# Who feeds no or little grain?



## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

I am wanting some experience and advise on cutting out grain from most of my goats diet.....so please share your feeding program if you feed little grain and if you don't maybe you have some advise on how to  

I would like to only grain feed babies in a creep feeder until 40-60# when they will be sold...... Right now I am feeding grass hay ( not the best) and 12/13% grain mixture.... I can buy 1000# round bales of excellent alfalfa hay for the same cost of mixing about 2 weeks supply of grain $60 <<<< I am not feeding this now because I can't put it inside but soon will be able to 

So can I feed free choice alfalfa hay and pasture as the only food source? Of course minerals too..... I really want to cut down my costs to help play for the brand new barn lol  thanks for all replies


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Tell you what, last year no preg does got grain because they were at different gestation times. Due to our set up it was impossible to separate them & of course we have the piggies & the lean mean ones at feeding time.
I found they kidded great & I don't know if it was the new buck but all kids were 2lbs heavier at birth than previous years out of the same does.
They do get free choice alfalfa yr round.
After they kid they get grain till weaning time.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I do my best to feed little to no grain. However, I do sink some money into alfalfa pellets.

We produce our own mixed grass hay so I feed only the best second & third cut hay (I live in New England, so first cut hay is pretty much straw). I don't have good access to baled alfalfa so I use the pellets when I need to boost my protein.

Basically, I creep feed the kids with commercial grain until the youngest hits about 4 months. I feed alfalfa pellets at about 1 lb per adult in early pregnancy (about 3 months) and early lactation (about 2 months), yearling keeper does that I think need extra protein for growth, and breeding bucks (Aug through Nov). I typically mix black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) in with my alfalfa pellets.

This is just what works for me and I do tweak it as needed. I have culled some does that cannot maintain their body condition on these methods.


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## OakHollowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Last year my pregnant doe goat one handful of grain daily on the stand for about the last 2 months of her pregnancy, just for training. Other than that, she just had alfalfa and she kidded trips really easily. This year, 2 of my does are getting just alfalfa the entire time and my smaller doe is getting 2 cups a day for her entire pregnancy.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

In a normal year, the only goats who get grain here are the weaning kids. Doelings get medicated goat grower pellets for 45 days post weaning, wethers/bucklings get medicated goat grower pellets from weaning until I ship them - after that they go on straight alfalfa or very good grass/alfalfa. Unless we are running short on hay, open and pregnant does never get grain of any kind - just very good grass/alfalfa. Lactating does usually do not get grain - only straight alfalfa - but I will separate does raising triplets and give them a pound per doe when it is warranted. If we are running short on hay, I substitute 2 pounds of alfalfa pellets for 2 pounds of hay to extend the hay. This year is so whacked that I'm having to feed all the lactating does alfalfa pellets due to the wild weather and crazy temperature fluctuations. They are so stressed that they cannot maintain body weight while nursing their kids.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

In previous years, I fed no grain, but very high quality grass hay and alfalfa pellets. As my herd grows, I cannot afford the same hay, so to keep up production I now feed good hay, alfalfa pellets, and a bit of grain. 

In the years I afforded that lovely hay (with alfalfa pellets, for calcium) we had great production.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I typically only feed grain to my milkers, and then just what it takes to keep them busy until I finish (about two cups). I will give a little late in pregnancy if they start losing body condition but otherwise just hay. Last year my milkers kept great shape on just their two cups plus browse, I wasn't even feeding hay. I butchered one at about 9 months who hadn't had anything except milk and browse and he was pushing 100 lb - and dairy bred.

Nutritionally there is nothing specific to grain that they need; they evolved to eat just pasture/browse. As long as they have plenty of good quality hay and minerals they should be perfectly fine.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Am I the only one who equates alfalfa pellets with grain? To my way of thinking anything besides hay/forage/pasture qualifies as grain.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

No. Alfalfa pellets are still hay-based, they aren't high in carbohydrates like grains nor do they have the inverted calcium/phosphorus ratio. They are more energy dense than most hays but nutritionally speaking the body utilizes them like hay/pasture.

This is why I use a grain that is primarily alfalfa/timothy, with just a little bit of other stuff added (beet pulp, flax and rice bran.)


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

My goats don't get grain in the spring, summer,fall or most winter. 
Only this winter (an exception) are they getting grain 'cause it's been a super hard winter up here. 

They get hay (stemy & grassy, no alfalfa) for a 6 month average. And bush all summer. And they are doing great on it.

A note though...these are not Dairy goats, but Kiko, Kiko and Boer crosses.


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

I feed free choice hay that is a mix of oats, barley and alfalfa. The goats have access to pasture for 7-8hours a day. The only non-show animals that get feed are does nursing triplets. And they only get 1-1.5lbs a day.


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Actually alfalfa is not a grass it's a legume, like peanut or soy. That's why it's particularly high in protein. It's becoming evident though that these foods are not good for people, especially in the amounts that they are in our diets. I do not feed my animals soy, but I feel like alfalfa and peanut hay are ok until proven otherwise. 

