Grains on the Milk Stand

Lazydaisy67 · #1 02/21/12, 08:46 AM

How much? Which grains? Should I increase?

Currently I'm feeding free choice alfalfa hay and on the stand I'm giving two pounds alfalfa pellets with sweet grains and corn mixed 1/2 - 1/4 - 1/4 per milking. Seems like milk is tapering off from 2 quarts per milking to this morning of ONE! 2nd freshener, kidded the 7th of Feb. Has been wormed and had copper bolus.

Sorry I still use quarts as measurements instead of pounds of milk and, frankly, I'm putting my grains in a coffee can, so when I say about 2 pounds what I mean is half of a 32 oz coffee can.

Am I doing something wrong?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 02/21/12, 08:53 AM

You are going to get ten different answers at least. Here's mine.

On the advice of an animal lactation veterinarian, I do not feed corn any more. Not good for their teeth, not good for their rumen, not good.... not good.

I don't feed sweet feed at all. Molasses is in the not good category for me. It's not a natural feed for goats. I don't eat sugar, either, and I don't feed it to my animals.

Alfalfa pellets are fed out in the feeders in the yard, not on the milk stand. Grass hay available at all times.

I'm feeding Purina Dairy Parlor 16 on the stand with a top dress of oats and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. One pound morning and one pound evening.

Are the kids on her during the day and penned at night? Once a day milking? Twice?

What did you deworm with? How much? How administered.

There is SO MUCH to learn about GOATS!!!

Lazydaisy67 · #3 02/21/12, 09:27 AM

Oh I know I will get lots of answers, lol. I can easily get rid of the sweet grains and corn, no prob. Oats and sunflower are less expensive anyway. I don't know if I've ever seen the Purina feed you're talking about. I'll look around for it. My area stores cater to meat goat farmers, so finding milk goat ANYTHING is rare.

Wormed with Ivermetctin I think but I will check with previous owner on amount and how given. Just bought her. Kids are not on her as of last Friday.

Alice In TX/MO · #4 02/21/12, 09:43 AM

I keep asking questions, but .... info helps...

Is this what the previous owner was feeding her?

Do you have only one goat? She may be grieving about being alone.

Most does in milk have a production drop if they are moved. The stress of moving, change in feed, etc.

Lazydaisy67 · #5 02/21/12, 10:23 AM

ok, talked to previous owner....super high quality alfalfa, nothing but sweet grains on the stand. This particular load of alfalfa hay seems kind of 'stemy' for us, which is unusual, but she seems to be leaving a lot of it.
Wormed with safeguard during pregnancy, no other wormer since kidding.
She is not alone, has 3 unrelated babies with her. They COULD be sneaking drinks, but she doesn't seem to like them all that much. Two of them have been bottle babies since birth and don't really appear to even try to nurse off of her. The other baby is from the same farm as she is and he is drinking her milk from a bottle.

I think I'm going to increase the alfalfa pellets until we get our next load of hay and cut the extra corn out completely. I don't want to make too many changes too quickly. Then I'm going to keep those other little buggers away from her and see if that makes a difference.

Donna1982 · #6 02/21/12, 10:27 AM

I would get her an adult friend. Babies are not really a good friend for an adult. IMO

Ford Zoo · #7 02/21/12, 10:47 AM

How big or what kind of goat is she? When I milk my NG's, they get up to 8 cups of feed per milking, depending on their needs:2/3 of a 14% all purpose mix from the local feed store and 1/3 Black oil sunflower seeds. I'm not sure how many pounds that is, the cup measuerments have just always worked for me. I agree that the moving probably caused her stress. Maybe try increasing her grains slowly to see what happens. After she settles in to your place she should pick back up I would think.

Lazydaisy67 · #8 02/21/12, 11:10 AM

She's pretty big, but I don't know her exact weight. She is a 3rd old registered Nubian, CAE, CL negative.

What exactly do the black sunflowers do other than add oil for a shiny coat? Is there a nutrition value for milk production?

Alice In TX/MO · #9 02/21/12, 12:57 PM

When was she moved from the previous owner's house to yours?

Safeguard means she was NOT wormed for stomach worms, also known as Barber Pole, or HC. Safeguard doesn't work on those.

She needs Cydectin, orally, 1 cc per 25 pounds of goat.

Ford Zoo · #10 02/21/12, 12:57 PM

I do believe they add fat, and fiber, to the diet which can also increase production and milk fat. My milk is always sweeter tasting when they are fed. Just trying to judge from the looks of my 34ounce coffee can and the fact that your Nubian is probably quite a bit bigger than my ND's, you can probably safely give her more grain when you milk.

Hollowdweller · #11 02/21/12, 03:03 PM

I usually just feed unlimited grain on the milk stand of at least 16% unless I have some super alfalfa free choice round bales and then I do like 12%.

Right now I'm feeding Caprine Challenger free choice on the milk stand and I give them some beet pulp pellets just for a treat.

