| Author | Message | ||
     Alexander Cripps New member Username: hazydaynubians Post Number: 47 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 142.167.10.166  Rating: N/A |
well i have 4 dairy does and 3 are going to kid in the next few months and 4 Boer goats. I feed haylagle and hay every day Haylagle in the mor and Hay at 4:00 when i feed agian and Haylagle when i close them for the night. And have a 10 gallon heated water bucket full at all time and feed a 16% dairy ration and Vegtables they have very good coats and are in very good weights i show them so i spend alot more then if i was just looking for home milk or pets you could get away with good hay and water and a little feed if they were not milking or breeding. Kids need feed and alot of good hay so if you have kids buy very good hay for them and they should be fine! Never feed vegtables with a strong taste if your milking you will taste it! | ||
| Lee Ann Corbett New member Username: laturcotte Post Number: 16 Registered: 09-2006 Posted From: 24.63.15.111 Rating: N/A |
I have 3 wethered nubians for pets. Their food consists of hay, some bales contain dried plants, twigs, branches some grasses and softer green hay. They are also fed a cup each, once in the morning and once at night of grain coated with honey and cracked corn. This is a real treat for them. I keep the feeder filled at all times with the hay. And always keep clean water available. They have 2 10 gallon water dishes one with a coil to keep it defrosted in the winter, it is emptied and filled with warm water every morning and every night. The other is extra water just in case. I also keep, free choice, a container in the barn of minerals. My husband just purchased a bag of alphala and a bag of alphala pellets. I have to do a little research on this food don't want to upset the digestive system. Their coats are soft, thick and shiny, and they seem to be extremely healthy, the vet was very impressed. | ||
| Lee Johnson New member Username: piper235 Post Number: 1 Registered: 11-2006 Posted From: 152.163.100.14 Rating: N/A |
Is there a reason I get 3 to 6 copies of each 911 e-mail. It certainly fills my e-mail basket in a hurry. Keep up the good work. I've learned a lot from you. | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 1245 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 71.111.230.109  Rating: |
Hay and good forage should be the main part of any goat's diet, about 95% of it. I like a good horse quality grass hay, timothy, orchard grass, even fescue. Even the lushest looking pasture may not have the nutrition your goats need after they have browsed it for a few months. I offer hay year round. Any pasture under 8 inches tall is really too short for goats, the shorter grass predisposes goats to much higher worm infestation. I feed a coop pelleted feed, I don't believe in feeding a medicated feed, here's why: the goats that need it most don't even eat solid food at the age where they are most vulnerable to coccidia. Kids from 1 to 5 weeks old are the most vulnerable to picking up coccidia and they would have to be eating 1/4 to 1/2 pound of the feed a day from BIRTH for it to do much good. This feed only helps prevent some coccidia infections (it only treats for the most common types of cocci, ther are hundreds of species) it does nothing to cure a problem. It is HIGHLY toxic to other species such as horses (do you have horses?). Our animals are pumped full of enough drugs unnecessarily. I raise pygmies (essentially a dwarf meat goat) and they get about 1/2-1 cup feed each twice a day or what they can clean up in about 5 minutes. I think a good mineral with adequate copper is essential for a healthy immune system, good fertility and good resistance to parasites. Most goats need 900 to 1800 ppm copper in their mineral. Use a loose mineral or one of those soft tub minerals. Blocks are too hard for goats to be able to lick enough to do any good. Many areas of the country are very selenium deficient. Most (if not all) feeds and mineral supplements don't have enough selenium in them to correct that. The FDA HIGHLY regulates the amount of selenium in any feed for any animal. You may need to give BoSe (a selenium and vitamin E injectable supplement) once or twice a year to be sure your goats get enough selenium. Selenium deficiency leads to white muscle disease, very poor reproductive health and poor fertility, retained placentas, prolonged labor. Clean water is a must!! I use smaller containers (2 to 10 gallons depending on how many goats drink from them) and empty every day. I do not allow drinking from ground water sources such as ponds or streams. In the entire US ALL ground water is considered contaminated (e. coli, giardia, other nasties). I just talked to a lady today with a goat with tetanus that probably got it from drinking stream water. The damp areas around streams and ponds harbor the tiny snail that carries deerworm. The goats eat the lush vegetation while they are getting a drink and ingest this snail accidentally. Deerworm is often fatal as it causes severe damage to the spinal cord. I breed year round and I show so my animals are pretty much considered in high production. Pet herds and non breeding goats get along fine on good hay, good minerals and clean water. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| RANDALL TILLMAN New member Username: rtillman Post Number: 5 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 206.197.1.3 Rating: N/A |
I feed my goats a co-op feed with something in it for cocidia. Just wondering what everybody else might be feeding. |
