I'm going to get some backlash here, but here goes.
How serious are you about cutting costs, vs doing everything by the book? Much like raising hogs, raising goats for meat do not require "proper" nutrition (aside from minerals, I will agree on minerals but you could even skip that for a few months is you are serious about cost cutting). The gist is, why worry about their long term nutritional needs if they are going into your freezer in a few short months anyway?
They dont need the extra nutrients and expense of the bagged feed.
Milk from the store would also be MUCH less expensive than milk replacer (at least here in the U.S.).
As to vaccinations, yes that can be a good idea in big production facilities, but I raised goats for years with no vaccinations and no ill effects whatsoever. I do vaccinate now that I am breeding, however.
You would be better off spending your money and efforts in a good protocol such as pasture or paddock rotation and deworming as necessary to control parasites than you would be with trying to feed them the "proper" feeds.
I do think hay is necessary, unless you happen to be an expert in pasture for goats and an adequate judge of how much nutrition your pasture carries and have knowledge of appropriate stocking density along with good rotation practices.
There. I said it..... sorry if others don't agree. But budget goat raising for meat and "proper" goat raising are two totally separate things.
How serious are you about cutting costs, vs doing everything by the book? Much like raising hogs, raising goats for meat do not require "proper" nutrition (aside from minerals, I will agree on minerals but you could even skip that for a few months is you are serious about cost cutting). The gist is, why worry about their long term nutritional needs if they are going into your freezer in a few short months anyway?
They dont need the extra nutrients and expense of the bagged feed.
Milk from the store would also be MUCH less expensive than milk replacer (at least here in the U.S.).
As to vaccinations, yes that can be a good idea in big production facilities, but I raised goats for years with no vaccinations and no ill effects whatsoever. I do vaccinate now that I am breeding, however.
You would be better off spending your money and efforts in a good protocol such as pasture or paddock rotation and deworming as necessary to control parasites than you would be with trying to feed them the "proper" feeds.
I do think hay is necessary, unless you happen to be an expert in pasture for goats and an adequate judge of how much nutrition your pasture carries and have knowledge of appropriate stocking density along with good rotation practices.
There. I said it..... sorry if others don't agree. But budget goat raising for meat and "proper" goat raising are two totally separate things.
