Minerals - how much to feed per goat-free range or what?

[AtHomeDaughter]

Minerals...

My 6 yr old nubian Melita (who is due Feb.) consumes pasture, browse and a bout' 2 cups of whole wheat (with a tbsp of molasses in it) a day. She has free choice baking soda. How much mineral (purina) should I give a day to her? Should I just put a lil in a covered feeder and let her eat what she needs (like I do baking soda)?

What about for my 11 and 10 mon. old nub/boers (Chava and Milcah)? Free choice or in thier 1/2 cup of grain I treat them to each day??

Whatcha' think?

Jessica
www.trulythoughtprovoking.blogspot.com

[Liese]

I think most folks put out loose mineral free choice, especially if you have a system to keep it clean - I don't, so put it in rubber dishes during the day, just enough to last the day. And everyone needs the minerals. Jim S. has posted pics of some nice PVC feeders, you might try doing a search for that post.

[BlueHeronFarm]

We free choice our minerals. They go through spurts of eating a ton as well as times when they don't eat any. I guess they know what they need.

[Goat Servant]

Same here as BlueHeron...free choice. One way you can tell they've been eating it is that there will be minerals at the bottom of the water containers. They sometimes have a mineral mustache that gets washed off when they drink water.

[ozark_jewels]

Loose minerals should be offered free-choice to all types of goats. There are many types of feeders that will work, from expensive types you can buy, to ones you can put together yourself in just a few minutes. The minerals should be kept fresh, so if you have a small herd you should put out small amounts at a time and refresh as needed. I have a larger herd, I put out enough that I must refresh it twice a week or so. This keeps it fresh and palatable to the goats.

I use a mineral set-up like this:







The board running across the top, keeps the does from standing in the feeders. The feeder needs to be mounted just low enough for the goats to reach it. When I have small kids running with the larger goats, I put it at the larger goats level, but run a board lower down for the kids to put their front feet on so they can also reach it. Very ocassionally I have to scoop a few goat berries out of one, but not often.
The PVC feeders work very well for many people I know.

[christij]

Emily - have you ever used that setup for feed/pellets when the girls are dry? I dpn't have a trough and then I feed them in the buckets they are always knocking them off and I don't want to attach them with screws/nails and unattach for cleanings when needed.

[ozark_jewels]

It doesn't work for feed or alfalfa here, only because I have too many does for it to be enough room. But there is no reason at all that you couldn't use it for anything that the goats eat. You would still need to take it down if you wanted to clean it though.

[Jillis]

I use a PVC pipe feeder for minerals, kelp and such. They work really well. Although, the pattern I used didn't use glue. Foolish. We ended up having to use gorilla glue to hold the peices together. Goats are too rambunctious to trust the holding power of a tight fit. Of all the systems I have used to deliver minerals to my goats, this one has worked best and I've had the least amount of waste with this too. They keep clean and dry. Sometimes their saliva makes the minerals gunk up at the serving entrance, so you might have to scrabble it with your fingers to loosen them. I check mine every time I milk.

[Sweet Goats]

I use the PVC pipe for the mineral also. I have them all over the barn almost in every corner, and several with baking soda and Sea kelp. It is not at all possible to TELL a goat that they have to eat the mineral on ther grain because they will eat it when they need it, not when you tell them to.