What to feed "freezer bucks"

[MamaDee]

We have 2 bucks almost 3 months old,

Our neighbors had goats and have a barn and a big fenced in yard for them. They moved and the new owners have no livestock. The new owners want to know if we have any goats to borrow to eat down the growth. It's mostly weeds and some grasses--all wild stuff.

We thought we could put our two bucklings over there--they could water them for us and our guys could eat their weeds until they are old enough to butcher.

Right now our bucks are getting clover hay and grain. Do they really need that if they have a field full of stuff to eat? Do they need anything else but water? If they were future dairy does, I'd wouldn't do this, but they are destined for freezer camp.

Should I transition their feeding a bit so they don't get sick.....send over some hay and grain? Or just turn them lose over there?

Thanks,

Dee

[betsy h.]

Worm and vaccinate them really well, make sure they have access to salt and really good mineral, trim feet and let them go. Maybe give them hay at night, enough to get them through till morning then shoo them out of the barn and make them forage. Let them in the barn if it rains. Butcher them when they get as big as you want them to be.

That's all.

[LaManchaPaul]

You might consider stopping the grain. Bucks/wethers don't need it unless in rut; and it can cause problems for them. For sure one should have good loose minerals, fresh water and Baking Soda available 24/7.

Perhaps you should continue the hay at their new quarters. Their stool will become soft as they adjust to the diet change. The hay and Baking Soda will help their digestive systems when they are put on lush green.

Have a sale price in mind so that when the new neighbors ask to keep them, you’ll be prepared!! hehehe
Paul

[DQ]

what to feed freezer bucks? whatever is cheap and available! sounds like you have a sweet deal! I have put pen to paper so many times it isn't funny and i always come to the same conclusion. any meaningful supplement to forage makes the meat so expensive that I might as well buy at the grocery rather than butcher for myself or sell them for meat. so if they grow slower? who cares. what meat I do get didn't cost me diddly squat.

[RiverPines]

They dont need grain.
Eat them before fall so you dont butcher a buck in rut! Yuk!

[mygoat]

I'd castrate them now, just in case you don't get to them before rut, which sometimes starts as early as late summer. They can also then concentrate more on growing than anything else.

While they're good weed eaters, if they manage to graze down the pasture they will need supplemental hay. Other than that, if my goats have pasture they don't get supplemental feed. My bucks/wethers NEVER EVER get grain - they simply don't need it with good hay/pasture. It's a waste of money when they do fine 24/7 on quality hay. I also, however, never had a very high buck:doe ratio, so they didn't loose condition during breeding season while servicing lots of does, lol. If I had had more does, I might have supplemented with a little alfalfa pellets and grain. Never very much, however.

Free choice quality loose mineral, fresh water, vaccinated, hooves trimmed - and if not disbudded, they must have fencing they can't get stuck in! Otherwise, sounds like you get free food for them.

[christie]

So should you not eat a buck in rut?
What about butchering after breeding season, will the meat taste better?

Do you finish the goat off in grain before butchering?