Feeding

[famer_manda]

Should I leave food out at all times for my goats or do I feed several times a day or once a day or how should I feed them ? I dont want them to over eat if that is posisble and I also dont want to underfeed them.

[mpillow]

They wont overeat on hay(but they will waste it).....minerals and baking soda free choice....I only grain on the milk stand for mostly Nubian girls....my 8 adult goats are eating 1 bale a day (square about 40lb) and freshened doe is getting 2# 16% animal feed on milk stand....I feed morning and night....

We do get truckloads of "tops" from a friend who is having his property logged....cedar and fir....one pick up truck lasts about a week....

[mygoat]

I give my pygmies 1/4 cup grain daily. Right now they also get 1/4 cup alfalfa pellets only because there is no forage. Late in the pregnacy around 2 mon. before kidding the pregnant does get worked up to however much grain/alfalfa pellets as I deem neccesary daily and will stay at that while producing milk. As milk production slows, I slow down grain intake untill dry and the doe is getting back down to 1/4 cup. free choice salt/minerals and baking soda 24/7. My goats only get hay in the winter or if there is no forage for them. My bucks don't get any grain or alfalfa pellets unless thin or wormy.

[DeltaDawn]

What I like to do is mix a 50# sack of White Tag feed (it's medicated) and a 50# sack of deer corn together in a wheel barrow and shovel it into one of those big blue buckets with the beige lid (not sure on exact size), and with a large batter bowl, give them 3 full bowlfuls every night, that way they get the good feed and get the corn as a "treat". This is for about 20 goats, they also have free-range on the grass that's coming up and we get them hay occasionally when the grass isn't looking too plentiful...

Kalena