Whats your thoughts, goat feeding.

[FarmboyBill]

Ive been feeding 2 N does and a N buck corn at evening chores. Later, on warm nights after bedtime, Theyre wondering around bumping into stuff, trying to get on the portch, ect jus doing stuff that keeps me awake. Tonight, I didnt feed them. Ill feed them in the morning. Do u think it will change anything?

[nehimama]

Heck no, it won't change anything. In fact, they'll probably come thru the windows, po'ed because they missed supper. (Do they at least have hay to eat?)

[Pony]

LOL! Nehimama has it right. If you don't feed them, they'll bust down the door to get to whatever food they can find.

I make sure that mine are secured in a pen. If I let them roam, they'd be in my living room, watching television and eating popcorn.

Or, they'd be on my computer, like the goat in Mexico, MO.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Straight corn? I'd stop that.

I feed a bit of corn in the winter to help them cope with what we call 'cold' here in South Texas. But, it's mixed with other feed.

Also, if I were a cold goat in Oklahoma, I'd want something in my tummy to keep the fires burning overnight.

[sammyd]

nothing wrong with straight corn if you have decent forage.
But a regular schedule makes for happy animals.

[HappyFarmer]

I'm with Sammyd on the corn issue.

We feed corn here too with none of the issues/warnings harped about so often.

HF

[Backfourty,MI.]

I agree with Alice, I mix a little cracked corn in with their normal feed in the winter to help keep them warm. They have good hay 24/7 though & even though I let my doe's run loose most of the times & bucks for awhile everyday when it's cold months I lock everyone up in the evening.
In the spring & summer months the boys & girls have seperate pasture areas but still get hay.

We try to feed about the same times everyday, sometimes were late at night becuase weve been in town or whatever but they make it until I get home! Hahaha! They may not be too happy but they live through it. I do try to keep to the schedule as much as possible though.

[Pony]

I WAS KIDDING. I SAID, "POPCORN" and there's no way I'd let them have my stash of good popcorn!

That said, my goats do get a LEEEEETLE bit of corn chops in their grain ration. It's cold here.

Does get extra, everyone else is on hay/alfalfa pellets 24/7 (unless we run out of the pellets, because they act like those are the only thing keeping their bodies and souls together....)

[Oat Bucket Farm]

We don't feed corn at all. We feed a grain mix that is three parts whole oats, one part BOSS. They also get beet pulp shreds, free choice alfalfa pellets, and free choice brome hay.

This is what works for us, your mileage may vary.

[FarmboyBill]

The 2 does were givin to my neice and her husband. According to them, they didnt want them, but the people who had them couldnt keep them. They never fed them A THING all last winter. They gave them to me cause I let my boy know I was interested in haveing them, and her husband was interested in getting rid of them.

[FarmboyBill]

Tonight at chore time, they came and inquired if I was going to feed them. When I call them to eat, I call ha yuck, ha yuck. Thats what the Germans called their cows up home where I came from, or at least my grandads dad on up. I called them this morning, and fed them 5 cans of corn as I hadnt fed them yesterday. I didnt call them tonight. When they came, and I didnt speak to them, then soon walked away, even before I had chored the rabbits.

[HappyFarmer]

How big are these cans?

HF

[Alice In TX/MO]

FIVE CANS OF CORN?

They don't need that, it's not good for their teeth or digestion, and it's not good for your pocket book.

Are they Nubians or Nigerian Dwarfs? You just said N in your original post.

Nigerians just need hay and almost no supplement at all.

If they are Nubians, get some alfalfa pellets or goat feed.

I hope your goats are alive in the morning.

[chewie]

no feed one night, 5 cans, any size the next, you are looking for dead goats. goats thrive on consistancy, in timing and esp. in things like what they are fed. the same food, the same time of day, every single day. and corn has lots of bad reps., but even at that, if they were used to it, fine. i think the on /off part is going to cause you problems more than anything else.

[FarmboyBill]

The cans are standard sized soup cans. Ive been feeding them corn for around 3 weeks. As I said , I didnt feed them tonight, and they seemed fine since I fed them this morning. Im pretty sure they will be alive tomorrow

[HappyFarmer]

Apparently the corn was fed this morning, seems he would have seen issues by the time they came up this evening if they were to crop up. In 12 or so hours time I would assume these goats were given or had access to forage/hay or the like.

His cans may very well be a small soup can, and not the large #10 can found in restaurants. 5 small soup cans of corn is not a lot for 3 goats used to the corn.
5 Large #10 cans is a lot for 3 goats.

I guess it depends on what their "normal" amount is in comparison to the 5 cans.

HF

[HappyFarmer]

5 cans (10.5 oz) of corn should not bother 3 goats, regardless of breed.

HF

[motdaugrnds]

What I am hearing you say is that you feed about 3 cups of corn to your 3 goats each day and when you miss a day, you give them twice as much the next day. If that is all the grain they get each day, no wonder they're trying to get into your house. (If that was the only way my small herd .. only 5 breeders .. got grain, they would be coming into our house too, if the dogs would let them up the stairs.) ... ROFL ... you set the rules! ... ROFL

[mygoat]

First, goats ALWAYS need access to a good hay. If they're not producing, a GOOD grass hay is fine (horse quality, NOT cow quality. Green and soft is the goal, otherwise they'll waste it) If they are producing milk, the does need alfalfa hay. I feed a grass/alfalfa mix hay (mine hate the stems in alfalfa) and also supplement those that need it with alfalfa pellets and a relatively small amount of grain. I free feed hay though some do well with a daily ration of hay. I find my goats do better free-fed hay. They also tend not to mob you in fits of hunger.

Hay should be the BULK of a goat's diet. Goats natrually would browse and are MADE for digesting forage, not grain. The only time goats need a grain diet at all is when they are producing.

Corn is high in carbs and doesn't have much else in it, nutritionally. This is essentially like feeding a child candy. They WILL get fat on it, and can still suffer nutritionally. While it's not a horrid food choice as many may make it out to be, it is part of a complete diet - and not a big part, generally. People often think the corn diet is working well because when you give hay as well, it can take longer to show signs of deficiency... which can take years to show signs in the herd. But when it does, it can affect a broad range of things - joints, blood formation, worm load, digestion issues, kidding issues etc. Also, being overweight is worse for most animals than being slightly underweight. Especially if your does are running with your intact buck - they are pregnant at this point, and the last thing you want is a pregnant doe overweight. They store fat around the birth canal, and it makes kidding difficult.

I feed my animals more corn in the winter than I do in the summer - but they're still on my summer mix and it's only 1 part corn out of 14 parts. (5 parts oats, 1 part BOSS, 1 part corn, 7 parts alfalfa pellets). When I up the corn it'll be 3 parts corn, 5 parts oats, 1 part boss, 9 parts alfalfa pellets. Essentially, my feed is always 50% alfalfa pellets, and 50% a grain mix.

[FarmboyBill]

Amazeing. Some say DONT FEED CORN. Some said dont feed so much, and some said I didnt feed enough. Thanks for all the advice.