When to start feeding grain?

[TroutRiver]

As some of you have gathered by the few posts that I've made, I am very new to raising goats (I had them as pets when I was younger, but I am new to the production side of things). I have 3 does that I am breeding this year (just let the buck in with them yesterday, he will stay there for a few weeks and then he will be dog food). One of my does was milking this year but was dried off a couple months ago. We were feeding organic dairy grain while we were milking her. Now that we aren't milking, no one is getting grain anymore, only hay. They are all fat and healthy, but I am wondering at what point during pregnancy I should start giving the girls grain? Is dairy grain what I should be feeding them, or something else? I also want to get into mixing my own grain eventually (not going to rush into it without knowing what I'm doing) and would love some resources to help me with that, if any of you know of any. Thanks!

[thaiblue12]

What is in dairy grain? Anything you do, do it gradually so they do not bloat from a diet change.

In the Summer my goats eat a lot less of their normal feed, since they have acres to graze from, but they still need feed if they are milking, nursing babies and of course growing babies. As soon as the land goes brown and it gets cold I start upping their feed and buying giant bales of hay.

Everyone feeds differently and you have to find what works for you. I feed...
2 parts alfalfa pellets
1 part grain 3 or 4 way
a small bit of BOSS ( black oil sunflower seeds)
They have a 700 pound bale of grass hay and minerals available all the time.

This works for me with my dairy girls and they get enough calcium from the pellets that I have not had issues with it. But may not work for you cost wise, what you can find in your area and etc.
I also cut grain during the last month of pregnancy so they do not have huge fat babies. So they get just the pellets, hay and any forage that may have grown back.

Are you in a cold climate? If so you should start them back on the grain now, gradually of course

[goatkid]

My goats get a little bit of grain mixed with alfalfa pellets all year long. I increase the grain as they get closer to kidding.

[sammyd]

We feed a touch of grain all through the pregnancy. But will up it a bit a couple of weeks before they freshen.

If we have access to really really good alfalfa hay we do not feed a mix but just straight whole shell corn, and we also provide that even when we feed grain as a treat on the stand.
If we use a mix we use the following which we picked up and modified a bit from a local goat dairy.
215 pounds cracked corn
110 pounds whole oats
125 pounds 38% dairy pellet
40 pounds molasses
1 pound VitADE
12 pounds 2-1 mineral (a standard cow mix)
40 pounds BOSS

Our girls look and milk quite well on this mix.
We feed hay that includes a good deal of legumes such as alfalfa or clover along with some grasses like brome and orchard.
We provide a salt/mineral block and loose 2-1 mineral free choice and fresh clean water.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6609456_n.jpg

[houndlover]

Mine get about a cup of grain everyday, stepping up gradually in the last month to about a pound a day. Depending on how heavy they are milking, they may get more after. I also feed alfalfa pellets year round.

[mygoat]

I start increasing mine from a couple cups per day staring 4 weeks before kidding. I feed that in the stand just to get them used to going itno the milkroom one by one and jumping on the stand. I have mine at 2lbs of grain per day (1lb am, 1lb pm) by 2 weeks before kidding. During that time I sit next to them while they eat and pretend to milk them. That way when they kid out, they're used to me messing with their udders and I have yet to have a FF that gave me trouble. All of my FF's have settled right into the milkstand like old pros.

Once they're milking and I see how much they produce, I up the grain to the appropriate level. I feed 1lb grain for every 2-3 lbs milk produced, depending on the doe.

My grain mix is 5 parts oats, 1 part BOSS, 1 part corn, 7 parts alfalfa pellets. They also get free choice alfalfa pellets if they finish up the grain before I'm done milking.

[Jay27]

I only feed a balance vitamin/mineral pellet... feed that year round. If a doe needs extra calories she gets beet pulp. 24/7 hay year-round

[steff bugielski]

Mine get Blue Seal dairy goat pellet and hay all day. The hay is 20% protein.
I feed grain only while milking or heavy bred. I start graining about 5 weeks prior to kidding. Starting with 1 cup and ending with 1lb. I feed once a day till they kid then they get feed 2x a day and the grain increases from there. I only feed alfalfa during lactation. i beleive it is not good to flood the system with calcium during pregnancy unless you are milking.
They have fresh water and loose minerals at all times.