# How much hay/grain do you feed standard goats?



## RMADairyGoats

How much hay/grain do you feed a milking dairy goat doe? I'm thinking like two flakes of hay but I really don't know on the grain amount. It will be a LaMancha. Thanks! :shades:


----------



## sblueram6

2# grain 2 times a day all hay thay wont . is whot mine get .


----------



## Breezy-Trail

For the first year she will be a kid I assume?
A kid or a young doe will eat less than a full grown doe.

My does are in milk they get 2-3 pounds of grain at milking time. Thats 1- 1.5 pounds per milking.
It depends on how much milk they are producing. Some does can convert an extra pound of grain into more milk.
I have tried going from 2 pounds a day to 4 pounds (slowly), but found that it didn't affect their milk production enough to where I would want to pay twice as much in feed.

As far as the hay goes, all my does have access to pasture. All year round they get free-choice hay. During the spring and summer they don't eat much hay.
For the 2 milk does and 2 kids I was getting 2-3 bales a month from a near by farmer.


----------



## xymenah

My kids get 1/4th flake of alfalfa until they are six months old then they get 1/3rd until they look like they need more. My adults get 1/2 to 2/3rd flake a day. The kids get 3 cups of grain a day until they start to look like they need more. I change it depending on their weight.


----------



## Tenacross

I have different managements for different sets of goats, but I think I remember you have a young doe. Feed her all the good hay she will eat. If you want to quantify it, feed her an amount she will clean up quickly. Then gradually increase it untill she doesn't clean it all up between feedings. Then back off to the last known amount she did clean up. If she was mine, I'd feed her a cereal bowl of grain twice a day. As long as she cleans it right up. I like to feed em' though.


----------



## RMADairyGoats

Thanks guys :hug: So how much hay do they go through a month?


----------



## Tenacross

Lost Prairie said:


> Thanks guys :hug: So how much hay do they go through a month?


Oh gosh. I don't like to spoil the fun by doing math! Ha. I'm gonna guess about the same amount as two of those NDs of yours. 
I can tell you this. Five standard goats eat about the same amount as one horse.


----------



## goathiker

And I can add that you should count on 1 ton of hay per year for 1 standard sized doe if she has no browse. So YOU can do the math HA.


----------



## keren

I give as much hay as my girls want. When I was on a tight budget I gave them 1 flake each, morning and night, which seems to be a base for maintenance. Though I find they will eat a bit more than that and do a bit better if they have it free choice. 

Re grain my four does plus 1 kid get the following, twice a day. The scoop I use is a breakfast cereal bowl. 

6 scoops 'shandy' chaff (shandy chaff is wheaten chaff, oaten chaff and lucerne chaff mixed together)
2 scoops cattle mueslie
1 scoop whole lupins

Then when they are on the milk stand they get 1 to 2 scoops of cattle mueslie extra (depends on how quick they eat and how slow I milk , and also how heavy a milker they are)

So you can see I mainly feed roughage, but I would say a MINIMUM of 2 breakfast cereal bowls of a good grain if she is milking, but if a heavy milker I would prefer more. A dry doe probably only needs 1 or 2 plus good roughage and/or forage


----------



## Breezy-Trail

For next winter (being that she will be young) you will only need 20-30 bales of hay to get you through 150+ days of winter.
They don't eat as much the first year. A full-grown doe will eat 30-40 bales for 150+ days of winter (this is to last until june when you can get 1st cutting).

I found that during the summer a full grown doe (with browse) will only eat about 1-2 bales a month. For a kid if you had 1 bale per month you should be good.
You could feed 1 flake a day or 2 two...depending on how they need it.


----------



## Tenacross

jesse-goats said:


> For next winter (being that she will be young) you will only need 20-30 bales of hay to get you through 150+ days of winter.
> They don't eat as much the first year. A full-grown doe will eat 30-40 bales for 150+ days of winter (this is to last until june when you can get 1st cutting).it.


Just wanted to point out that all hay bales are not created equal. Not even close actually. The alfalfa we buy from Eastern Washington comes in 100+ lbs bales. Even heavier if three tie. When I lived in Iowa, the average small square was 40 - 60 lbs. Quality varies just as much as weight. It would take more poor quality hay to achieve the same nutrition as a smaller amount of high quality hay. A lot of math here!


----------



## RMADairyGoats

Thanks for all the info guys :grouphug: So overall one LaMancha doe does not eat much more than 2 Nigis. That's good news since we have 2 big horses, 6 mini horses, and 13 Nigerians and go through a bale a day plus grain.



Tenacross said:


> [ A lot of math here!


I HATE math! :laugh:


----------



## Devin

I have to say that my ND wether eats just as much as my Nubian doe when offered free choice . . . Personally I feel like I'm getting a better deal with the standard size lol! He is MUCH more food driven than she is, he LIVES to eat! I had to seperate her when feeding grain because he can down it 3Xs faster than she will! now he just gets a handful. 

I fork off a round bale, so I can't help you with weight of hay. a bale lasts 2 horses and 3 goats around 3 weeks (they are large bales) Right now my doe (not bred or in milk) is getting 2 pounds of goat chow a day and is maintaining a good body condition. 

I am sure like with all animals that it will vary.


----------



## RMADairyGoats

lol Devin :laugh: Must be one piggy little guy :laugh:


----------



## Devin

He is! I can barely pick him up anymore lol! I say he weighs a good 50 pounds if not more. and all he gets is browse, hay and a tiny handful of grain 2xs a day and that is only so I can get the doe out the gate lol! he is only 10 months old. I call him my chunky monkey. :ROFL: I wonder what he will weigh when he is 3????


----------

