What to feed Pregnant Does ?

Lisa Martin October 5, 2011 at 8:27am

Thanks you guys.

I combined the feed the other day (about half a garbage can pellets on the bottom, then the black oil sunflower seeds (tried to mix it in a little, but I'm sure it was only the top-ish layer, then the shredded beet pulp, which is hard to mix).

So, this mixture I've been feeding them is mostly just shredded beet pulp, some black oil sunflower seed and barely any pellets of goat feed. I've been cutting back in the last few days. The bucks only got a 1/2 cup at night last night and a 1/2 cup this morning.

I've been watching their urine stream to make sure it's a good and steady stream. I also add a splash of white vinegar to their water every morning. I read in the back of a goat magazine once that this helps to make their urinary tract more "acidic". I know my neighbor who had painful kidney stones adds vinegar to a glass of water and drinks it every day. They also say DO NOT give bucks any baking soda free choice and this negates the vinegar (would make their digestive tract more "basic" - I use it in my salt water fish to raise the alkalinity of the water - the buffering capacity before the pH will change).

I only fed them 1/2 cup of this mixture again this morning. I'm trying to cut back to nothing, but I think I need a few more days. Maybe tonight I'll try and tree branch to get them in the barn. They look like they are just eating th hay and not so much the grass and weeds. I have to fill their hay feeder a couple times a day (the one outside under the tin roof). The bucks don't seem to eat their hay overnight in their barn feeder.

The does are on about the same ration: 1/2 cup between all 4 does, last night and this morning. Maybe I'll try a nice tree branch for them tonight too. Put their water in the barn first, get the doors mostly closed. Then put the tree branch in and close their barn doors.

I'm so glad I let them out around 8 am and put them to bed before sunset, about 7 pm these days. The bobcat has been lurking around the chicken pen lately and didn't catch any chickens, but left a nice dent from his weight on the top fencing and tried to dig up some old deeply buried chickens. The neighbor had a bobcat kill some of his baby African Pygmy goats a few years ago. He did shoot it though. We never see it. Once, we did, walking through our front yard around 5:30 pm. I'm always worried he's going to get one of our baby goats if he's out when they are.

I plan to build lots of hiding places for the babies (hope it helps protect them) - maybe small long tunnel things, that a bobcat can't fit through (like a long hollow log thing).

Soon, my goats will be on pasture and hay only. Maybe by this weekend.

Thanks again for the advice.

Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres October 4, 2011 at 4:04pm

Lisa, you may list your extra feed on craig's list so you don't feel like it's going to waste if you decide not to feed it. I'm sure there is someone in your area with kids that feed separately from their adults and might want the medicated feed.

OR if you want the medicated, you could probably store what you have until your does kid again, and feed it to them?

Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 4, 2011 at 4:00pm

Bucks should not get grain under ordinary circumstances, and it sounds like your situation is pretty ordinary. Grain can cause urinary calculi, and they just don't need it. A couple people on here had young bucks with UC a few months ago. You can find their stories in the archives of the forum. Bucks just normally live on pasture alone or grass hay when pasture is not available. They just need free choice minerals in addition to grass or hay. You may think they don't have much variety, but there are usually a dozen or more different types of vegetation in a pasture, and it changes from season to season.

A vet professor from Texas A & M who studied goat nutrition told me goats need 35-40 ppm copper in their diet, so I use Purina Goat Chow because it has that amount, but there are a couple other feeds with that much copper. The Dumor Sweet Feed for goats has it (but Dumor pelleted does not) at TSC. Homestead has goat feeds with 60 and 80 ppm copper. Most goat feeds don't have enough copper though, including most of the Purina goat feeds except for the Goat Chow.

Lisa Martin October 4, 2011 at 3:35pm

Yeah, Noble Goat feed used to have "medicated" on the label and now it's just on the tag at the bottom of the bag.

I do need to switch to another kind of feed for the does after they have their babies. I'll probably just use it for the bucks (guess I'll need another garbage can to store that food).

What feed do you like to use ?

Thanks,

Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 4, 2011 at 3:27pm

Since you're using an herbal dewormer, I just thought I'd mention that Noble Goat is a medicated goat feed. They don't put that very clearly on the bag, so some people don't realize it. It contains a coccidiostat, so it's really just for kids, and you should not feed it to milkers.

