Why feed grain/ Why NOT???

[pdpo222]

Well my last feeding in the winter time is around 4 or 5 oclock in Ohio. And like I said...it works for me. I don't give a lot of grain unless I see a reason for it. I give a cup in the morning and a cup at night to each one. Like I said none of mine are bred now so it works out great for now. Things will change when they are bred but for now two cups a day won't kill them. Then they eat 2nd cutting hay all night if they want. So grain right now doesn't play a big part in my schedule. More like a treat for them.

 

[Catahoula]

My goats will eat either pellets or grain. I feed grain or pellets for that extra boost when getting ready for breeding, when the does are pregnant or making milk for kids. In the winter they get grain because of the cold. I like locking them up with with grain and hay to hold them over night. In the summer I never gave my horse corn. An old timer once told me corn produces heat and horses don't need heat in the summer so don't feed it. lol That has stuck with me for all these years. I did feed grains when showing horses or going on all day rides. In the summer the buck does nothing. He gets hay and pasture and of course water. I don't feel he needs that extra boost. If he was breeding year round then yes, but I don't have enough goats to keep him that busy. I think if I grained him year round he would just put on weight he didn't need. Not like he runs around in the pasture using up calories. lol Same with the does. Once they kids are weaned and there is no need for milk production I see no reason to grain them. Just how I do it and it works for me.

Wanted to comment on something you said that cuaght my attention. Noticed you said that you give them their grain at night when you lock them up for the evening. I get what you arey saying, corn produced heat, so for a cold night you give them grain to help their systems stay warmer. I don't know if it really works that way. Maybe it doesn, But I always thought it was the fiber or roughage that helps to keep them warm. As their rumen digest the roughage/fiber it warms them. Infact, I have heard that you shouldn't give them grain right before bed time, because if they lay down for a long time on a full stomach of grain it increases the likely hood of acidosis and bloat. I give ours their grain in the morning and around 5 or 6 pm, so they have a few hours of grazing before they lay down at night,

I really don't know the answer to this, just comparing what your thinking is to what our thinking is. Honestly, I do have a shyer doe that needs to be penned at night so she has her own hay to eat and I often give her an extra pound of grain at this time, because she doesn't get to the feeders very well. So she is eating a little later in the evening. She is normally, quite hungry by this time and eats her pound of grain and munches hay for a while before laying down, She is very timid and just wont make any attempt to get to the hay feeders during the day.

I read somewhere recently also about don't give them grains at night but hay. The fiber or roughage will help general lots of heat for them. I have two 7month old Boer wethers and I do feed them about 3/4 cup of grains each in the morning and at night. I have just cut them back on the grains (used to be 1.5 cups each meal per goat) because the vet said they are a bit thick... I only plan to feed them grains till the grains are gone and then it will just be alfalfa hay and alfalfa pellets with little BOSS (instead of grains). They get to browse in the pasture all day also. I am getting two more kids soon, an Alpine wether and his sister. They are 5+ months old now. I don't plan to bred the doe so she'll be treated the same as the wethers. I will feed them the same as the Boers. When the 170lbs of grains are gone...everyone gets alfalfa hay/pellets with BOSS and browse on the pasture. Unless for some reasons, they are not doing well, I don't plan to buy anymore grain feeds. As I understood, their basic needs are quality hay, water and minerals. I would like to keep it as simple as possible for myself or whoever might take care of them when I can't. ****Also, mine are just pets. They are not producing milk, nursing kids, pregnant, breeding bucks or working goats. I am feeding them grains now because they are growing kids. Someday, if I take them packing or work them as harnessing goats, I may use grains again.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Producers sometimes talk about "hot" feeds and "cool" feeds. We must discern whether the discussion is about energy content or actual heat production. Corn and other concentrates are sometimes called "hot" feeds. This is in reference to their higher energy content compared to hay or straw (cool feeds). However, corn and other concentrates contribute less to the heat of fermentation or digestion than hay. Therefore cattle actually produce less actual heat when consuming corn than when consuming hay. Further increasing the concentrate portion of a feedlot finishing diet may lead to acidosis problems. One option is to feed more frequently so as to keep the feed fresher (especially silage) and to feed a greater part the diet in the evening rather than in the morning. Similarly high quality forage produces less heat of fermentation than low quality forage. This might be another argument for moving cattle to higher quality pasture or moving more frequently through paddocks.

Source

 

[ksalvagno]

Well my last feeding in the winter time is around 4 or 5 oclock in Ohio. And like I said...it works for me. I don't give a lot of grain unless I see a reason for it. I give a cup in the morning and a cup at night to each one. Like I said none of mine are bred now so it works out great for now. Things will change when they are bred but for now two cups a day won't kill them. Then they eat 2nd cutting hay all night if they want. So grain right now doesn't play a big part in my schedule. More like a treat for them.

