Grains on the Milk Stand

I'm not sure I agree with this statement. I've fed 16% along with really good alfalfa lots of times and had no health issues and does that lived to the 14 plus years.

For instance last year I freshened 7 goats. I had 13 kids born, did not have to pull any and all lived. I had one doe get sick with the runs in the rainy weather but she recovered without any vet being called. Other than stuff you can buy at the feed store and Bo Se I had zero vet expenses.

The last time I had to have vet care for any goat was 2008 when I had a kid that got tetanus and I wanted her to have an IV of valium to try to loosen her up. She lived. I vaccinate for tetanus but I'm assuming I got the colostrum too hot

Anyway I think it's a bit too much of a blanket statement in that article and that you really need to feed according to production. Feeding a doe that is a low producer alfalfa hay and high protein grain IS bad. She could get fat and have breeding problems or ketosis. However trying to feed a doe that is milking 16 lbs 12% grain even with good alfalfa can be dangerous too.

Honestly, it boggles the mind. The more I read the more confused I am.

I don't think it needs to be confusing.

If you feed your goats a decent grade of hay and basically any halfway decent commercial goat feed or even a proven custom mix you should be OK.

2 things:

First normally a goat that has changed herds will drop in milk production and may not come back up till she freshens again at your place no matter what you do.

Second I have found that on goats who have nursed their kids if the kids are separated that they will often radically drop in milk as well compared to goats whose kids are taken at birth and fed separately.

You'd think. I actually thought I was doing really well until my milker went hypocalcimic and dried up on me yesterday. I've raised goats for 13 years, and most of the time I'm doing well. Once in awhile, though...

And then when I start reading these long articles, my head starts to spin.

Was she a big milker?

Excess grain/ concentrates causes founder:
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/ar...eringoats.html

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

That's relative.

Goats are not very good at digesting corn. We just feed 4 pounds per day, and taper off during the year as their milk drops. (Unless they need it of course).

She was milking better than she ever had before. She was nursing kids all day, and giving up to three quarts in the mornings. Then poof, one day she's off feed and dry. So now I'm trying to fix her.

I have a doe that does this too. Just one day decides she hates the grain and I'm out there pulling my hair out while she looses weight and production for NO reason. I'm hoping to replace her with a daughter or the daughter of my other doe who doesn't cause any problems.

I feed corn and molasses. I probably feed GMO grains because that's what available. I don't believe that they're necessarily bad enough (if at all) to avoid them, and I'm not morally against genetic modification.

My grain mix is a little cracked corn, oats, dairy pellet, Vit E/Selenium supplement, vitamin mix, and molasses. I believe it is 16%.

Corn IS just a carb source, but keep in mind that in regard to production the one thing that effects growth and producion the MOST is ENERGY. Short your animals on energy, and you'll loose the most ground. Yes there are other sources for energy, but corn is readily had and easy to obtain. Alone, NO ONE FEED is EVER a complete diet.

Molasses in extremes is never good, but a little in the feed increases the microbes in the rumen and can be beneficial.

I feed grain at a START rate of 1lb per 2lbs milk produced. Adjust up and down according to condition. All animals should ALWAYS be fed according to condition. Keep in mind dairies will loose condition in early lactation, and begin to gain mid-late lactation as their intake surpasses their output.

__________________


Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.

The only doe I ever had get milk fever was milking 18 lbs. Going off feed like that sounds more like a touch of ketosis.

Doesn't hypocalcemia lead to ketosis if not treated? Does ketosis just start on it's own? What would cause it? (I'm asking, not trying to be snarky.) Either way, I guess, the calcium drench includes propylene glycol. (I know that's spelled wrong.)

Yes, a thousand different answers......I will not feed corn. Its not good for producing milk, it is good for putting on weight. It used to be a part of my goats diet, a *smallish* part. But due to the fact thats its all GMO(which I am disgusted by for health and moral reasons), it stopped being a part of my grain mix quite a while back. Dropping corn hasn't changed my goats production or condition at all.
I feed straight whole oats and a bit of BOSS. My goats get a mix of good grass/alfalfa hays, and in season, brush and grasses that they forage. They have loose minerals mixed with kelp available at all times. I copper bolus and selenium twice a year. I worm once or twice a year(once at kidding, and then at breeding only if they need it).
They grow well, milk well and look good. So it works well for me. Better than ANY of the commercial mixes I tried and I tried a LOT. So use what works for you, and don't apologize for it.

__________________
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

Can you use a drench that does NOT contain Propylene Glycol? That stuff *burns* their throats.

Calcium is the thing she needs... the propylene glycol is for cattle who have tougher mouths and throats.

__________________
Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

Thanks. I don't think I'll need to give her any more. She is back to eating and even producing at least some milk again. I don't know how much since I left the doeling with her overnight. But she's looking much better.