[trnubian]

Ok here's my situation. I have 3 nubian wethers. One is about 70-80 lb. and has quite a bit of mea and muscling to him. (He is about 6 months old.) I have 2 other nubian wethers who are somewhere around 40-60 lb.. They are pretty dairy. Not thin, just dairy type animals. (They are about 4.5-5 months old).
They have been on pretty much free choice alfalfa hay and I had been giving 7 kids about 10 lb. of a 15% protein 4% fat ration. (Alot I know). I recently cut them back to 7 lb. for the 7 kids, and they still get the hay free choice. (These were all show does and wethers so they had to be in top condition.)

These wethers are going to be going in the freezer in mid to late Occtober. (Don't have time to butcher them till them and we want to wait until it cools down quite a bit.) I Know it would have been more profitable to butcher them at 2-3 months but that wasn't an option.

I am making a pen for the wethers so I can hopefully manage them differently enough that I cut as many costs as possible. I have made them a 60' x 40' pen so they can go out and eat grass and weeds. I ran it through half our now finished garden so they can munch on that too. I realize that is not a lot of room to graze and browse but they have been dry lotted their whole lives so far so even a little bit of room will help.

I am trying to cut out the hay. They waste so much of it and even at only $3 a bale here (so far) they don't eat half of what they are given. They just waste it. Their grain ration is rather expensive too and I would like to just feed one grain.

Here's my idea. Would it be possible to go ahead and just feed them Alfalfa pellets and maybe like 1/2 a pound of the grain ration a day per wether? Or should I just stick with the hay I have and cut back on that since they WILL have some browsing and grazing to do? Could I just feed them the alfalfa pellets and let them browse/graze?

I am open for suggestions. Just trying to cut costs on them where I can. I don't normally use alfalfa pellets since our hay is reasonable right now, but I could if I needed to.

To clarify I am only putting the wethers out to browse and graze, no does.

 

[HazyDay]

Try BEET PULP (thats what's it called around here maybe known as BEEF PULP) and pasture.

 

[stanb999]

Ok here's my situation. I have 3 nubian wethers. One is about 70-80 lb. and has quite a bit of mea and muscling to him. (He is about 6 months old.) I have 2 other nubian wethers who are somewhere around 40-60 lb.. They are pretty dairy. Not thin, just dairy type animals. (They are about 4.5-5 months old).
They have been on pretty much free choice alfalfa hay and I had been giving 7 kids about 10 lb. of a 15% protein 4% fat ration. (Alot I know). I recently cut them back to 7 lb. for the 7 kids, and they still get the hay free choice. (These were all show does and wethers so they had to be in top condition.)

These wethers are going to be going in the freezer in mid to late Occtober. (Don't have time to butcher them till them and we want to wait until it cools down quite a bit.) I Know it would have been more profitable to butcher them at 2-3 months but that wasn't an option.

I am making a pen for the wethers so I can hopefully manage them differently enough that I cut as many costs as possible. I have made them a 60' x 40' pen so they can go out and eat grass and weeds. I ran it through half our now finished garden so they can munch on that too. I realize that is not a lot of room to graze and browse but they have been dry lotted their whole lives so far so even a little bit of room will help.

I am trying to cut out the hay. They waste so much of it and even at only $3 a bale here (so far) they don't eat half of what they are given. They just waste it. Their grain ration is rather expensive too and I would like to just feed one grain.

Here's my idea. Would it be possible to go ahead and just feed them Alfalfa pellets and maybe like 1/2 a pound of the grain ration a day per wether? Or should I just stick with the hay I have and cut back on that since they WILL have some browsing and grazing to do? Could I just feed them the alfalfa pellets and let them browse/graze?

I am open for suggestions. Just trying to cut costs on them where I can. I don't normally use alfalfa pellets since our hay is reasonable right now, but I could if I needed to.

To clarify I am only putting the wethers out to browse and graze, no does.

First the hay is cheaper than the pellets. The bales you have if common size are above 50 pounds. Now you can't buy 50 pounds of pellets for 3 bucks.

That said if they are wasteing it you are losing money.
Here is what I'd do. break the bale into cakes. about 8. give them 3 cakes and see if the leave any after 30 min. If they do then cut it back to 2. if they get it all finished in less than that add another.
A goat like other rumin type animals have been designed to gorge themselves then go to a safe place to chew their chud. Use this trait to your advantage. Because after the 30 min. they are just picking or playing with the hay.

 

[Ezrandi]

I was looking up beet pulp on the internet, and found this link.

Its totally off topic but funny, if anyone is interested

http://www.horsequest.com/journal/health/william.htm

 

[susanne]

very cute story, send it to daughter as she is raising one too.

 

[trnubian]

First the hay is cheaper than the pellets. The bales you have if common size are above 50 pounds. Now you can't buy 50 pounds of pellets for 3 bucks.

That said if they are wasteing it you are losing money.
Here is what I'd do. break the bale into cakes. about 8. give them 3 cakes and see if the leave any after 30 min. If they do then cut it back to 2. if they get it all finished in less than that add another.
A goat like other rumin type animals have been designed to gorge themselves then go to a safe place to chew their chud. Use this trait to your advantage. Because after the 30 min. they are just picking or playing with the hay.

Hmmm, that's a good point. I think I will do that. Right now I am feeding 7 kids about 12 lb. of hay a day. (That's a rough guesstimate.) I am not even sure how much actually gets eaten as they have one hayrack they like to pull off the wall. :flame: But in the other hay rack it's eaten down very well. So I will have to clean out and start over with the 30 minute rule in mind. That would be 2 times a day right?

 

[stanb999]

Hmmm, that's a good point. I think I will do that. Right now I am feeding 7 kids about 12 lb. of hay a day. (That's a rough guesstimate.) I am not even sure how much actually gets eaten as they have one hayrack they like to pull off the wall. :flame: But in the other hay rack it's eaten down very well. So I will have to clean out and start over with the 30 minute rule in mind. That would be 2 times a day right?

Yeah, Just be sure they all have space to eat. If they are blocking one another it could take a little longer.