another goat question

[ksacres]

I use a small divided hanging feeder. You really don't want to dump anything they are going to ingest on the ground. You can up your parasite load that way.

 

[firefighter9208]

Quote:
Ok, helmstead beat me to it. I have these hanging in every barn on my place. They work wonderfully.

I use Sweetlix 16:8:1 Meatmaker loose minerals in them. You really need to use a mineral made especially for goats, as they need the extra copper. If you have horses make sure that they can't get to the minerals, because the copper will kill them.

I keep a 12" piece of rebar close to the mineral feeder and every couple days run it in at the Y to loosen the minerals so they gravity feed down. I cut my mineral use by 1/2 when I went to these feeders. They can't urinate or poop in them. When I used flat back buckets for minerals I ended up throwing most of the minerals away because someone would poop in them or a kid would decide that was a good place to sleep.

Now that I mention kids. I have kids that are less than 1 month old that are eating out of the mineral feeder. You would be suprised how early on in life they eat minerals. The kids are nursing, nibbling at hay, nibbling in the creep feeder, and eating minerals.

You really don't need to feed goats mineral blocks. The blocks are too hard for them to bite off and they will break their teeth.

Chris
www.hillboergoats.com

 

[agnes_day]

there are so many choices! they will be 2 months and 3 months when i bring them home...so do i feed them that and just regular goat feed then?

 

[ametauss]

I tried loose minerals and gave up as they just would not eat them. and I kept cleaning it up and around and around we'd go...

I went with the mineral block and I catch them licking it from time to time but not often.... I did see the one in the bucket but the block was cheaper and it's in the barn where it doesn't get wet....

I guess they know when they need it.

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

Quote:
Our goats love the mineral bucket for some reason. They clean it up. Plus it doesnt hurt it to get wet, that way you dont have to worry about wasting it.

 

[Chirpy]

Goats do better with loose minerals but you are right, it can be hard to keep the minerals in the container and clean. And, a block mineral is better than none. It's just harder for goats to use a block.

My milk does have a divided feeder attached to the fencing inside the barn with minerals on one side and baking soda on the other. It's just below chin height so it's never gotten dirty or been thrown out onto the ground. Even my little ND's (Nigerian Dwarfs) can easily get to it when they are out wandering around by just standing up on the fence with their front feet.

http://www.jefferspet.com/product/fortiflex174-mineral-feeder-3986.cfm

My ND's are in their own area and I just use two small, heavy dog dishes for their mineral and baking soda. I took one board off the side of the center of a wooden spool and set the dishes inside the center spool. I hope that makes sense. They can easily reach in and get to the bowls but can't get their bodies in to tip them over and the weather rarely gets in to them (although if it's raining or snowing at a slant from the right direction it will).

I really, really love what helmstead showed. I think I may switch to that with my ND's.