Lisa Martin October 4, 2011 at 9:54am

Thanks for the extra tips. I guess I'm just going to use up what I have in the one garbage can.

I'm only giving a 1/2 cup of this mixture (Noble Goat Feed, black oil sunflower seeds, and shredded beet pulp) morning and night. Probably will switch to just night soon.

They did eat all the hay in one of their feeders yesterday. The bucks usually eat all their hay in their outdoor feeder under a metal roof.

I'll try some of those alfalfa pellets when my garbage can of feed runs out, with probably another bag of Noble Goat feed.

I think after feedings are just down to night time feedings, I'll try your suggestion of a tree branch or some weeds to get them into the barn at night.

I did sound kind of crazy to take away all their feed, when you've been used to giving it to them 2x a day. But I'm happy to see they are still very fat and starting to eat the pasture and hay, even when I've cut down a lot on their feed.

I recently had my husband mow down this patch of weeds I was growing up for them in a future pasture area. They really don't seem like they need any more pasture area since this one is so grown up. We'll see how long it takes them to graze it all down.

Thanks everyone for your advise and wisdom. I feel much better now about what I'm feeding (or not feeding them). I think starting tomorrow they'll only get their night time feedings. I know once a week they'll have to get some feed (on Fridays) because that's how I administer their powdered herbal dewormer (I just sprinkle on top).

Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres October 4, 2011 at 12:14am

I don't feed grain because they don't need it, and I try to stay away from GMO crops etc. as best as I can, which most processed feed is unless you can afford organic, and I cannot. Your original Q was for pregnant does, and for that Q specifically, the reason for not feeding grain is because grain feeding is known to produce large kids, which can create complications at birth. I like the idea of variety too, so I take cuttings from my property off trees, etc. that they like. I also give mine the pulled plants from my garden (like my corn stalks)

Jordana Heath October 3, 2011 at 4:20pm

I have a half acre of land total, and so my goats get very little pasture. We feed Chaffhaye for the most part since someone is always pregnant, in milk, or growing, and it does pretty well. Hay is really most of what they need if they have good minerals, grain is like candy. If your feeding alfalfa or peanut hay the calcium to phosphorous ratio can get messed up without a little grain, but it's really easy to over-feed a goat, and like Deborah said, you can have kids that are too big. The cost of a c-section or the danger to does and kids when you have to pull them make it far better to go for the lower end of the feed spectrum than too much. I am feeding older does a cup of grain a day now that they are in their last 3 weeks, but only because I could tell they needed it by body condition. I also have a doe that simply won't dry up and is due this week, and she gets 2 cups of grain a day. I don't find they really need luring into the barn at night; they want to come back. Maybe holding some fresh herbs every night would be better and still make them excited to come in. They like branches of rosemary, thyme, wormwood, stevia (which my husband calls "goat crack"), tree branches with leaves, etc. but I would expect them to come if they hear you just to be with you.

Adrienne October 3, 2011 at 10:56am

Since mine love Alfalfa pellets so much it makes me wonder if I could get by without any grain at all, even when they are milking I mix Alfalfa with grain so they aren't getting much. On the milk stand they get one cup of the mix and then the rest is alfalfa pellets until I'm done milking.

Lisa Martin October 3, 2011 at 9:50am

I always thought variety in the diet was best. They've been having feed since I got them (the breeders had them eating a little and they were weaned kind of quick - I took them away from their mothers). It's been a year and they never seemed too fat. They would eat their feed and eat down the pasture and everything I could give them when the summer came.

I think I pay $8 for a bale of coastal hay and usually I buy 3 bales which lasts me a couple of weeks. They do tend to waste a lot, which makes a nice layer in their barn and now we use the old hay, old goat droppings and composted hay in the garden (well, just the loose hay, the other 2 are "aging" in a pile).

Why do you choose to not feed grain ? So they don't get too fat ?

Well, I may start to cut down on their feed a little so they can eat their pasture and hay some more. Maybe the bucks too. They need to browse down their pasture as well. They do look a little chunkier in the bellies. I know bucks get skinnier in the winters (ours aren't that cold being in FL). But they look like they have enough fat on them.

I guess cutting back will only save me $. Maybe when they are eating too much hay or there is not enough pasture, I can increase their feed (if there is any left).

This is good so I can pass along the garbage cans holding their feed to my son for his chicken feed.

Thanks !!

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What to feed Pregnant Does ?

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