# grain bad for male goats???



## sme3mis (May 15, 2013)

I just watched a video that said not to feed grain AT ALL to my male goats?? This is their main source of food!! Should I stop giving it to them? If so what should I feed then cause they don't eat much hay


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

What kind of goats? Are they wethered? I know that Bucks, espec in rut need a little more nutrition than the average male goat....


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## sme3mis (May 15, 2013)

I have 2 weathered one la mancha and the other alpine.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

My boys all get grain. I balance it with alfalfa pellets. Once they are grown, they normally don't get it unless they are working mainly because they would get obese.


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

How old are they? In reality Hay/browse should be a goats main staple. Goats love their grain but roughage is important to keep their rumens happy. How much grain are they getting? You don't have to cut out grain but it's not great to have it as their main source of food.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

goathiker said:


> My boys all get grain. I balance it with alfalfa pellets. Once they are grown, they normally don't get it unless they are working mainly because they would get obese.


good to know (what kind of boys do you have?) we treat with grain (the wether is almost 6 months old and alittle thin) and have alfalfa pellets in a bucket as well as hay free choice....


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I have 2 Saanen wethers, an Alpine wether, an Alpine buck, a 3/4 Alpine 1/4 Nubian wetherling, and a LaMancha buckling.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

goathiker said:


> I have 2 Saanen wethers, an Alpine wether, an Alpine buck, a 3/4 Alpine 1/4 Nubian wetherling, and a LaMancha buckling.


Ok so we have a wetherling and a 8 week old buckling enroute (in Nov)....


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Grain shouldn't be the main source of any goat's diet, as it is not as good for their rumens.  But it is especially dangerous with boy goats. Because my boys don't work (they aren't pack goats), they don't get grain. I give them grass hay and alfalfa pellets, or alfalfa hay with a flake of Timothy hay here and there. Boys need a little more than twice as much calcium as phosphorus in their diet. 

If my boys needed the extra weight, they would only get as much grain as they absolutely NEEDED, which for my Nigerians, would probably be 1/4 cup a day. But mine haven't needed it thus far. :thumb:


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

well the little wetherling is skinny (and so is the yearling doe that came with him)-- body score maybe of 2-3 Doe is more like 2.... and has clumpy poo so not sure what to do....


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You can feed grain, just make sure his whole diet is balanced at least 2:1 calcium to phosphorus.

Plus you should have fecals done and then treat appropriately.


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## critergiter09 (Jan 4, 2012)

Last year we had an intact male die from uc. You can buy feed with ammonium chloride added. This will help prevent u.c.


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## StaceyC (May 13, 2013)

My 6 month old Nigerian dwarf wethers eat 1/2 cup of Purina Nobel Goat feed per day. Their main diet is browse, pasture and hay all day. Nobel goat has ammonium chloride in it to help with urinary issues.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

StaceyC said:


> My 6 month old Nigerian dwarf wethers eat 1/2 cup of Purina Nobel Goat feed per day. Their main diet is browse, pasture and hay all day. Nobel goat has ammonium chloride in it to help with urinary issues.


Can you feed Nobel Goat to the whole herd or just the boys? This could be an issue since everyone eats together (except the one being milked)....


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## StaceyC (May 13, 2013)

You can feed it to everyone.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Pelleted grains are a processed food with lots of crap fillers and additives. They should not be a mainstay in a wethers diet. A good mineral mix will replace any of the good vitamins added to some grains. A quality hay can not be beat by any grain product as there are no quality ingredients added to most pelleted feed grains.


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## sme3mis (May 15, 2013)

Why is grain so bad for boys?? I feed them mostly grain...uh oh!! They are 8 months and 5 months old. Would this make a difference?


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## sme3mis (May 15, 2013)

Ok now I'm scared!!! I am off first thing in the morning to get sine good quality hay!! Now they do get to go out back once a day a graze....but mainly grain twice a day..


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Hay should be their main diet. Grain is always a supplement. 

You better get a year's worth fast while you can still find it. Farmers in Ohio like to sell out ASAP.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

well I ended up with 4 bale and will get a couple more soon (I appear to be going thru about 3/4 bale a month, and we havent even put them in pasture yet-- I figure they can pasture some thru Dec and that should help.
We are bad on the grain, we treat them alot-- no pellets for us its textured sweet feed (mostly grain seeds that you can see, and some COB mixed in half and half).....


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## sme3mis (May 15, 2013)

Thank you so much for all the great info! So with 2 weathers how much hay do you think I should buy? And also how much of the grain should I give them per day?


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## sme3mis (May 15, 2013)

They are not gonna be happy campers when mom isn't out there every morning with 2 big cups of grain!!! I have been giving them about 28 oz. Each 2 times a day!! Plus they have their hay and I take them out back once a day to get their weeds and apples. Have I been a bad mommy??


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

sme3mis said:


> They are not gonna be happy campers when mom isn't out there every morning with 2 big cups of grain!!! I have been giving them about 28 oz. Each 2 times a day!! Plus they have their hay and I take them out back once a day to get their weeds and apples. Have I been a bad mommy??