I don't normally feed any grain off the milk stand by the way.

sammyd · #12 02/21/12, 03:07 PM

Ours get all they can eat of a 16% mix we have made up
If for some reason we have some super duper alfalfa (better than 22% protein) we feed straight whole shell corn with good results.
Personally I wouldn't trust any vet who told me to corn was bad.

creeklady2000 · #13 02/21/12, 03:19 PM

I feed mine alfalfa and grass hay my grain is oats alfalfa pellets and a good horse feed .I also feed corn to my goats specialy in winter there dry ration is ussually corn oats and minerals and good hay and they do great , I guess everyone is diff and diff things work for diff people , somtimes i think it depends on where you live and what is aval. to you also and your climate play's a very large role in what types of hay and quality as well

Alice In TX/MO · #14 02/21/12, 04:41 PM

Some folks just don't know enough about corn, I guess.

sammyd · #15 02/21/12, 05:03 PM

Some folks realize that corn has been an important part of feed rations for many years and has always produced good results.

CaliannG · #16 02/21/12, 06:41 PM

Corn is good to put weight on cattle. It's even good to put weight on goats and sheep. However, that is its purpose. It is carbs, pure and simple. Realize that ALL corn in feed nowadays is GMO corn.

Corn is higher in phos. than other grains, so you have to adjust your cal./pjos. ratio accordingly.

That being said, goats needs carbs, but milking goats need protein and fat more. They get plenty of carbs from their hay and alfalfa pellets. To make plenty of milk, they need 16% or higher protein, and AT LEAST 10% fat.

I use a dairy pellet from my co-op (anything local to you that says "dairy" or "lactation" should fit your needs). It is 18% protein and 16% fat. On top of that, I add MORE protein and fat as a top dressing, either in BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds), or a mixture of soybean meal and rice bran.

Corn is GREAT for putting weight on meat critters (which is why we have the saying that something is "corn fed"), but it is not so good as the main dietary grain for a milking animal.

Lada · #17 02/21/12, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Alfalfa pellets are fed out in the feeders in the yard, not on the milk stand. Grass hay available at all times.

I'm feeding Purina Dairy Parlor 16 on the stand with a top dress of oats and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. One pound morning and one pound evening.

This is exactly what I too. That Dairy Parlor is good stuff. I add BOSS only for those does whose coats always seem to need it.

Right now my girls are bred but not milking. I'm feeding an 18% textured feed with just enough molasses to keep it together (the dairy parlor does have some molasses as well) and it does have corn. It's what we use to finish off our meat animals and I have my girls on it currently because when they came back from the breeder they looked like crap and I'm trying to get them back in better condition.

LoneStrChic23 · #18 02/21/12, 11:23 PM

Yup, 10 different answers for one question

I reccomend buying a tube of Quest Gel...... This is the same medication as the Cydectin Alice mentioned, but cheaper to buy if you have a small herd. Dose is 1cc per 100lbs (1 tube can do several goats) & repeat in 10 days. Tube is around $10. If parasites are properly managed, & mineral needs are met, you can have a healthy, productive goat on several different grains (as seen by the diverse opinions here)

As for feed, I'm the oddball and got much better results on lower protein grain.... My personal mix is high fat & around 12.5% protein. No corn, not sweet. I use a high forage content, high fat horse feed mixed with whole oats, beet pulp shreds & top dressed with rice bran for extra fat. Protein is one of the pricest parts of a feed ration & any excess is just excreted in urine..... Since the biggest bulk of my girls diet is minimum 17% alfalfa pellets, I feed a lower protein grain ration. I'm most happy with it because, in my herd, I had some food refusal, and does with perfectly maintained feet acting as if they had sore feet while on high protein grains, but that all vanished when I lowered the protein.... Plus my production really jumped. Proof that there is no "one size fits all"

Free choice alfalfa (I use pellets, but if you can get good alfalfa hay, that is fine too, they need the alfalfa for the calcium), free choice grass hay & good quality free choice minerals. My girls produce very well & if you click on my blog you can are they are in great shape, so this works for me

Good luck!

Lazydaisy67 · #19 02/22/12, 09:03 AM

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input. I will keep looking for some sort of "dairy" feed but I think for right now I will try to mimic her previous feeding as closely as possible and make changes slowly.
I think what MAY have been happening is sneaking drinking. It's probably a combination of things, but I think this is it. Like I said I have 3 babies in with her. I have a "kindergarten" area just for the babies and their heat lamp but I was letting them out together with her during the day to play. I thought since none of them were hers, she wouldn't tolerate them nursing on her. I think I was wrong. Yesterday I kept them away from her all day and my milk amount last night was exactly where it should have been. Those NAUGHTY little buggers!

Alice In TX/MO · #20 02/22/12, 09:07 AM

Too much protein:
http://www.dairygoatinfo.com/index.php?topic=4362.0