# Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to goats?



## packhillboers

I keep stumbling on comments about how some do not like molasses, or would never feed it to their goats or have it in their food. I thought molasses was a good thing for goats. It is loaded with all sorts of good nutrients. High in potassium, magnesium, & calcium, and iron too. Last kidding season I gave all our does a warm gallon of water with 1/2 cup of molasses and they loved it very much -well one doe didnt but the rest drank it well. We dont give it as a daily food but more for kidding season for the does.


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## packhillboers

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

I mean I gave them the molasses water right after they kidded. It really gave them energy too.


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## GotmygoatMTJ

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

For the most part mollases is very good for them. It contains iron and sugar. Some people that milk their goats dont like to give mollasses to their does because some say it gives the milk a funny taste. I made a post looking for ingridients for a feed mixture I will be making for just my two milkers. I love mollasses and everybody else gets a feed mixture with it in it.


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## toth boer goats

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

For my boers .....I give it to them with no issues....and they love it...... :greengrin:


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## milk and honey

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

I only avoid mollasses in my girl's feed, cause I milk them and want the very best tasting milk... I'm going on other's advice on that.... Also I tend to have fat little NDs, so now I need to watch their sugar/treat intake to keep that under control! But I do give it in the winter, and right after kidding to give them a boost.


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## liz

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

Mine are on a sweet goat feed, get warm molasses water after kidding and as a treat in winter when I think they need to intake more water, they also get molasses flavored horse treats and in winter I cook them oatmeal and add molasses...I milk my girls and have never had bad tasting milk because of molasses.... what works well for some, doesn't for others so herd management is basically up to the herd owner and what works for them.


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## StaceyRosado

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

molasses in feeds can make them go moldy faster. I use to use a sweet feed till I recently switched to a pellet. Not because of the molasses but because my heavy milker wasnt eating it good and found this pellet she liked better she is keeping her weight up now and it was cheeper. Couldnt beat that.

Yup I give the warm molasses water after kidding. Most do love it.


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## sweetgoats

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

I also give Molasses water to my goats at shows. They love it and will drink it like crazy.


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## Itchysmom

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

As someone said, if you buy a grain with molassass it can mold, especially in hot humid weather. You have to feed it out fairly fast in that instance. I went by people feeding A&M (alfalfa/molassass) to horses to make them gain weight quickly. The problem with that is it was mostly water weight gain and they would lose it when worked,,,catch 22 there! It does give them energy and for a high strung horse...well you can see where that would go!

I just learned about the molassass water after kidding which I will do next time. I do give some molassass in my milking does grain that she eats when I milk her. this is for two reasons 1) to give her some extra energy as her kids attack her when I am done! 2) I give her her minerals in this grain feeding and the molassass helps it stick to the grain so she gets it.


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## packhillboers

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

Thank you everyone. I was thinking that it couldn't be bad for them. Perhaps it is people who milk goats that dont like using it. I could see that the moldy food with a humid climate could be a problem with it mixed in the food. I think molasses is amazing stuff. When my children would get sick.. out came the tablespoon of molasses. I dont think anyone in our family likes the taste of it. It is used like medicine in our home with the high potassium/magnesium/calcium levels. It works better than pedialite for dehydration but I can see why the molasses taste in goat milk would not be ideal.


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## WarPony

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

My does' milk actually tastes better when they get feed with molasses in it, IMO. I've only been able to taste changes in their milk twice, once when I switched them off of their sweet feed to something else and once when I put them out on browse in the spring. It didn't taste bad, just different. And I like it better when they are getting molasses. It's sweeter. maybe I just have really weird does?


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## Sunny Daze

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

ok, I swore I posted a response a few minutes ago but it seems to have disappeared! Anyway, I think one of the potential issues is acidiosis due to the high level of sugar in molasses. Here is an article that explains some things...

http://www.sweetlix.com/media/documents ... at_015.pdf

I think most who don't feed it are most concerned about these type of metabolic issues. I have heard this from day 1 with goats so usually stay away from sweet feeds with all my animals. Plus all that sugar really can't be good for them, can it?

Everyone has what works for them though and many people feed sweet feed and never have a problem. Now adding molasses to water after kidding for an energy boost is totally different and is not going to hurt a thing in my opinion.


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## packhillboers

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

Carissa, of Sunny Daze,
Now that was an excellent article. It was very informative. Thank you for finding it. I will copy and paste it into my Goat file. I am going to be careful in how much they get as it is in their cob mix that I give them for winter. I mix a small amount in their feed for winter. I don't know how you find things like this but it makes me really like this forum all the more. I have learned so much.


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## goathiker

*Re: Molasses. Is there something wrong with giving it to go*

Those of us who live in copper deficient areas must also watch the amount of iron that are in things. Iron can inhibit the up take of some other minerals. If it's in your water, your minerals, your browse, it's too easy to get too much.
I don't like how some feed manufacturers will use it to cover sub-standard food. The animals will eat this garbage food only because it's sweet.


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## lottsagoats1

Like Sunny Daze, I don't like feeding a lot of molasses because of the possibility of acidosis. I used to feed a sweet feed because that was all i could get. I also had the girls go off feed once in a while and act off. Once I found a good dairy pellet, I changed. Once I changed, that occasional "off" feeling went away.


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## happybleats

OLD POST :greengrin:


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