Goat Feed and Nutrition
Loading
Old wives tales: goats don't eat anything
We've all heard the stories about be careful, goats will eat anything they can get to, including your car seats and tin cans. Goats are very curious creatures and since they don't have hands, they use their mouths to "feel out" what something is. So although they may be chewing on it, that doesn't necessarily mean they are willing to eat it.
Eating habits
Goats are browsers, not grazers. Goats like to nibble on a bit of leaves of a shrub, move on to the bark of a tree, then nibble on some vines and so on. Goats are not like cattle or horses where you see them heads down, constantly eating grasses. Once the goat's cuisine selection is eaten down to just the grasses, they will then begin to pick the ground clean of everything they can eat. For this reason, they need a bit of pasture to roam around on and are great at cleaning up brush and small, unwanted trees. If you need to keep your goats on smaller spaces, you'll need to supplemental feed. Also, if you have your goats in fields where you have smaller, desirable trees that you want to keep, fence off the trees before you let your goats into the area. The goats will stand against the trees to pull down the lower branches and eat off the lower bark and eventually will likely kill your trees. Larger trees do not present a problem and provide welcome shade and shelter.
They are what you feed them
In addition, when you are raising animals with the intention of using them or their milk for feed, the truism stands that what goes into the animal is what you'll get out. If you let your goats consume whatever stinky weeds they find in their pasture, you'll be tasting that in their milk the next day. Therefore, it is recommended that you provide your animals with ample fresh water and the highest quality feed possible. If you have plants and trees in your fields that your animals enjoy - but you don't necessarily enjoy tasting in your milk - this is where those portable gate panels will come in handy. Go out the field and quickly cordon off the offending areas.
Eating habits
Goats are browsers, not grazers. Goats like to nibble on a bit of leaves of a shrub, move on to the bark of a tree, then nibble on some vines and so on. Goats are not like cattle or horses where you see them heads down, constantly eating grasses. Once the goat's cuisine selection is eaten down to just the grasses, they will then begin to pick the ground clean of everything they can eat. For this reason, they need a bit of pasture to roam around on and are great at cleaning up brush and small, unwanted trees. If you need to keep your goats on smaller spaces, you'll need to supplemental feed. Also, if you have your goats in fields where you have smaller, desirable trees that you want to keep, fence off the trees before you let your goats into the area. The goats will stand against the trees to pull down the lower branches and eat off the lower bark and eventually will likely kill your trees. Larger trees do not present a problem and provide welcome shade and shelter.
They are what you feed them
In addition, when you are raising animals with the intention of using them or their milk for feed, the truism stands that what goes into the animal is what you'll get out. If you let your goats consume whatever stinky weeds they find in their pasture, you'll be tasting that in their milk the next day. Therefore, it is recommended that you provide your animals with ample fresh water and the highest quality feed possible. If you have plants and trees in your fields that your animals enjoy - but you don't necessarily enjoy tasting in your milk - this is where those portable gate panels will come in handy. Go out the field and quickly cordon off the offending areas.
Pasturing goats versus keeping and feeding in a pen
Keeping the animals confined into a pen and bring the grasses to them is helpful in situations where:
- You have limited land or small spaces of pasture with which to work
- You lack the time to engage in rotational pasturing
- Without enough space, you'll find the animals trample a lot of their feed as they selectively graze
- Goats do not like foul weather and will not eat as much during these conditions. This can potentially impact milk yields.
- Goats are more prone to susceptibility of predators. Many people keeping a few goats have day jobs that take them away from the farm for hours at a time. Keeping them in smaller spaces closer to the house will help alleviate loosing goats to predators.
- You can control over-consumption, such as that of newly greened grasses in the spring which can cause bloat
- When an animal is in the field, you lose control over what the animal is eating. Again, this is particularly a problem when milking as the food sources will not be optimized for production, certain weeds can off-flavor the milk and yet others can be poisonous.
Nutrition
Nutritional requirements change throughout the year
There are cycles in the doe's year where you will want to modify the nutrition available.
