high phosphorus (grain) you should worry about. Urinary stones in goats are not calcium based like they are in humans.

Everything I have read about UC mentions that wethers can develope stones from to high of phosphorus and to high of calcium. The best way to help prevent stones is to keep the 2:1 ratio well balanced and if a whether is fed grain ammonia chloride should be added.

 

[elevan]

Mine has free acceess to alfalfa and gets oat pellets and grain (~1 cup a day). Am I on track?

Is the wether a pet or being fed out for slaughter? That's a really important point that needs to be noted.

And what breed are we talking about here?

 

[20kidsonhill]

mine are boer and get free-choice 16% pelleted goat grain medicated and with Ammonia chloride in it , grass mix hay, a little pasture, but if they are terminal or for show, they get very very little hay and pasture.

The average 8 week old kid would be 45 to 50 lbs and eating 1 1/2 lbs a day(4 1/2cups) per day, up to 3 or 4 lbs a day near 90 to 120lbs body weight.

1 lb is about 3 cups.