I have two wethers who are between 5-6 months old. I have been giving them about 1/2 cup of a grain mix each per day since we got them a month and a half ago. The grain mix (the person we bought the goats from gave the mix to us) is nearly gone, and have heard you don't want to feed grain to wethers after six months or so. They get alphalfa, and I believe I need to get them a loose mineral supplement. It has been recommended to me to get Sweetlix 16:8 Meat Maker. My big question is...how do you feed this to them? I have a bowl for each and that has worked great for grain... will it work for the mineral? Is there a mineral feeder or a special way they need to receive this? Any help would be great! Thanks.
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
Hey... not a problem! Great info!
No apology necessary! You brought up a very good question -- and probably did save Jabe (or someone else reading this thread) some problems!
Hi guys- sorry to the original poster for hijacking the thread. Hopefully this info will save you some trouble, though! Thanks for the suggestions, I will raise my feeders and hopefully reduce this problem.
Thanks, Debbie and Glenna. Yep, strategic placement is important! And I personally was not good at just eyeballing it. Sooo, I held a doe next to the wall while my husband marked on the wall where the feeder needed to be placed so that it would be above the goats' tails!
When putting mine up, I put them inside the door at a right angle to the door so they are along the main pathway in and out. They stop much less there so the risk is much less. When I had them on the other side, they often stood in front of them and, of course, we had berries in them too often. I love the block idea to raise their front ends higher so they can use them but not likely to collect berries.
Juliana, not trying to answer for Deborah, but, yes if you hang them too low this can happen. Instant berries in the container......lol. We had the same problem too when we first used them. Hang them higher so they can't mess in them. Provide a cement block that they have to put their front feet on to reach if they are too short. This works well with our herd, even the smallest little doe from this years kidding can reach by putting her front little hooves on the block. :)
Juliana Goodwin said:
I have a question about the mineral feeders, too- Deborah, I have the type you described in all of my overnight stalls. They goats are CONSTANTLY peeing and pooping in the minerals, but you can't just take the feeder out and wash it because it is permanently attached. did I hang them too low?
I have experimented with using those plastic feeder buckets that hook over a board in the fence to feed minerals instead so that I can clean them easier, but they tend to get knocked off on the ground. Either way, we waste a lot.
Does anyone else have this problem and if so- how did you fix it?
A couple of my bucks became zinc deficient when feeding alfalfa because the calcium reduces zinc absorption. Wethers really just need grass hay. They could have also have trouble with urinary stones if they are fed a diet that is too rich in calcium.
Jeffers online and TSC stores have a black mineral feeder that's $5-something and has two dishes. You screw it to the wall inside their shelter.
Hello Jabe-
Yes, it is true that you shouldn't have to feed grain to wethers after they're six months old. As long as they're healthy and have good grass hay they should be just fine. They should really have just a grass hay and not alfalfa, so if you don't have a ton of it, you may want to look for a grass hay when you're ready to buy more. I know that Deborah has had some problems with her bucks when feeding them alfalfa, but I can't remember what. Maybe she'll see this and let you know what her experience was.
You'll want to find a way to keep the minerals clean, dry, and available at all times. There are special mineral feeders you can buy, or make. There's a recent thread here on the forum where people shared their mineral and hay feeder ideas. That might give you some ideas if you can find it.
Best wishes! :)