A lot of people think alfalfa is a death sentence for bucks due to the high calcium and urolith risk. 


My kids have never had any grain accept what they have stolen from chickens. They have their mothers milk, organic alfalfa pellets, browse and hay and they are well conditioned. 

But I have no idea how well their carcass will do at butchering. I plan to slaughter when the last of next summer's pasture is gone. Probably November. 

My boer cross (their dam) does get countryside organics goat feed but I am milking her (she gives me like cup and a half a day). Info went grain free with her shed have no milk at all for me. 
We don't have as much cheap alfalfa around here so our local legume hay is peanut. 


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I never said it's grass, I said it's hay - i.e. fiber based vs carbs. Goats would naturally eat a wide variety of leaf and stems, but only a small amount of seeds.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Im trying out feeding less grain (5 minis are sharing a half a scoop of grain twice a day 3 are pregnant) and added chaffhaye (alfalfa) to my feeding. Ive always used alfalfa for their hay but this past year was unable to find a supplier as I moved. So switched to grass hay and now adding in Chaffhaye. Its a bit more expensive but I do believe Im saving on grain cost. Plus there is no waste!


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Wild, I wasn't responding to you. I was responding to the notion that legumes are just like feeding grain. 


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

Oh gotcha.


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## MountainMeadowFarms (Feb 16, 2014)

I feed almost no grain and when I do it is to my kids that are going to market. I have boer and boer cross goats. The usually get alfalfa during the winter (oct-feb). During spring summer and fall they are on straight pasture, and it is primarily grass. They don't get fat on the pasture, but they do good enough. I don't currently think that feeding grain would be cost effective for my operation, I'm not ruling out the use of it in the future, but i don't plan on feeding it anytime soon.


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

*Goats and grain*

Well, blunt is as blunt does.

Goats stomachs have not developed/evolved to process grain. Period. Feeding grains is asking them to process something that is not optimal for them to digest.

That said, I would only feed grain, as a supplement to lactating does that are being milked plus raising kids. And that as a supplement. Milked does also raising kids are on a high needs diet, and need supplementing . Without it they will literally burn out young.

Alfalfa pellets arenot grain, they are processed legumes. But, as such they also arenot natural to a goats digestive system. So, use discretion and caution. I donot/willnot feed bucks alfalfa . Not as single feed, mixed alfalfa/grass hay is another matter.

Its a literal shame that we have so many brands of feed being marketed for goats that donot meet their natural needs but instead are made for the marketing companys balance book.

Goats are browse feeders. Long range their diet should be, or approximate, browse. How you do it is wide open but a good quality 2nd cutting hay, is hard to beat to match their needs for winter feeding. In spring through fall browse should be their diet , with anything and everything else as a supplement only.

When travelling hay pellets are my feed of choice along with hay. And water.


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## bbellhbl (Aug 1, 2013)

I've been feeding cotton seed to my girls when in late pregnancy and raising kids. Great shelve life, no overeating. There is a nutritional calculator on the web. Louisiana univ? Let's you put in what you feed And determine if your mix of foodstuff is correct. Works for different breeds and ages/stages of goats.


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

*grain or no grain*

I have long followed grass or good hay, and for milkers and kids a lb of alfalfa pellets and some rolled oats. Kids until yearlings on this. If the hay is mixed alfalfa I drop the alfalfa pellets and give just the rolled oats.

In late gestation add some alfalfa pellets depending on their condition.

Works fine for me. I never feed the commercial grain rations. Pellets and/or rolled oats and grass or good hay.

I never ever feed commercial brands of any feeds, TSC, Purina etc, no way of knowing how old it is or how it has been stored, find a local mill/feed store that grinds their own and stay with them.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Way to go, Jake Levi! I couldn't agree with you more.
I feed a good mixed grass hay, and my goats have done great on it for a couple of years. I had one doe kid last spring, and I did give her a bit of barley daily for the last 6 weeks or so of her pregnancy. I haven't fed her kids grain. They're over a year now and healthy, though they're growing more slowly than grain-fed kids.
This winter I was giving 6 of them a flake of alfalfa daily, just because I had it available.

If you decide to go to all hay/pasture, it's important to consider the quality of your hay/pasture. If it's low quality (meaning grown on poor, deficient soil), they might not thrive on it.


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## kataridin (Jan 6, 2014)

I'm relatively new to goating but our goats only get browse and/or alfalfa grass mix hay if the browse is limited. After buying our goats, they fattened up with just browse. Now, we add 16% grain one month pre kidding and one month post kidding. We grind our own grain and they thrive. Kids get grain til they wean or are sold. I do use grain to entice them into corral for "treatments" or to move them but they deserve a treat for those times.


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## Spear-B-Ranch (Apr 25, 2014)

I feed feeder hay free choice and free range 24/7. There is nothing better for goats then weeds and sage. Free choice minerals. They hardly touch the hay except during the winter. Quads and triplets grow good on moms. The only grain they get is to lure them into the working pen.


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