I currently only have 2 goats, a 5month old wether and a 7month old doe/ling (at what age will she go from doeling to doe??)...Obviously it is not good for the wether to get too much grain and since he is a little piggy when it comes to food he tends to want to eat any grain I try to give to her...I currently try sneaking it to her out of my pocket but he is on to that and gets most upset she is getting a treat that he is not.
They have access to pasture (Bahia/some sorghum they have stripped to the stalks) all day, get oak branches 1 or 2 times a day, free choice baking soda and 1/2 Tbls of goat mineral each per day (weighted the recommended oz per day and this was the scoop equalevant ) also have access to hay, Bahia/coastal mix which I was told is baled for horses??
So my question is, since she is not pregnant and not lactating, does she need grain in her daily diet?
The "grain" in question is Purina Goat Chow
Also while I am asking about diet, they gobble up their minerals like candy...should I be giving them more? is this a sign they are missing something? is there a different kind of hay I should use...I know I can't do alfalfa because of him.
Thank you in advance for any advice you might be able to share.
Blessings Kelsie
Replies
I don't feed grain to my goats at all (even my milking does). Just alfalfa pellets, pasture and if its snowy/icy then they get a bit of grass hay. And your two definitely don't need grain.
I have hear that not all cherry is bad before...What we thought was wild cherry but after some research turns out to be "black cherry" and that the leaves, twigs and fruit all contain arsenic, and it is more about the quantity that is consumed by goats.
And what about Cherry Laurel? I have heard it kills sheep...the list say it kills cows but our neighbor who is 2 or 3 generation cattle says that it is not true and his cows are great at clearing an area of the Cherry Laurel..anyone here have any experience with it first hand with their goats?
Don't lose too much sleep over the cherry leaves. I know they're on toxic plant lists, but so are dozens of other plants that are not truly toxic to goats like oak leaves. I can't say definitely whether cherry leaves are toxic or not, but I do know that my goats stripped three Nanking cherry bushes of their leaves and quite a bit of their bark, and no one even looked the least bit uncomfortable. They were actually quite happy about the whole thing! The pits of all stone fruits contain arsenic, which is why cherries, apricots, plums, etc are feared with livestock. One of my veterinary goats books (I think Goat Medicine) said that a lot of those lists are made for ruminants in general, although goats have a higher tolerance for toxins than do sheep or cows, so a goat might be just fine eating the same thing that would make a sheep or cow sick.
Thank you for the advice...I did give them a little grain last night and the night before, less than a handful between them, with her getting much more than him...But with her being 7months now and him so fat (and very close to being 6months) I will cut it out completely again.
I also gave them Mineral free-choice as suggested by Rachel, the first night they scoffed the full 1 cup I had put out by the next morning...Yesterday I gave them 1.5 cups around lunch time and there is still some left this morning, so am feeling good about that.
Unfortunately we had a strong southern wind yesterday that littered (dumped) their grazing area with wild cherry leaves from across the way...luckily I was looking out the kitchen window when it happened and was able to get them into their 10x10 pen before they consumed many...pulling leaves from Boots' mouth the entire time...she only got one...I will check their poop throughout the day and give them pro-biotics if need be...I will be happy when fall is over and the leaves quit ....We plan to have the back pasture fenced next yr, so will be able to graze them well away from the offending tree by next fall...so now my morning task is to go rid their grazing area of the leaves before I can turn them out of the day...Right now I am hearing "angry goat" noises as they think it is time.
Kelsie
I start to eliminate grain from their diet at around six months. A dry doe and a wether should have the same diet -- grass hay or pasture and no grain. And your wether looks more than a wee bit overweight. :) Glad to hear you've cut back on him.
You can/should give minerals free choice. They'll eat as needed, and will probably start out eating a lot, and then taper down on their consumption.
You should be giving grains to your wether until he's a bit older, but I can't think off the top of my head what age that is... Deb has good information about that. You might do a search in the forum for threads with feeding info. Once your goats are old enough, you'll be able to only feed grains when your doeling is in milk, and in the last two weeks of her pregnancy.