- General maintenance when not growing, pregnant or milking
- Gestation
- Milk production (a milking doe is fed a minimum of 16% protein versus 12% otherwise for a mature doe or buck).
Nutrition basics
Similar to humans and other animals, goats have daily minimum requirements for nutrients. Unfortunately this is not an exact science.
- Carbohydrates are derived from plant matter.
- Protein is a variable you'll want to watch closely and the quality of the protein can vary considerably. Protein comes from the rapidly growing parts of the plants.
- Fats come from plant sources including cholesterol, ergosterol (which can form vitamin D) and carotene (which can be converted into vitamin A. Vitamins A and D are the two critical ones for goats.
- Minerals such as calcium and phosphorus are particularly important since they are used in bone and the body. The body contains about twice as much calcium as phosphorus and the proper balance is critical. Iodine, iron and copper are particularly critical.
How Much & How Often to Feed a Goat
- Feed goats 1 pound of concentrate for maintenance and 1 pound extra for each 2 pounds of milk produced, along with good quality, free-choice hay per day.
- If you are not using a commercially prepared food, source the food from as many different sources as possible.
- You can create your own rations or buy a commercially prepared feed and follow the instructions on the bag. Many people enjoy making their own feeds, but you will need to pay atttention to the quality of the ingredients and measure carefully.
- It seems most beneficial to feed goats two times a day when they do not have ready access to high quality pasture.
- With hay, by feeding twice a day you can observe how much the goats are actually eating - versus wasting by throwing on the ground - and you can observe how anxious they are to get additional feed.
- Sweet feeds are fed minimally to doelings. It is fed very sparlingly to bucklings, bucks and wethers who are unable to tolerate too much calcium, which can result in a condition called urinary calculi, or stones in the urinary tract.
- Does are given one and a half to two cups of feed in the mornings at milking time to encourage enthusiasm to get up onto the milking stand.
- Avoid sudden changes in feed, which result in overlaoding tehr umen bacteria and microbes.
- Pay attention to protein levels, vitamins and mineral content of the foods being fed.
- Treat each animals as an individual.
- Some animals will need more food and others less. Your careful eye and management will produce the best results.
Sample Ration Formulas
The formulas before should produce good results. There will be minor vairations because of hte feed value of grains depends upon the variety, weather and the fertility of the soil that produced them. For example, most grains grown in the Pacifiic Northwest are lower in protein than the same grains grown elsewhere and heritage corn will have more protein than GMO varieties. As a rule, I do not feed GMO corn, soy or alfalfa, but this too will depend upon your location and avaialblity of non-GMO food stuff.
To be profitable, total feed costs should not exceed on-half the value of the milk produced, but do not skimp on the quality of the food or the condition of your animals. Good quality feed and a healthy goat will result in better quality milk products.
To be profitable, total feed costs should not exceed on-half the value of the milk produced, but do not skimp on the quality of the food or the condition of your animals. Good quality feed and a healthy goat will result in better quality milk products.
Sample ration for a milking doe fed alfalfa hay
|
For a milking doe with grass hay
|
|
Corn
Oats Wheat bran Linseed-oil meal Cane molasses Salt For a dry doe or buck
|
31
25 11 22 10 1 58
25 11 5 1 |
Corn
Oats Wheat bran Corn-gluten feed Soybean-oil meal Cane molasses Salt For a dry doe or buck
|
11
10 10 30 24 10 1 51.5
35 12.5 1 |
Bloat
Always keep a careful eye on your goats' condition and do not overfeed. Overfeeding will result in a condition called bloat, an excessive acculumation of gas bubbles in the rumen and reticulum,making it impossible for them to burb. This can also happen by turning out animals onto fresh,lush pasture they haven't yet had much access to for that season. If this happens, a cup of corn, peanut or mineral oil will generally solve the problem within 12 hours. Also make sure they've had access to baking soda.
