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12/09/13, 03:19 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: southern California
Posts: 11
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What kinda grain mix do you use?
Just curious and still learning here,....What kinda grain mix does everyone use during milking? I use 1 bag corn, 1 bag manimar (sp), 2 bags of dairy and mix it all up. My goats love it.
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12/09/13, 05:00 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 337
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I use a goat mix that my feed mill has for my milkers it is a 16% protien I pay 18 dollars for 80 lb's you cant beat the price and they milk great on it i also supplement with alfalfa pellet's , this time of year i am not milking right now and i feed oats , corn and they have minerals in front of them and a salt block as well with free choice hay.
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12/09/13, 05:42 AM
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 1,085
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Oats, beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, boss. Free choice grass hay.
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12/09/13, 05:46 AM
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Metal melter
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Jeromesville, Ohio (northcentral)
Posts: 7,152
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My grain mix is 6 parts whole oats to one part black oil sunflower seeds.
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12/09/13, 07:06 AM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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Oats, rice bran pellets, and a SMALL amount of Noble Goat Dairy Parlor 16.
I stopped BOSS after reading it might contribute to fish tails, which is normally interpreted as copper deficiency. This is an experiment. 
I don't feed corn because it is heating (although in deep winter, I might add a bit of cracked corn), and I don't feed soy because of the estrogenic effects.
__________________
Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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12/09/13, 07:29 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 4,752
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Last round we gave JUST alfalfa pellets on the stand.
Our girls are content to get any extras so it doesn't matter
to much to them, we have in the past added in oats & BOSS
to the pellets. I'm not real sure what we'll do this time around
when mama kids out. I have it all on hand...we shall see
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12/09/13, 08:43 AM
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II Corinthians 5:7
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Virginia
Posts: 8,102
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Oats, Shredded Beet Pulp, Alfalfa pellets
(Use to use BOSS, but never had fish tail symptoms until started to feed it and this area is NOT deficient in copper; so believe BOSS somehow caused a copper deficiency.)
I don't feed corn nor sweet feed in this regular mix, though now that weather is icy, may start giving a bit of cracked corn just for the heat it would manufacture. Also, may be stopping the alfalfa pellets (Don't really want to feed GMO junk.), though not real sure what to replace that protecin spot with.....
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12/09/13, 09:04 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 60
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What is BOSS?
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12/09/13, 09:16 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,080
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Black oil sunflower seed is BOSS. We do not feed grain very much. This past fall when the bucks were looking rather haggard we started giving them each some oats and BOSS each day. However, as soon as the early rut died back to a low rumble and the acorns started falling in heavier amounts, we quit. We never did feed the girls any grain because they never looked thin. It is HOW they look that pretty much determines if we give them grain when they are not milking. When they are milking: BOSS, whole oats and like Alice we add a cup or so of the Purina Dairy to the mix. All but one of our girls this past year did just fine on that mix...stayed sleek and shiny. The one was a FF who just could not keep the weight on...she had triplets and peaked at 12 pounds a day. I worried myself sick over her and then Joan and Emily saw her and informed me that SHE was the only goat that was at proper weight and ALL the others were FAT! LOL!! Now, imagine if we fed grain to all of them off season!!! Note: they are fed alfalfa hay exclusively, are all PB standard Nubians and have access to great wood pasture all the time.
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12/09/13, 09:20 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,080
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Oh, one other thing...we feed exactly 3 pounds of alfalfa hay to each goat in the AM and same in the evening....even in this cold weather. They are not tethered, but they are separated when they eat and that way they get what we want them eat. We do not just feed hay all day long.
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12/09/13, 09:24 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,984
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Blue Seal Caprine Challenger.
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12/09/13, 09:37 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,080
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Current photos of goats at "too much weight" ... as always!! PS: some are pregnant, of course! Can you imagine if we were feeding them grain???! It is just when they are milking that they actually need grain to maintain their overweight status that I love!
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12/09/13, 10:20 AM
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Katie
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Twining, Mi.
Posts: 19,930
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On the stand they get all the alfalfa pellets they want but I also feed them equal parts of oats & a 16% dairy pellet that I mix up, they get that twice a day.
