winter and feeding

[Kathy]

Needing advice for feeding in winter for goats... we live in Wisconsin and already have 8" of snow so grazing is over. Is there other stuff we should be feeding the goats other than hay? We have to buy our hay and it seems like we are going to go through tons this winter. We do have grain but we use it for control and I'm not sure they should spend a lot of days on grain... Thoughts?

Thanks
Kathy

 

[SheepGirl]

Depends. What kind of goats are you feeding? Breed? Sexes? Pets? Breeding? Pregnant? Milking?

 

[Kathy]

2 female Kikos, 3 weathered Nubians, 1 female Boer and my bully Lamacha. Mainly pets and use for brush control

 

[Hens and Roos]

I would say that hay is going to make up the biggest part of their diet. You can feed some grain as supplemental as needed. We have milk goats and hay makes up the majority of their diet as we are in winter(only a little snow as of now), we do feed some grain as well along with an alfalfa/beet pellet mix to help them maintain weight. We make adjustments based on how the goats are looking condition wise.

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

I am having the same question so i cannot answer your post but hope to gain some info.

3 Nigerian dwarf goats. 2 female and 1 wether.

Northeast Ohio.

We feed a small amount of grain in the morning and evening daily but we offer hay in a slow feeder. How much do we really need to be offering them when there is no real forage in the pasture?

I read somewhere that i should not allow them access to hay at night as they would eat themselves to death but i think that may be for very young goats. No sure?!?

 

[Hens and Roos]

we have always offered free choice hay to our goats, they range in age from 6 years to 8 months old. We fill our feeders twice a day and they self regulate what they want.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I have ND goats, live in florida and always have fresh hay for them to eat 24/7 , i have a feed mix i give them also 2x day, and always fresh water, ages 5 years to two months and every age in between.....