Grain?

[big rockpile]

I hear alot saying they bring their Goats with Feed Bucket.Do you feed grain to your Goats?

big rockpile

[billooo2]

Yes. I have dairy goats, so they get grain in proportion to the amount of milk that they are producing.

[woodsman]

I give grain when I milk. This way when I open the gate and let a doe out I don't have to have her on a leash to prevent her from running to the house and nibbling on her favorite vegetation that we really like untouched. Instead she jumps on a milking stand and puts her head in a stanchion willingly and waits patiently for her ration

[big rockpile]

I'm sorry these will be Meat Goats.

big rockpile

[eacrouch]

I give my does 1lb of alfalfa pellets/head/day right now. I have does that are growing, lactating (I bought them bred), and those I hope were just bred. It is recommended that you may want to grain them the last two months of pregnancy and during lactation, depending on forage and such. I use this website alot: http://www2.luresext.edu/goats/resea...ionmodule1.htm
It is a nutrient calculator for goats from Langston university. You select the type of goat, stage of development, sex, weight etc; then you pick the feedstuffs, and you can play with the amount of feeds to see what you might need to feed the goats based on their stages of development ie preg, lactating etc. No since feeding protein to them is they don't need it. Waste of money. But this is my opinion. Erin

[dosthouhavemilk]

Since a vast portion of my does (even the Boer crosses) have dairy influence, we grain once a day. The only time this doesn't happen is in the summer if they can be out on the 80 acres for most of the day. Otherwise I allot about 1/4-1/2 pound of grain a day per head during the summer. The Spring they get more because there are growing kids and does nursing those kids. Actually there are does nursing kids for close to 6-10 months depending on the doe. Those first few months are the important milk producing months. For does I milk, they go on the milk stand and get a higher feed ration.
My goats respond to my call because there is always the chance I'll actually give them grain. They don't always get it, but they come anyways because they are gaga for grain.
If you have solid fencing and a nice shelter area, I know mine always head back to the shelter area to sleep at night. If you can leave a gate open most of the time they'll back into their sheds for the evening and you can come out and lock them up.

[Rockytopsis]

My goats are Boer and Boer/Kiko and I grain them in the morning and get them used to me calling to feed for ease of catching when I want to lock them in the barn for what ever reason. Like taking to the sale barn, trimming hoofs, breeding, worming, etc.

[big rockpile]

Well what really brought this up.When I had Goats before I would Grain them.But it really cut into profits.I have a neighbor he has good looking Herd,every Spring he has a pasture full of Kids.All he is giving them is Hay durring the Winter and I really don't think it is all that good of Hay.He says he is making good money on them.He did have problems this year but he said he changed Wormer which was a Big mistake.

big rockpile

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

For what it is worth. When I had boers they lived in acreage that was wooded, complete under brush. The buck and my adult does. When the does were obviously heavy with kid and springing (udder full and tight) I would move them into another pasture next door, for them to kid in, which was mostly pasture with trees more about shade, this way the does also didn't kid out in the deep woods where I didn't see the kids for 2 or 3 days until they were up and following in mom. This way also I could put a corral around the loafing shed (really just shade and out of the rain place for them and hay) with a lower fence board off so the kids could come in and eat the same grain their moms were eating, but moms only got a limited ration just to keep them looking good and in milk. At 8 weeks all the boys were sold, the does were then put back into the wood pen (no grain out there) with the buck and other does to be rebred. The buck always had does with him so he was manageable, and honestly after the first year I just leased a buck twice a year.

So for me yes I did go out to the woods pen, feed hay (winters or hurricanes or when it rained for more than a day), put out minerals, water and put maybe 1/2 a cup per animal of oats or whatever I had around to get them all to come, which also gave me the opportunity to get one, clip her to the fence and trim feet, starting the 1st of the month and doing one a day I could get through the herd quickly.

If you take advice for your meat goats from dairy gals, you won't make any money and you will have fat, lazy boers who will have more health problems.

Minerals are huge, in fact if you would bolus for copper twice a year, that and keeping your girls in wooded pens as much as possible your worming problems will be nill. Vicki

By "bring their Goats with Feed Bucket", are you talking about getting them to just come to you, rather than "graining"? Even the most laid-back of mine will shoot across a field if they hear grain (COB, wetCOB, whole corn/oats, etc) shaking in a pail. Meat or dairy... goat or sheep. Works every time. I haven't calculated it, but I doubt each of them got more than a bite or so... hardly a profit ruiner. I had no trouble getting my wild sheep to go through a gate if I put grain where I needed them to go.

A very small amount of grain on occasion did not seem to cause them any harm at all. Pea pellets or beet pellets go over well... might be more cost-effective for a larger herd.

Everyone else seems to be talking about grain as part of their feeding program, so I'm not sure if I mis-understood your question.

[RiverPines]

Our Boers and Pygmies both get nothing but what ever grows wild in the fields when its warm and they are set out to browse.

In winter they get nothing but grass hay thats 30% alfalfa.
When breeding them they get a little grain for a short time. After breeding they get only hay till the last 2-3 weeks gestation, then its only a little grain till birthing.
Nursing, if warm out and out in the field, Doe's and the kids are on their own.
If they cant be in the field they get a little grain.
I never give any grain more than once in a day.

No buckets either. I give it in my hand, one goat at a time.

The goats do fine on 99% hay. I cant see tossing grain cost in their when its not needed. Its a nice added boost supplement wise in those few periods of the year but thats it.

The best for us with kids is let them nurse for months so they can go from teat to pan!

Bucks only get grain when they are getting ready to be placed with some does. Thats it all year. Grain, sex, and no more till next year.

[HappyFarmer]

Meat goats can do wonderfully on good pasture or good browse or good hay alone: except for the fact that not all pasture or browse or hay is the same.

Call your local co-op and see if they can test your hay for you, and your pastures too. Our co-op tests for free since we buy from them.

We attempted to raise one kid crop on pasture & hay alone. We had slow growth, really slow. We finally decided to have our hay tested. It was only something like 7% energy, TDN was very low, it should be something like 13% or 15%, I'd have to review my report & notes for exact #'s. The lack of energy showed in my kid crop. We had to supplement our hay with energy food, corn & oats we're currently using, and the growth has increased. To be honest I didn't really understand the whole results thing, so maybe someone with more knowlege on hay reports can chime in here. I do know that once these kids received the energy the needed, they started growing like weeds.

It's true, buy the best hay you can afford. Ask when your hay was cut, ask when it was last mineralized & brushhogged. We did this to one of our haymen & wouldn't ya know it, he mineralized that very year.

HF

[Goat Servant]

I only give my girls grain a couple of weeks before breeding and then again acouple weeks before kdding and on through lactation. It's a 17% protein Boer Goat Developer.
They also get all the loose minerals they can knock me around for all year. (Air too damp round here to leave out free choice) Babies nibble on the grain too. But I have to limit the minerals somewhat cause if babies get too much they will scour for a day or two.
They all party on usually 3rd cut alfalfa. Due to our particular set-up the only browse they get is what we bring to them.
They all know what rubber feed pans are as well as cottage cheese containers full of rattling grain. Just the sight of empty ones will cause hollering and a stampede.
Dont have weight gains in front of me, but they all do well.