So wean em down to 1 cup a day, over time, and treat with things like raisins (you could train them tricks to earn those) etc.... they will be fine....
Not sure about the hay, its my first winter with goats. I try to keep 2 bales (I have 5 going to 6 goats) in storage at all times plus the current one we are using....


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would probably get at least 25 bales.

Definitely get down to giving them something like 1/4 to 1/2 cup twice a day. Then they are still getting some twice a day.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

With 9 goats (8 minis, 1 young boer) I go through about 1/3 of a bale every 24 hours... I could give them more, but I don't see how they eat that much.. Not sure how much the bales weigh, but my neighbor thinks 75 lbs. They eat a lot of hay!


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

My bucks and wethers get grain 24/7/365. I mix it with alfalfa pellets to make sure the calcium/phos balance is correct. In almost 40 years of goat raising, I have never had a case of UC in any of my male goats. Or female, for that matter.


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## Chopsgoats (Aug 20, 2013)

I've been raising wethers for almost 14 years and I learned the hard way when one of them was a year old and got stones. I was feeding them grain along with hay. I had to in an emergancy cut off the tip of his penis....ouch!!! But he survived and is turning 14 in January. What I changed was his hay, grain and minerals. Everything needs to be balanced for them. Blue seal makes a grain that I've come to trust along with quality grass hay not alfalfa and a good mineral mix. I still give them treats now and then but they do well on a simple diet.


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## Chopsgoats (Aug 20, 2013)

And for hay I would figure minimum 2 large bales pre week for the two of them


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## Goat Lover 98 (Mar 25, 2012)

My Saanen buck has been on nothing but pasture for the past several months. I've been boarding him at a friend's house, and she has lots of good grass, but when I brought him home last week I noticed he is quite thin. His ribs are easily felt under his thick winter coat. I've started giving him 1lb. of grain every day, and he's getting free choice coastal hay. He's been dewormed recently. Is there anything else I should be doing to help boost his nutrition and put some weight back on him? He'll be 2 next spring, by the way.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

My 3 wethers, and 2 bucks get grain every day mixed with alfalfa pellets. It's about 2 cups a day, I haven't had any problems. During the spring and summer they only get it at night.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Goat Lover 98 said:


> My Saanen buck has been on nothing but pasture for the past several months. I've been boarding him at a friend's house, and she has lots of good grass, but when I brought him home last week I noticed he is quite thin. His ribs are easily felt under his thick winter coat. I've started giving him 1lb. of grain every day, and he's getting free choice coastal hay. He's been dewormed recently. Is there anything else I should be doing to help boost his nutrition and put some weight back on him? He'll be 2 next spring, by the way.


Add some alfalfa pellets


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

janeen128 said:


> Add some alfalfa pellets


I agree, a couple lbs. of alfalfa pellets would help him out a bunch. Or a 2/3 to 1/3 mixture of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp pellets.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

My bucks and wethers get what I feed the does-a 16% dairy ration, alfalfa pellets and soaked beet pulp. They get loose minerals and kelp also. I grain all my goats year round. Had goats for 30+ years and never had a case of UC. (knock on wood!)

You do need to have them get a calciumhosphorus ratio of at least 2:1, 3:1 is better.


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## rockytg (Sep 5, 2011)

Goat Lover 98 said:


> My Saanen buck has been on nothing but pasture for the past several months. I've been boarding him at a friend's house, and she has lots of good grass, but when I brought him home last week I noticed he is quite thin. His ribs are easily felt under his thick winter coat. I've started giving him 1lb. of grain every day, and he's getting free choice coastal hay. He's been dewormed recently. Is there anything else I should be doing to help boost his nutrition and put some weight back on him? He'll be 2 next spring, by the way.


Like was just mentioned, it would be a good idea to make sure he also has free choice minerals. Does he seem to be anemic at all? If so, you could give him some red cell for a bit to boost him up.

As far as the urinary calculi buildup problem, I have also heard that by adding some apple cider vinegar to their water (not tons, just a teaspoonful per gallon or so) it can help cut down on problems.

With the overall feed, remember that goats are ruminants that are made to process plants and roughage so that should be where the majority of their diet comes from.


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## Goat Lover 98 (Mar 25, 2012)

rockytg said:


> Like was just mentioned, it would be a good idea to make sure he also has free choice minerals. Does he seem to be anemic at all? If so, you could give him some red cell for a bit to boost him up.


He does have free choice access to loose goat minerals. He doesn't seem anemic, I deworm by FAMACHA and have had very good success with it. I will start feeding him some alfalfa pellets. Thanks!


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

I own 9 boer wethers as pets and 2 does that I show and will breed soon. I have had them for years and this is what works for me. The feed that my does don't eat, I put into buckets with lids. It's not bad feed I just put lots out for them since they are in their show season right now. In the winter I feed my boys a little grain at night and give them some hay. During the day they graze/browse. I don't have to grain as much in the summer. If I notice someone is underweight I will pull him inside alone and give him grain to get some extra weight on. They HATE alfalfa pellets but love the alfalfa and coastal hay. I put acv in their water and check everyone over often for any signs of uc or health problems. Works for me


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