# To Grain or not to Grain that is the question



## reggieandmaya (Aug 15, 2012)

Ok yall this might be a subject were some might think im nuts, I am all for going the most natural route I can and the only grain I can get here is the Purina Goat Chow, I have heard that it has additaves in it and it is supposedly not the best choice for grain? I have been feeding my goats a forage based diet, we are surrounded by woods so they have plenty of brush, plus hay, and I have been feeding them Alfalfa pellets. Could the reason my girl Maya hasnt bagged up yet be because I don't give her grain? Is grain really a necessity, I know it is if you want alot of milk (which would of course be nice) but will she still produce enough with the diet I have her on? And what about the bucks, do yall give them grain as well, I was just wondering how yalls feeding regimen is.

onder:


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

That's a good question. I'd like to know what others have to say.
I'm feeding only browse and hay right now as well and my goats are doing EXCELLENT on it, but none of them are lactating.


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## thomcarol (Feb 3, 2012)

I mix my own grain because, like you, I didn't like the additives. I do equal parts whole oats and rolled barley, some wheat bran and black oiled sunflower seeds. You can take the oats and sunflower seeds and soak them in a water/cider vinegar mix and sprout them to make them more digestable. 
Your goat should produce enough milk for your family if you just want to let her forage in the woods. That's a great situation if you have access to that. As far as bucks, I don't have any experience with them but I have heard that they need grain when they are in rut because it takes a lot out of them.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Purina goat chow is sold here too. My girls love it.
Unfortunately it isn't the best quality. But I tried to switch them and they really didn't like the better one at all.
I need to try another "good" brand.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

All you can do is try it and see. If she isn't producing enough, then add the grain.


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## kiddoe (Oct 8, 2012)

Trickyroo said:


> Purina goat chow is sold here too. My girls love it.
> Unfortunately it isn't the best quality. But I tried to switch them and they really didn't like the better one at all.
> I need to try another "good" brand.


What about mixing the better one with a little molasses?


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## S+S Homestead (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm also in southeastern NC. I have my local Southern States dealer order non-medicated goat food for me. Most of the grain sold locally, including Purina, has medication in it that is not to be used for goats producing milk for human consumption.

I can't let my goats forage in the woods because our property has a lot of bracken fern and holly bushes that are poisonous to goats.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I only use alfalfa pellets -- no other grain is used here. They get alfalfa pellets, grass hay, minerals, and browse. They have actually been thriving on the diet.


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## JaLyn (Oct 10, 2012)

I do feed grains. The only purina i will feed is Purina Noble goat grower and have had great success with it but as soon as i run out of it i'm switching to PNP http://pnpnutrition.weebly.com/. I do beleive they need grain when bred and milking.


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## kristinatucker (Jan 3, 2012)

We feed a mix of 16% natural goat grain, black oil sunflower seeds,and beet pulp. They also get as much weeds and whatever they can find in the woods as well as mixed grass hay in their barn. They only get grain 1 time a day, about 3 cups each (nigerians). 

As far as bagging up - Our nigerians bagged up (first freshners) about 8 weeks before their due dates and are continuing to grow but our nubian who is just about 2-3 weeks behind them has nothing going on in the udder dept. I have a feeling that some get their udders a ways before, like my nigerians did, and some will bag up closer to delivery or maybe not till they give birth. I have read a lot about this and that seems to be the case.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I use sunflower seeds as well. The reason I stopped using grain was because one of my does was allergic to wheat, so I switched her to alfalfa pellets. She did so well on it we switched our other does over too.


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## reggieandmaya (Aug 15, 2012)

I think I will definitely add sunflower seeds to their diet, Woodhaven I am so glad to hear your girls are doing so well on this diet! So they produce pretty good then without going the grain route?
Kristina, I am glad to hear that about your nubians udder, I don't know how much longer she has because of not knowing the due date but I was beginning to worry that there was no change at all.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

reggieandmaya said:


> I think I will definitely add sunflower seeds to their diet, Woodhaven I am so glad to hear your girls are doing so well on this diet! So they produce pretty good then without going the grain route?


Yes, ma'am! My doe I've had for two freshenings produced just as much this year as last, and my FF is a GREAT producer.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Has anybody used beet pulp pellets ?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Trickyroo said:


> Has anybody used beet pulp pellets ?


Yes, I use them. My girls refuse to eat alfalfa pellets. So I use the beet pulp instead and they love them.


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## reggieandmaya (Aug 15, 2012)

That is AWESOME Woodhaven!!!!


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

ksalvagno said:


> Yes, I use them. My girls refuse to eat alfalfa pellets. So I use the beet pulp instead and they love them.


Thank you Karen . Would i add these pellets to their regular daily feed ?
How much BP pellets do you feed , BTW ?


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## Shellshocker66 (Mar 19, 2012)

I've been mostly off purina type grain for awhile and using alfalfa pellets mixed with BOSS. 

My gals are about to start kidding end of next month and I'm now switching from a grass hay to alfalfa, and maybe add a little rice bran in for some fat.

I also give them Kelp and goat minerals free choice.

I see no difference in coat or anything else since I switched out several months ago, my gals have good color,coat, and meat on the bones. My alfalfa pellets are not even guaranteed to be 16% min protein but between everything else it seems to be working so far. I will re-evaluate when they are in milk.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

I don't give my does grain unless they're pregnant or lactating. I believe they need the nutrition it provides when they're pregnant, and it really boosts their production. I also give BOSS, Calf Manna, alfalfa pellets and beet plup shreds to milking does. I don't ever give the bucks grain.