Hay & Grass (Roughage)
Grasses and browsing food stuffs
When available, fresh, nurttious grass is always a wonderful choice. It contains water and is rich in protein and most vitamins except B12, but that can be synthesized by ruminants. It is also lacking in vitamin D, but your animals will be manufacturing D while they are enjoying their time in the fields. However, with many animals too much foliage anytime of the year can cause bloat, and it's important to be especially careful during the spring when grasses are just turning green and animals will have a tendency to enjoy it a bit too much. Therefore, you should either consider whether you want to turn your animals out on pasture, or occasionally keep them confined ann bring fresh cut grasses to them for consumption within their pen. Many people ask about allowing goats to eat on their lawns or using clippings for their lawns to feed the goats. This is generally okay as long as chemicals such as pesticides or herbicides haven't been used on the lawn. However, it's easy to forget what you did a couple of months ago and steps for the proper curing of your lawn clippings for later usage can often be overlooked, so unless you are fastidious in you attention to detail, you might want to forego this consideration.
Good weeds for goats include chicory, daisy, dandelion, multiflora rose, nettle, plantain, thistle and yarrow.
Bad Weeds include bracken fern, dock, hemlock, locoweed, milkweed, mountain laurel, rhubarb leaves, sorrel, wilted wild cherry and some oak leaves.
Good weeds for goats include chicory, daisy, dandelion, multiflora rose, nettle, plantain, thistle and yarrow.
Bad Weeds include bracken fern, dock, hemlock, locoweed, milkweed, mountain laurel, rhubarb leaves, sorrel, wilted wild cherry and some oak leaves.
Hay
|
Hay refers to grasses or legumes cut at an early stage of growth and sun-dried. It is either baled into square bales, which are actually rectangular, or much larger round bales, typically used for large herds of animals. Hay is harvested in "cuttings" , or crops, and cuttings are referred to as first, second, third, etc throughout the year. The number of cuttings will depend on how fast the grasses are growing. Typically, the first cutting has coarse stems and less total digestible nutrients when compared with later cuttings.
Hay should be bright green, have a sweet, fresh fragrance and be free of dust or other large pieces of contaminants such as rocks, trash and dead animals (yes, it does happen). Mold is a condition that occurs when the cut grass is baled wet or allowed to become wet somewhere during shipping or storage. Never feed or use hay for any purpose that is moldy smelling or dusty - even as bedding. The dust can cause congestion problems for any animal or bird. The type of hay you will be used will be based upon the availability in your specific geographic location. Like all other plants, certain types of grasses used for hay can be grown in one area, but maybe not in another. There are two major categories of hay. 1. Grass (carbonaceous) hay such as coastal, Tifton, timothy, orchard grass, Bermuda, marsh or prarie grasses and Johnson grass. These have less protein and calcium than legumes and therefore, you'll need to provide a sweet feed ration. However, bucks owners need to avoid feeding bucks legumes because the higher calcium makes them susceptible to kidney stones. 2. Legume hay comes from clovers or alfalfa. The value of this hay will depend greatly upon when the cutting took place - ideally when the plants are just beginning to blossom. After that, the plants become "stemmy" and the nutritive value decreases significantly. Good alfalfa or clover hay is considered ideal for goats because of the high protein and calcium content. Good alfalfa has about 13 % protein. When does aren't pregnant or lactating, it is possible to temporarily feed them a mix with lower protein and calcium without impacting their nutritional requirements. |
 Alfalfa bales Never gather weeds from areas that are sprayed with herbicides and pesticides, such as roadsides. It's unhealthy for the goats and is going into your food supply. |
Sweet feed (or grains)
Although roughage is the most important part of the goats' diet, you'll need to provide additional vitamins and minerals.For lactating does, the protein content of a concentrate ration should be about 16%, assuming you are feeding a good legume as roughage. Lactating does will also need more salt, at about 1 pound per 100 pounds of feed. With careful study and selection of ingredients, you can create your own rations, but for most people it is easier to buy commercially prepared bags of feed. Manufacturered feeds will label what the feed is intended for, e.g. "Goat and Kid".
Other supplements
- Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate): Goats eat baking soda to aid with digestion (see Bloat, above) as well as to keep their urine acidity in the proper range. Provide baking soda free choice in a well attached feeder in a dry area and placed high enough as to avoid contamination by excrement.
- Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamins and minerals are essential to keeping goats healthy, making sure they're growing well, and assisting in reproduction and the development of skin and bone. You will likely want to supplement your goats' feed to meet their particular requirements.. It is important to know which minerals already exist in your soils and what you may be lacking. This will prevent you from providing an over-abundance of certain minerals, which in a worst case scenario can lead to potential death. Supplemental minerals may be beneficial if you are unable to obtain a well balanced sweet feed or have a pregnant or lactating doe. Work with your county extension agent on getting more information about your soils and grasses. You can supplement your goats' browse and feed them essential minerals and vitamins by supplying them with free-choice loose minerals or a mineral block, which you can find in most feed stores. Goats prefer minerals with salt; if you have to get a salt-free mineral, supplement it with a salt block.
- Never buy products labeled "goat/sheep minerals" because it doesn't have enough copper for a goat's needs. The amount of copper that a goat needs can kill a sheep. If you can't find goat-specific minerals, you can use a cattle or horse mineral, but there are many goat supply houses you can find on-line that offer goat-specific minerals.
Treats
Treats are a great way to help socialize and train your goat. A goat that is wary of people of an anxious youngster will soon run to the gate every time they see you appear in hopes of getting some extra treats and rubs. Goats love almost all fruits and vegetables. Apples, watermelon, peaches, pears, oranges grapefuit, grapes, bananas (peel and all, if organic), and dried fruit. Just make sure that the fruits aren't in pieces large enough to cause choking. Vegetables are a nutritious addition to any diet. Goats love carrots with their tops attached, celery, pumpkins, squash, lettuce, spinach, and other greens.
Mangers (Feeders)
|
Goats are browsers, not grazers, and very odd about eating off the ground. Anything thrown on the grown is going to largely be wasted through being soiled and ignored.
There are many styles of managers and you can build your own, but you can also purchase one fairly affordably at a local feed or fencing store. It is not recommended to purchase these online as they are quite heavy and the shipping it's expensive. You could also affordably make a manager like this out of wood and PVC pipe, but the problem with wood is goats don't use much discretion about relieving themselves and you'll find wood will often quickly rot through and splinter, even with diligent cleaning. |
 |
Making the goats work to get to their hay and eat it is key as ordinarily they grab food by the mouthfuls, drop it, start butting heads with each over the feed and generally engaging every act possible other than efficiently consuming the majority of their feed.
The manager style pictured on the right requires the goats to put their heads into the slots and discourages pulling the feed back through and throwing it onto the ground. It also allows options in that if you clean out the bottom tray, it can be used for grain or snacks like kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps.
Water & Waterers
|
Goats must always have constant free access to fresh water. When goats eat dry feed like sweet feed or hay, they'll drink a lot more water. Green plants will contain much more water.
Goats can be messy, so it is best to raise the waterers to a height that the goats can't easily soil the water, but are able to drink from the bucket. Automatic waterers greatly simply the refilling tasks - something that needs to be done multiple times a day on hot days. For kids, a smaller bucket that can easily be adjusted in height as the kids grow works well. For easy clean, keep a scrub or toilet brush near waterers, dump the water, clean and refill. Plastic waterers are best as they are easy to clean and easily portable. Do not use galvanized containers, as there have been reports of nitrate poisoning in goats resulting from the use of water provided in these containers. |
|
A word on nitrate poisoning
Some plants that are normally acceptable feed can undergo chemical changes when the weather changes. Be especially cautious during periods of rapid growth after a dry spell or the coming on of the fall season with its lower temperatures and decreased sunlight. Sudan grass, Johnson grass, pigweed, lamb's quarters alfalfa, corn and oats can accumulate toxic amounts of nitrates.
Nitrate poisoning can also be caused by water contaminated with animal wastes or run-off from fertilized fields, or by eating fertilizers.
Nitrate poisoning can also be caused by water contaminated with animal wastes or run-off from fertilized fields, or by eating fertilizers.
|
|
|
