# No longer interested in grain



## Huckleberry (Mar 12, 2010)

So one of my weathers has slowly weaned himself off grain? He has loved it and scarfed it down up until now. He started by eating less and less and finally he just stands there and doesn't eat it at all unless you hand feed it to him (go figure), when all the goats are tied for grain feeding. He will run straight to the hay or alfalfa afterwards and eat plenty off that. No weight loss though, should I be concerned. I've never met a goat that doesn't like grain!


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Maybe his body is telling him he doesn't need so much of a certain mineral or nutrient. It's almost uncanny how some animals will only eat what their bodies require at the time (others will pig out on anything no matter what!). I've noticed that Cuzco sometimes loves a particular food item for a while and will chow down on it like candy, but then he'll later go off of it, and if I try to feed him some he'll recoil in disgust as though I've just offered him poison. He cycles on and off of citrus fruits, potatoes, vegetables, bread, cereal, peanuts, deep fried anything, grapes, and even his favorite horse cookies will occasionally go out of style. I haven't yet known him to turn his nose up at popcorn or garlic cheese knots, though.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

Huckleberry said:


> So one of my weathers has slowly weaned himself off grain? No weight loss though, should I be concerned. I've never met a goat that doesn't like grain!


How old of a wether are we talking about? We have had a few that didn't like the molassas or one thing or another mixed in the grain. Medicated grain for Coxi is another one they didn't really like but we forced it on them for the first year. You may need to switch to a different variety to find something it likes.


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## Huckleberry (Mar 12, 2010)

He'll be 2 in February. We mix Nutrene naturewise with COB and it's what he's always eaten and seemed to really love since he started grain as a bottle kid. He's always maintained a good body condition though, and never seems to pig out like the other guys. One thing we've always thought weird about him is he has never had a "full" belly from eating. My other boys will stuff themselves fat, although they too seem to maintain a good condition. He is my bossy little "scrapper" though and spends most of his time pushing the other boys around, I find it odd when he let's one of the other guys come over and finish off his grain. If this happened at the hay feeder, he'd lay them flat :roll: I'll guess I'll just have to monitor him though and make sure he doesn't loose any weight.


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

That goat character is the same with my alpha goat. He never bloats a big rumen like the other 2 do after eating. When he is full he stops eating. His abdomen is more muscular and not as squishy as the other 2. They all hold stable weights. He is 25lbs lighter than the subordinate goat he pushes around. I do supplement feed him before after hiking as he cannot afford to loose the weight the others loose. He is 180 lbs of bossy attitude at the feeder spending more time defending food than eating it. The other 2 are over 200lbs of get down to eating business.


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## Huckleberry (Mar 12, 2010)

That sounds just like my Moose. Sometimes it's nice to hear about other goat behavior on these things I assume are funny little traits in their individual personality. Turns out most of it's just a "goat" thing.


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