Can someone PLEASE answer this question

OK I am now confused.
I got my oats and barley. I plan to slowly switch from the bagged to the whole grain. My feed will be,
oats
barley
corn
calf manna
alfalfa pellet
My problem is protien. I am having a terrible time trying to figure ratio and protien levels of those ratios. With the oats, corn, and barley no more than 12% how much calf manna do i need to add to bring the protien to 17%. I can not afford alfalfa hay or free choice pellets so they are extra.
They sure did enjoy those oats in their feed this morning.

That is what I mean Steff.....you can afford to plummet your protein with corn to get the fat value...use barley with your oats, well unless unlike here barley is cheap, here is't dipped in gold I guess...and feed calfmanna (yes it's fine to feed this to growing kids, really young milkers but do your does need this as a form of protein?) and not feed calcium rich alfalfa.

If you move your thinking to "I can't afford not to feed alfalfa hay or the equivalant in 3 pounds of alfalfa pellets to each big milker each day" and use your milkstand grain for what it is for....to give the girls a few carbs so they don't milk down to nothing...to add some added fat...and to give the girls energy (which they do get from browse and grass hay because of the way they can convert celulose into sugar). Using your grain to supplement calcium or protein and you are simply thinking wrong.

Alfalfa period. Oats. A really good loose mineral offered 24/7, and clean water. You would have to explain to me how you would need to improve this. If your oats are poor quality than yes you could explain the need for more fat. Yes add the calfmanna (and hopefully you found a knock off it) it's soo much cheaper, to your young does and young milkers, but not to your milking string.

And you will see with the change in program that as you try to mix the real grain into pellets or chow type feeds, they eat it first, and eventually simply leave the other product.

Calfmanna is used as a high protein, calcium rich, mineral dense first feed for just weaned calves. Using soy which is usually the same price per 50 pounds as 25 pounds of the calf manna (here we can get it in the form of roasted whole soybeans which my milkers adore, or soybean meal, which they love also) for more protein if you think you need it over the protein in your alfalfa hay....calfmanna calcium is of course minerals and whey, no more calcium than in alfalfa hay and shoot you have already a good loose mineral, so isn't this extra in your grown adults?

The difference in your goats when you move your thinking from grain + hay + minerals equals milk on a nice doe to......... alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets + minerals + grain......then you will have more milk, more kids, on a better looking doe who costs you less in the long run. Vicki

__________________
Vicki McGaugh
Nubian Soaps
North of Houston TX
www.etsy.com/shop/nubiansoaps

A 3 decade dairy goat farm homestead that is now a retail/wholesale soap company and construction business.

OK. alfalfa hay is not an option. only grass hay avail. How much oats on the milk stand. They do not need anything but oats? You gave a ration in another post that contained oats, corn and calf manna. I quess that was not for milkers?
They will need to have alfalfa pellets to bring up the protien correct?
Are oats and barley interchangeable. I can get steamed flaked barley and rolled oats or just plain of both.

steff there is nothing to exchange the alfa with. if you don't get the alfa hay, you could buy alfa pellets. if you would give it a try you would see that it really benefit your animals. the alfa is not only a healthier protein, but also the calcium that prevent hypocalcemia in late pregnancy and in early milking lactation. when i said only oats that was meant for the grain ration only. my milkers can eat as much as they want on the milk stand, and this is rarely more than a pound. it seems with the alfa pellets, they don't need so much grain.

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Susanne Stuetzler
Ain-ash-shams
Nubian Dairy Goats

please visit us at
http://www.ain-ash-shams.net

What I meant was can I use either oats or barley not replace alfalfa with one. Oats here are $14 for 50 lbs and barley is $10.

We were able to get a bag of 'chopped alfalfa'. The pieces are about an inch long.

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Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

My opinion, for what it is worth is oats and barley are both good grains.

I feed them both along with boss for fat but It depends on which one costs the most as far as the mix goes.

I was feeding the mix 50/50 oats and barley plus one scoop boss per bucket of feed, until barley went through the roof and I had to faze it completely out for a while. ( I did this very slowly).
Now the feed store got the message and has a much cheaper brand of barley.(looks exactly like the other brand.) so I am gradually adding it back into my feed ration.
I use boss and I know it is expensive but I don't put that much in so it really doesn't cost all that much in the long run.

The only difference it has made to my girls is the picky eaters are cleaning up the feed faster with the barley back in.
I have one goat that eats much, much better if I squirt a little red cell on her grain.
She loves the stuff. All my other goats hate it!

My old doe will knock everyone else out of the way when she sees I have the probios tube in my hand. I have to force it down all the others.
Aren't goats funny? They are just like people when it comes to food preferences.

Watch them when they have lots of lush browse to eat.
They don't eat the same weeds either.

__________________
Corky

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND IT BY MYSELF.