# Fodder for goats?



## 7goats (Feb 24, 2017)

Hi I'm wondering if anyone feeds fodder to their goats? If so what type of seeds do you use? Thanks


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

I would love to know exactly what fodder is!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

catharina said:


> I would love to know exactly what fodder is!


 Think sprouts, lots and lots of sprouts, long and with a thick mat of tangled roots.

I don't have a fodder growing system in place yet. I can get whole oats and whole wheat berries from my coop. When I do, I'll for certain be growing fodder for my animals.

You have to use food grade seed, of course, not "treated", because the animals will be eating it all, including the roots that come out of the original seed.

A bit of time and trouble, and you can get so much more feed out of your grains than just giving them straight to the goats.

I do grow sprouts in Mason Jars for my needier friends. Great source of vitamins and enzymes during winter..

Anything you can feed to goats as grain or hay, you can feed as sprouts.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

I feed fodder. I use barley. it has less problems with mold and fermentation.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

So you get a big shallow flat container? & what do you sprinkle the seeds on instead of soil?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Nothing, it's hydroponics. You need about ten perforated trays, a small pump, a water collection bin, a sprinkling system, and a timer. You also need a warm place to grow the fodder in the winter.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

catharina said:


> So you get a big shallow flat container? & what do you sprinkle the seeds on instead of soil?


 Again, think sprouts. You don't use dirt to grow sprouts! You use water and light.

Google sprouts, google Fodder. Gobs of info and pictures. Just don't use anything "treated" that you would not want to eat, because that is exactly what you want them to eat.

Think of a barley seed. You sprout it using moisture and dampness until the sprout is as long as the seed. You have just doubled the food. Let it grow longer (3-4 times the length of the original seed) and add light so it turns green, and you have tripled, quadrupled, the amount of the original seed food, AND added vitamins from the photosynthesis action.

Again, don't add something you don't want the goat to eat. You are not trying to grow to a harvest of Barley heads.


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## 7goats (Feb 24, 2017)

Ya I was going to do barley just was wondering if a mix was needed as the barley has a higher level of phosphorus than calcium? Or is it balanced out with roughage?


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

To fulfill the nutritional requirements for a goat a goat would need to eat 15 lbs. of fodder a day. a goat can only eat about 5 lbs. a feed a day so there is no way to use fodder as a feed.

fodder is a supplement not a feed. 

you can only feed 20% or about one lbs. of fodder a day in a goats feed ration. 

in my system I feed 125 lbs. of barley a day into the system. after 6 days I harvest 900 lbs. of fodder. nutritionally that is equivalent to feeding 165 lbs. of barley (barleys digestibility is improved by 30%) or 300 lbs. of alfalfa 

DO NOT think that a pound of fodder equals a pound of hay.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

fivemoremiles said:


> To fulfill the nutritional requirements for a goat a goat would need to eat 15 lbs. of fodder a day. a goat can only eat about 5 lbs. a feed a day so there is no way to use fodder as a feed.
> 
> fodder is a supplement not a feed.
> 
> ...


My goats eat a lot more than 5 pounds of feed per day per goat. lol I know because I weigh it.

I do know a dairy here that feeds their saanens 100% fodder and they milk commercially and the does look amazing.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

fivemoremiles said:


> you can only feed 20% or about one lbs. of fodder a day in a goats feed ration.


 I respectfully question this assertion.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I had to double check with the goat dairy, and they do in fact feed only fodder. I was questioning what I remembered so I had to ask. They do barley and oat.


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