Like Alice I never feed corn except when it's bitter cold here I may add a bit of cracked corn but very little! When that cold the ducks, chickens & guinnea's all get a little too.
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12/09/13, 10:44 AM
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Metal melter
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Jeromesville, Ohio (northcentral)
Posts: 7,152
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO
I stopped BOSS after reading it might contribute to fish tails, which is normally interpreted as copper deficiency.
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Hmmm...any idea where you read that? I'd be very interested in reading the article. My girls all have short tails even though I bolus and give them Right Now Onyx minerals (just started back up with the Replamin a few weeks ago too).
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12/09/13, 12:05 PM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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I wish I could find it again.  I've been looking.
__________________
Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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12/09/13, 12:36 PM
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Ages Ago Acres Nubians
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: MO Ozarks
Posts: 2,603
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motdaugrnds
Oats, Shredded Beet Pulp, Alfalfa pellets
(Use to use BOSS, but never had fish tail symptoms until started to feed it and this area is NOT deficient in copper; so believe BOSS somehow caused a copper deficiency.)
I don't feed corn nor sweet feed in this regular mix, though now that weather is icy, may start giving a bit of cracked corn just for the heat it would manufacture. Also, may be stopping the alfalfa pellets (Don't really want to feed GMO junk.), though not real sure what to replace that protecin spot with.....
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you do realize that your shredded beet pulp is GMO, I'm not sure there are any commercial beet products available anymore that aren't GMO (my does still miss their beets..it's been over 3 years since we stopped feeding it)
susie, mo ozarks
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"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/
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12/09/13, 02:39 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Central WI
Posts: 5,393
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Quote:
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may start giving a bit of cracked corn just for the heat it would manufacture.
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Corn does not contribute to the heat of digestion, it will however provide energy to the body that is using its muscles to generate heat.
As a matter of fact corn will generally contribute less to heat generation in digestion than hay.
Grains are considered "hot" because of the energy they contain not because of the heat they make when digested.
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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.
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12/09/13, 03:22 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: southern California
Posts: 11
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Oh, nice. I'm so glad I posted this topic. I didn't know there was such a variety out there. I've been paying $70 for my complete grain mix at the feed store and it only last a couple months-if I"m lucky. Plus, out here I go threw about two bails of alphalpha a week for all the goats and its $15 a bail. I also give them alphalpha pellets a day or two outa the week instead of regular feeding with the hay. The only thing I love is there milk is doubled with the grain.
Thanks so much for the advice!
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12/09/13, 04:15 PM
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Caprice Acres
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: MI
Posts: 11,232
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I buy it from a mill, custom mixed.
Our mix is oats, corn, soybean meal pellet (dairy prot pellet), Vit E/Se supplement, and a dash of molasses. 16%.
For the dairies I mix in 1 part alfalfa pellets to 2 parts the above grain.
We mix in 20g/ton of Rumensin for the main herd pre-kidding and through lactation . We start feeding the main herd this 4-6 wks pre-kidding. The rumensin decreases the number of coccidia oocysts that the adults are shedding into the environment, and thus decreases the number available for the kids to encounter. Once the does freshen, we mix in alfalfa pellets like above.
For growing kids, we free choice a lamb starter pellet that is balanced in calcium  hosphorous, and has a coccidistat. I usually mix it with alfalfa pellets, 1 part alf to 2pts lamb starter. They pick around the alfalfa pellets for the most part. We still do coccidia prevention until they're eating enough to make a difference - usually 3+ rounds of baycox. We keep free choicing this until it becomes inconvenient... seems to vary every year. 
Free choice grass hay, free choice loose minerals (sweetlix), and of course water.
BoSe/copper 2x per year (pre-kidding, pre-breeding).
__________________
Dona Barski
"Breed the best, eat the rest"
Caprice Acres
French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.
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12/09/13, 04:30 PM
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II Corinthians 5:7
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Virginia
Posts: 8,102
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Yarrow, I didn't even check the label on those beets; but I will next time I go out. Thanks for telling me.
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