ThePhoebeFive
Ridin' The Range
I have two questions about feeding my goats:
1) We have two ND does and this is their first freshening. Their babies are 6 1/2 weeks old and we have been separating them overnight since they were 2 weeks. We are feeding the does 1 cup of grain, 1/2 cup alfalfa pellets, 1/4 cup corn, 1/4 cup BOSS. They have access to coastal hay, loose minerals, and baking soda all the time and go out into our small pasture for an hour or two every day (no more than that because the babies can't come with). We live on 2 acres and the pasture area is about 1 acre.
One doe is giving a cup every morning and the other is giving about 2/3 of a cup. I know that FFs give less milk, but I was expecting a little more than that. We are trying to do this as cheaply as possible, but if we aren't getting much milk because we aren't feeding enough of the right stuff, we need to change some things.
What and how much should we be feeding lactating, ND does?
2) Our breeding buck got pretty ribby during rut season. Per our vet's instruction, we were feeding him a half cup of grain every 2-3 days, but we have increased to a half cup every day. (The vet said to give him extra, but she didn't say how much.) We've been doing that for a few weeks and he still hasn't put much weight on. I did some poking around and some people say you can feed bucks BOSS and alfalfa pellets, but some say you can't. The grain has AC and I put apple cider vinegar in his water every day to prevent UC, but I'm guessing that only prevents to a certain extent.
I want help him get back his weight, but I don't want to accidentally give him UC feeding him the too much of the wrong stuff. What and how much should we be feeding him to get his weight back up?
1) We have two ND does and this is their first freshening. Their babies are 6 1/2 weeks old and we have been separating them overnight since they were 2 weeks. We are feeding the does 1 cup of grain, 1/2 cup alfalfa pellets, 1/4 cup corn, 1/4 cup BOSS. They have access to coastal hay, loose minerals, and baking soda all the time and go out into our small pasture for an hour or two every day (no more than that because the babies can't come with). We live on 2 acres and the pasture area is about 1 acre.
One doe is giving a cup every morning and the other is giving about 2/3 of a cup. I know that FFs give less milk, but I was expecting a little more than that. We are trying to do this as cheaply as possible, but if we aren't getting much milk because we aren't feeding enough of the right stuff, we need to change some things.
What and how much should we be feeding lactating, ND does?
2) Our breeding buck got pretty ribby during rut season. Per our vet's instruction, we were feeding him a half cup of grain every 2-3 days, but we have increased to a half cup every day. (The vet said to give him extra, but she didn't say how much.) We've been doing that for a few weeks and he still hasn't put much weight on. I did some poking around and some people say you can feed bucks BOSS and alfalfa pellets, but some say you can't. The grain has AC and I put apple cider vinegar in his water every day to prevent UC, but I'm guessing that only prevents to a certain extent.
I want help him get back his weight, but I don't want to accidentally give him UC feeding him the too much of the wrong stuff. What and how much should we be feeding him to get his weight back up?