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## reggieandmaya (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm going to look into beet pulp and kelp, I've seen calf mana at the local feed store might have to pick some up.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

We gave our does a bit of beet pulp to fatten them up for breeding, but they weren't thrilled about it, probably just because it was different. They weren't thrilled about the alfalfa pellets at first either but now they eat them very well.


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## kristinatucker (Jan 3, 2012)

We give our does the beet pulp shreds. It goes a long way! For our 4 does I probably use 2 cups of beet pulp, soak it in water about 20 min (sometimes overnight if I remember). The pulp will soak up all the water and then it gets mixed with their grain. They all eat it without any problem. The first day they had it they kind of pushed it out of the way but once we mixed it they just went to town. I have noticed a HUGE difference in their coat color. They are SO shiny. I think thats due to the BOSS. Our one doe that was on the smaller side filled out nice and they are all very healthy preggos. We also dont grain our boys. We were for awhile but they got real pushy on it and seemed like they fought more so they just extra hay. They do get some grain on wormer day though


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## mcombs93 (Dec 9, 2012)

we are new to goats and we got them goat pellets and they did not like it at all so we had some horse feed and gave them some and they liked it alot better. so will it be bad for the goats to give them the horse feed? we thought because of all the grain and malaise in would be good for them are we right or should we try to find another kind of goat feed for them?


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## ladyharley (Sep 7, 2012)

I don't feed grain anymore. The 4H/livestock person at the university told me that I have a lot of browse, I don't need to feed grain. If there is no browse and/or winter, then I can supplement. I stopped feeding grain and they are doing just great! I just feed grass hay, a "small" amount of alfalfa a couple time a week and wheat hay.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

mcombs93 said:


> we are new to goats and we got them goat pellets and they did not like it at all so we had some horse feed and gave them some and they liked it alot better. so will it be bad for the goats to give them the horse feed? we thought because of all the grain and malaise in would be good for them are we right or should we try to find another kind of goat feed for them?


Is the grain balanced 2:1 calcium phosphorus? Boys or girls?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

mcombs93 said:


> we are new to goats and we got them goat pellets and they did not like it at all so we had some horse feed and gave them some and they liked it alot better. so will it be bad for the goats to give them the horse feed? we thought because of all the grain and malaise in would be good for them are we right or should we try to find another kind of goat feed for them?


I would compare the label to something like ADM Dairy Goat Power 16% and see if it is similar. It is important to have the 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus and plenty of copper.


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## kiddoe (Oct 8, 2012)

Where would you get beet pulp? A grain/feed company? Can you feed this to goats when not preg or lactating? What about wethers? What is it exactly for?


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

kiddoe said:


> Where would you get beet pulp? A grain/feed company? Can you feed this to goats when not preg or lactating? What about wethers? What is it exactly for?


Beet pulp is super high in calcium -- alfalfa pellets would probably be better for wethers if you were to choose between the two.


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## Engebretsen (May 16, 2012)

kiddoe said:


> Where would you get beet pulp? A grain/feed company? Can you feed this to goats when not preg or lactating? What about wethers? What is it exactly for?


I saw beet pulp when we were in tractor supply company a couple weeks ago. I haven't asked my local feed store that I use if they have it, but my guess would be that they do. I would just ask around locally, maybe let your fingers do some walking through the phone book.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

One of the places I buy my feed from has beet pulp and BP pellets.
I'm definately going to try the BP pellets for my girls .
And I would like to try the alfalfa pellets too.
They sell both the Purina and State Farm goat chow ( sweet feed )
I also use the State Farm pellets.
If I remember correctly , with my first four goats , they didn't like it when I switched from Purina to the State Farms goat chow.
I will try again , since they were young and I'll start combining the two for a bit longer while decreasing the Purina.

What is your opinions on State Farms being a better brand then Purina ?

I want to offer my girls variety . How much of the beet pulp pellets would you give ? I have one Nigerian and my other girls are large breeds . What I give them now is , minus the ND , is a cup + 1/4
of he sweet feed and pellets . Yosi gets a handful of the mix just so she thinks she isn't missing out on anything.
From what I have been reading , what I give my big girls would be fine for my Yosi......

So , I'm pretty darn confused to say the least on the correct amounts to feed. Mainly I'm afraid of giving to much , so maybe that's why I feed so little


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Feeding is by far the most complicated thing with goats. It's all those stomachs! :laugh:


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

You ain't kidding !! :GAAH: 

Oh wait , wrong terminology for you right now ....:wallbang:

Yes , your right WHF.


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## dixiegirl3179 (Jan 20, 2010)

I've been feeding mine a mare and foal feed because my choices for goat feed are limited at my local feed store. I saw on fiasco farms site that they feed a mare and foal feed. How can I tell if the calcium/phosphorus ratio is correct? Does it say so on the tag? I'm feeding Gestolac which I believe is made by Southern States..but it might be OBS. I'd have to look at the bag.


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## dixiegirl3179 (Jan 20, 2010)

Ok..it's made by OBS and it doesn't look like the calcium phosporus ratio is 2:1. It's showing min calcium at .65 and max at .90, but phosporus is .55. It also doesn't have as much protien as I thought. Hmm. I may have to switch to the Hillandale that one of my breeders uses. 
http://obfs.com/GestOLac.aspx


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