What do you feed your goats?

[missbrit2006]

I have three goats I feel them hay, but they waste it it they just eat the leafs! And they act like there always hungry and go crazy for grain I've cut them way back on the grain, but they are always acting like there hungry

 

[MeepBeep]

If you ration the feed the waste will be reduced, to minimal... I feed hay mostly, grain vary rarely... When they get the hay they do hand pick the good stuff and toss the rest on the ground but being on a ration they go back and eat the rest...

 

[Stacykins]

I have three goats I feel them hay, but they waste it it they just eat the leafs! And they act like there always hungry and go crazy for grain I've cut them way back on the grain, but they are always acting like there hungry

You can build hay feeders that reduce hay the hay waste. But if the hay is incredibly tough and stemmy, no animal will want to eat the stems. They much prefer softer hay, if that makes sense.

Just keep an eye on their weight with the reduction in grain and the pickiness with the hay. If they start dropping weight, then you will need to add something. Either more hay (despite the waste) or more grain. They always need to have hay to have a healthy rumen, but they also need enough calories to be healthy as well.

What are you giving them for their mineral needs?

 

[missbrit2006]

You can build hay feeders that reduce hay the hay waste. But if the hay is incredibly tough and stemmy, no animal will want to eat the stems. They much prefer softer hay, if that makes sense.

Just keep an eye on their weight with the reduction in grain and the pickiness with the hay. If they start dropping weight, then you will need to add something. Either more hay (despite the waste) or more grain. They always need to have hay to have a healthy rumen, but they also need enough calories to be healthy as well.

What are you giving them for their mineral needs?

Mineral needs? Sorry new to this

 

[Stacykins]

Mineral needs? Sorry new to this

What minerals are you giving them to eat? If they are getting nothing, that needs to change.

 

[missbrit2006]

What minerals are you giving them to eat? If they are getting nothing, that needs to change.

What should I be giving them?

 

[Stacykins]

What should I be giving them?

They need free choice access to a loose mineral meant for goats. Do not get one that says it is for goats and sheep, it will contain too little copper for a healthy goat. Goats have a higher copper need than sheep. The amount of copper a goat needs to be healthy will kill a sheep.

A loose mineral is mineral that is like a granular powder. Do not get a salt block. Salt blocks are mostly NaCl, table salt, to hold it together. Blocks contain far too much table salt and not enough other minerals for a goat to be healthy as well. Table salt is also a powerful limiter, so they stop eating it before they take in enough zinc, selenium, etc. to be healthy.

Not all brands are available in all areas, so you'll need to shop around.

Keep the mineral in a feeder in a dry, draft free area. Keep only a bit out at a time, keep an eye on it, and refresh it as they eat it up. If it becomes damp or sticks together, they won't touch it. So to reduce waste, keep a little out and keep it fresh.

 

[poulet0heureux]

Hello! I'm very inexperienced with livestock (I only have dogs) but I've been trying to help my friend's elderly aunt care for her animals - she has a mixed flock of goats and sheep, but I don't think she's feeding them properly.

Currently everybody is eating all-stock grain and hay. They waste a lot of hay but they don't seem hungry. I'm concerned because she has males and females of both sheep and goats all eating the same thing. From what I've seen on here it seems like sheep and goats have different mineral needs?

This winter I'm working on rearranging her barn so we can separate the goats and the sheep. In the summer they're out on pasture all day and then she feeds them grain at night. Could somebody suggest a way I could help her to make sure they're getting what they need?

 

[cassie]

If the animals seem healthy, I wouldn't worry about it. I would see about fixing the hay feeders so that there is less wasted hay.

 

[Zoomie]

Hello! I'm very inexperienced with livestock (I only have dogs) but I've been trying to help my friend's elderly aunt care for her animals - she has a mixed flock of goats and sheep, but I don't think she's feeding them properly.

Currently everybody is eating all-stock grain and hay. They waste a lot of hay but they don't seem hungry. I'm concerned because she has males and females of both sheep and goats all eating the same thing. From what I've seen on here it seems like sheep and goats have different mineral needs?

This winter I'm working on rearranging her barn so we can separate the goats and the sheep. In the summer they're out on pasture all day and then she feeds them grain at night. Could somebody suggest a way I could help her to make sure they're getting what they need?

If they are all going to get the same grain mix, make sure it is one for sheep! Horse and goat feeds have TOO MUCH COPPER for sheep and it can KILL them if they eat too much. But ideally, they should get a mix that has been formulated for sheep for the sheep, and for goats for the goats. You need to pay attention to things like salt/mineral blocks too - the ones formulated for other animals have too much copper for sheep.

I have personally witnessed sheep dying from copper toxicity. They start looking thin, so the owner naturally feeds them more of the very grain that is killing them. They look like they've starved to death in the midst of plenty. It really is no joke - if it says "Goat Chow" or something on the bag, do NOT feed it to sheep! It needs to say "Sheep Chow" or whatever!! Make sure your salt blocks are plain salt, no added minerals, make sure your grain mixes are formulated for **sheep**. The lower copper is not good for the goats, but at least they can survive that for a little while until you get the situation straightened out.

Goats in particular are notorious for wasting hay and goat owners are always coming up with really clever ideas to keep the goats from wasting so much. Sheep can be the same way... in my experience they are not quite as bad as goats but they too waste hay. If you have a mesh or woven fence, one idea is to feed them along the fenceline so they have to eat through the fence (you don't want their heads to be able to go through it, though) and then they can't trample and pee on it etc. This problem is one that you will always be solving with livestock. As soon as you think you have the perfect feeder so they don't waste so much hay, they figure out how to crawl into it, they pull the hay out and throw it on the ground etc. It's like they are animals or something!!

You are doing a good deed here and I wish you the best of luck with it. I hope you are able to implement changes and get these animals separated and fed properly! Well done for taking this on!