Why exactly is molasses bad?

steff bugielski · #41 06/11/07, 05:43 AM

sorry I did not see page two.

PygmyLover · #42 06/11/07, 07:18 AM

actually my milkers produced so much we couldn't keep up with it. I was giving it away by the gallons.

I dont' have my milkers anymore - had to sell them so I could go to school - but it wasn't that long ago (2 years). So it is still fresh in my mind.

I fed this same sweet feed to my milkers and when I tried to change their production went down.

Like I said before I agree it is the quality of the feeds (thankfully I have good quality feed available to me) but that should be the main concern NOT the molasses, when you are looking into a new feed.

lyceum · #43 06/11/07, 09:17 AM

Ok, stay with me here, I am going to respond to a bunch of different thoughts, comments, etc from this thread.

First, most vets know more than you think about animal nutrition. At Purdue pre-vet students are required to take at least 2 nutrition classes. Then, once in vet school, there are more nutrition classes. Our vet is getting a PhD and has to take even more advanced nutrition classes. Just watch which vets you talk to about nutrition. Some will know more than others.

One of the feed stores we use is owned by a person that raises goats and has a degree in animal nutrition. He has helped feed companies to develop new goat feeds. He always tells us his best goat feed is the one that has steam rolled grains and molasses. It is a very good feed and they milk very very well on it. We have several does that will not eat our dry mix and they were put back on this feed and are milking twice what most of the others are milking.

Our dry mix is COB, beet pulp, and a goat supplement (no molasses). We have more and more goats that will not eat this no matter what we do.

We have tried alfalfa hay and alfalfa pellets and they milk just as well on our grass/alfalfa mix hay than they do on alfalfa hay or pellets.

Maybe a lot of this all has to do with location. What works for someone in TX might not work for someone in Minnesota. Do what works for you and not what everyone tells you works for them. Find your own mix or bagged feed.

Carisa