Purina Show Chow

Purina Goat Chow really works well for the beginner. It is not a complete food. If you look at farms (goodard farms) and others who use Purina, they also use a complete mineral, and free choice alfalfa hay. When you look at most peoples goat menu's they may say they use this feed or that, when in reality it is nothing more than the base of the feed, they topdress with Black oil sunflower seeds to improve the fat, they add beet pulp for energy or more corn, or more oats, or more barley.

Your best bet is to always mirror your first goat diets after a real person who is feeding the kind of goats you want, and those goats look good and you admire them.

In my opinion Goat chow contains way to many roughage by products, the oils change with the season, and some they choose to use in winter are unpalatable to goats. Their grain mix contains way to much mollassas for high producing does, and although their mix contains calcium in the mineral form, it should also be in the alfalfa meal or pellet form.

If feeding high quality alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets, you could feed the goats any grain, even plain clean oats, and have very good looking animals.

Always know what defficiencies you have in your area for minerals, feed a good loose mineral fresh all the time, then the best hay you can find. Supplement the hay with grain for reasons....kids growing, does are in the last 50 days of pregnancy and growing those very fast growing kids, making colostrum and milk, the doe is milking, a buck is being used heavily...other than that your goats will do fine on good hay. I use grass hay and alfalfa pellets nearly free choice, grain is fed to growing kids, to milkers on the milkstand, and to get weight back on really used bucks. I do start the milkers back on their grain the last 50 days of pregnancy, most where milked until 80 days pregnant, so the grain is given back very very slowly. You do not base the diet of your goat on grain, then give anyold hay.

Never make any changes suddenly, and why I don't like feeding a sacked grain like Purina, everytime they make this, at every mill, and no two mills are the same, they use different ingredients to come up with the miniums for protein and roughage. And of course if you are going to feed a sacked feed get a menued one, one that states, corn, oats, barley on the tag, this means everytime this sack is milled it contains the same ingredients, these feeds are much higher quality than roughage grain anything...and usually cost 3 or 4 dollars less per 50 than Purina!

The only checkerboard I would pay more for is their minerals, their goat minerals are nice, their 12 12 cattle minerals are excellent, and 50 pounds of them cost the same as 25 of their goat. Vicki

 

Vicki, do you have a minute to type out what you feed your Nubians EXACTLY for us slow learners? I have mine on good hay, Dumor show feed, loose mineral salt and fresh water...............now I think I'm missing some stuff......alfalfa? My doe is Due Nov 3. Should I give her alfalfa??? Confused beginner here.........

:waa: HELP!!

Karen

 

Well first, a doe due in November, this is no time to be doing much different to her diet. Yes you could SLOWLY introduce alfalfa pellets, perhaps as little as a cup a day, then a weeklater 2 cups, a week later 3 cups, until she is eating 2 to 3 pounds when she kids. I have never looked at the Dumor feed at Tractor Supply, so have no opinion on it, but I do know some of their feeds contain animal fat.

I feed Pilgrims 12% dry mix, this is a Horse allgrain, at Tractor Supply if it was closer I would feed the Bluebonnet drymix, it's a wonderful product with quality minerals in it. This is milkstand food, bucks used alot and getting weight back on from the fall/winter breedings, and growing kids. I start SLOWLY my pregnant does back onto their grain at 100 days bred.

The base of my goats diet is alfalfa pellets, grass hay (a horse quality coastal) and all the browse they want in the woods, we go through little hay. My mineral, making sure my ppm of copper is above 1000, selenium (giving Bo-se) prebreeding, prekidding and to kids at birth, are the most important part of my program, keeping worms, feet problems and pregnancy problems at bay. Understanding worms and cocci and the special roll they play in our stock with our high humidity and non-freezes, are also key.

Keep it simple, everything fed has a reason, no fillers, by products or animal byproducts, or high protein, it wastes money. Vicki

 

I feed purnia goat chow, with no problems, my girls love it. I also give them their minerals, and I give them one a day vitimans, and a calcuim chewie. and great alfalfha hay, 2nd cut.

 

Vicki,

Is the cattle mineral the same as the goat? Or would other minerals need to be added? I would LOVE to cut my mineral cost in half!

I've been feeding Purina Goat Chow for 2 years now, along with Purina minerals and excellent alfalfa. Unfortunately we don't have a huge selection of grains here and no way to purchase ingredients to have it mixed. I started out with Purina because I was new and figured I better just pay more rather than take a chance on not feeding a quality grain. My girls do great but I have been investigating other grains that are less expensive. Now that I have gotten somewhat past the wet foot stage, I'm talking to other breeders in my area and checking out their feeding programs.

 

Remember that each mill mixes things differently, there isn't a national recipe In my area the 12 12 loose cattle mineral and the goat mineral have little difference in them, other than the goat one contains molassas. You want the goat to go to the mineral for the salt, not the molassas. No other salt should be given to goats, other than what is in their loose mineral. For us any mineral that the girls readily eat and has 1000ppm of copper on the tag is fine. I like the consistancy of the Purina 12 12. If I could get the loose dairy cattle I would feed it but it is not a proch order here so you would have to buy alot.

Right now I am feeding a Bluebonnet mineral for cattle, horses and goats. ppm of copper is 3000. It also contains kelp and probiotics, so no more feeding of both of these, which is a huge time and money saver. Plus our TSC just orders me a bag when I need it. Vicki

 

Vicki,
Here in the north, about all we can get in goat feed is purnia, and we can't pasture our goats like you do because of our seasons. We have a very long winter season, with snow, so we have to feed. and it is easier to feed year around, then to get them used to pasture, then it is time to take them off again. because of the season.
ourtsc, desn't even sell purnia goat chow,or any other kind. we had to go to a dealer, and there are two in a 50 mile radious. so we pretty much have to take what we can get.

 

Vicki,

Is the cattle mineral the same as the horse mineral? On the Purina website they have a comparison chart and the copper is low. They don't seem to have a chart for cattle minerals, so I'm assuming the horse and cattle would be one in the same?

 

Here, the horse mineral contains alot more ppm's of copper compared to the cattle, I used the cattle because it was available, used alot so it was fresher than the loose horse, that was seldom sold. Most horse folks out here use blocks.

What this thread has shown you is that 'NO' Purina Goat Chow or really any other grain mixutre or grain pellet is a complete feed. Hay, alfalfa pellets or pasture is a must for extra roughage, and to cut the sweet.

I can't even imagine what your feed bills run, having to grain dry does. Especially with something that costs as much as goat chow does. I know the last time I looked it was way over 10$ per 50. My milkstand grain runs right under 7$ per 50, which is the major cost and pushes my milk costs higher than I am comfortable with charging. Having to grain just that 60 to 75 day dry period, or holding over yearlings who are unproductive, would put my milk prices beyond reach of most normal customers. Maybe why the $8 to $13 per gallon set charge what they do. Vicki

 

Its also show us, just as you previously posted, the same brand in different areas does not contain the same rations! The cattle mineral would be a special order here. Your familiar with the area, no cattle up here in the high desert, plenty of horses tho and the Purina horse mineral is a stock item @ the feed stores. The ppms in the horse ration here are too low in the Purina chow.

I don't grain anyone but the does in milk and moderately the kids. As you know we have great alfalfa here and they get that free choice. I haven't been able to find pellets that have adequate protein.

I had a long conversation with a very experience goat friend last night, he uses Kruse grain and then adds a few items that are available here. I really don't want to switch this late in the season, but will try it out next year. Kruse is $3 a bag cheaper!