Black Oil Sunflower Seed?

[ACountryMomma]

I've got a small herd of dairy cross does. Through the winter only one will be lactating, 2 will be bred for spring & 2 will be waiting to be bred when they are bigger.

I feed Nutrina goat feed 2x per day to the lactating doe and once daily (at bed time) to everyone else, they have free access to a large pasture planted with red clover, timothy grass and fescue & a smattering of mulberry bushes, maple & walnut. They also have free access to salt & a goat mineral blend.

But I live in zone 5, so winters here are harsh and though they have shelter, they will be needing plenty of energy to keep warm. Their winter feed will include alfalfa and orchard grass hay, the Nutrina, a supplement of Calf Manna, & .... I'm not sure?

I've seen lots of good talk about black oil sunflower seed, but I have a foolish question... When I see bags of this stuff it's still in the hull/shell - do you feed it to goats this way or is there a hulled version that I haven't seen yet?

Also, should I add a little cracked corn to the night time feed for the heat/energy it provides? My thinking is since this will be the coldest time of day and they will have been eating hay most of the day already (smoothing/slowing the digestion of the corn) that would work well.

Any words of wisdom - especially about the sunflower seed - are very welcome!

[crazygoatgal]

Believe it or not they love it with the shell and that is the way I have always seen it fed. I cant even imagine the cost of buying hulled seeds for my goats. It was bad enough when I did it for the birds. I feel bad for them, we are in zone 3 and they have to gorge themselves during the day and then go into a state of torpor during the night to stay warm enough. They can actually lose up to 50% of their body fat in one night by doing this so I figure why make them work even harder to get that energy. So I feed them straight sunflower seeds and they are fat and happy. And there is almost no waste because there are no shells to clean up in the spring.

[ACountryMomma]

Excellent! I'll be stocking up then.

Thank you very much for your response!

[crazygoatgal]

Originally Posted by ACountryMomma

Excellent! I'll be stocking up then.

Thank you very much for your response!

No problem I forgot to mention that the shells are a good source of fiber or so I have been told, but it makes sense. So it is a win win situation. Just start them off slowly and build up. I have Nigerians and I give them roughly a handful(a lady hand) in the winter for each pregnant doe and a couple tablespoons for a dry, young, or male goat. I actually don't even know if that is the correct amount, but it seems to work for me.

[KSALguy]

corn is a good and CHEAP additive to put their diet, it will keep them warm and wont cost you as much,

whole or cracked it dont matter

[ACountryMomma]

Thank you! We have access to quite a bit, so that is good news.