I don't think a cup (I'm assuming a measuring cup) of grain in the evening is going to hurt anything. Ultimately every farm has to do what works for them. If your goats are healthy and doing well, then whatever you are doing is working for you.

Remember, there are farms that milk twice a day and those dairy does may be getting a big pan of feed late. I milk between 8pm and 9pm myself.

I'm not saying to feed your goats a big pan of corn at night but there are reasons to give some feed at night.

 

[Catahoula]

I also want to add that I am also a newbie to goat ownership. I read many post and asked a lot of questions here. I took in many advice and information and basically decided on what works for me and for my kids. I am amazed on how many different ways to feed your goats and obviously, they all work or we wouldn't be hearing about them.

 

[Chris]

I have no problem feeding "grains" and most of my feed mix is whole grains.
I never really liked the textured or pelleted feed mainly because the goat never did well on it and it took a lot of feed just to keep weight on and milk well.

I have my own feed mixed at the local mill and as you can see it is mainly whole grains.
Up until this week this is what I was feeding, (the new "winter" mix is a little different and has more roughage)

150 Whole Roasted Soybean
135 Whole Corn
100 Whole Oats
50 Beet Pulp (with out Molasses)
50 Molasses
8 Dicalcium Phosphate
5 Trace Mineral Salt (with Selenium)
1 Magnesium Oxide
1 A D E Vitamin Mix

Chris

 

[20kidsonhill]

I have no problem feeding "grains" and most of my feed mix is whole grains.
I never really liked the textured or pelleted feed mainly because the goat never did well on it and it took a lot of feed just to keep weight on and milk well.

I have my own feed mixed at the local mill and as you can see it is mainly whole grains.
Up until this week this is what I was feeding, (the new "winter" mix is a little different and has more roughage)

150 Whole Roasted Soybean
135 Whole Corn
100 Whole Oats
50 Beet Pulp (with out Molasses)
50 Molasses
8 Dicalcium Phosphate
5 Trace Mineral Salt (with Selenium)
1 Magnesium Oxide
1 A D E Vitamin Mix

Chris

I am assuming when you are referring to a pelleted feed, you are referring to a store brand of pelleted feed and not your own mix that has been pelleted, because pelleting your mix shouldn't change the nutritional value of the feed mix. Or do you feel grinding and pelleting it does change it? I like your mix. Do you have problems with the minerals separating out of it? Is it 50 of dry molasses or wet molasses?

 

[Chris]

I am assuming when you are referring to a pelleted feed, you are referring to a store brand of pelleted feed and not your own mix that has been pelleted, because pelleting your mix shouldn't change the nutritional value of the feed mix. Or do you feel grinding and pelleting it does change it? I like your mix. Do you have problems with the minerals separating out of it? Is it 50 of dry molasses or wet molasses?

The Pelleted Feed was store bought and the textured was a mix of mine using a 38% protein pellet, corn and oats.

Or do you feel grinding and pelleting it does change it?

I fell when you grind feeds you will loose some of the needed nutrition yes but I also believe that when referring to goats that it may be harder for them to get the nutrition from a ground feed than a whole or rolled.

Do you have problems with the minerals separating out of it? Is it 50 of dry molasses or wet molasses?

The Molasses that I use is in the Wet/Liquid form, when in the Wet/Liquid form it helps bind the minerals to the grain and also help keeps the goats from picking and choosing what grains they want to eat.

I like the mix a lot and have had some real good results using it but I can not take all the credit because it's a "modified" version of the University of Missouri goat feed mix.

Chris

 

[Chris]

20kids,

I should add that the mix above is,

Percent TDN 71.8%
Percent CP 16.8%
Percent Ca 0.752%
Percent P 0.694%
Ca ratio 1.084

Chris

 

[elevan]

I also don't believe that goats "need" the pelleted feeds or whole grains to be healthy.

Don't take this the wrong way, Elevan, but you don't have 'real' dairy goats. If you're satisfied w/ what you get from yours, wonderful....but I want mine to milk to full potential. To do that, they do "need" feed to keep from looking like walking skeletons. Pygmies tend to be on the chunky side anyway....as do some Nigerians.

Believe me, if I didn't have to (and I don't think any of us is independantly wealthy....?) I wouldn't spend the money on feed.

I just don't want someone new to dairy goats to see that and ASSume they can get by on hay alone and then be disappointed w/ the amount of milk they get OR the goat lose condition.

I agree that listing the breed would help avoid confusion.

No offense taken. And yes, I do have pygmies and pygmy / ND crosses. I am satisfied with what my goats produce, so at this point I wouldn't change anything.