# Can I give Beet pulp to my buck?



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I've read just bout everything I found doing searches on feeding beet pulp to goats...not one article says anything about feeding it to bucks.

Reason I ask is even though Hank is just about 100% improved with his boniness and hair/skin issues, rut is just around the corner and I feel that even with a clear fecal, 1 cup of 18% with 1 oz of Goat Balancer once a day and free browse, mixed hay 2 x aday, he is still in need of some meat on his bones.
He's a pygmy and pygmies shouldn't look like Ethiopian children( pot bellies and skinny elsewhere) He is gaining, just not as much as I would like at this rate.

I have shredded beet pulp with no molasses added...how much shhould I give him if any?


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Well, from what I've learned about beet pulp is, it is just fiber, and really only adds false weight to a goat. It makes them look fatter if they are skinny. When we were raising boers a lot of the people showing would feed it to them before a show and the beet pulp would make them look filled out.

I feed my horse beet pulp because she is foundered and I put 2 oz of Dumor horse vitamins in it along with a microbial feed supplement powder called Fastrack that we also feed to the goats. It doesn't do anything for her except make her feel like shes getting something.


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## K-Ro (Oct 14, 2007)

I usually mix it in with my feed. Sometimes I will soak it in water and top dress with it too. I have always just given a handful or so at a time when feeding by its self, as it expands when wet. My goats love it.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

Beat pulp does not put on "fake fat." Nothing can put on fake fat, but their rumens can get very full if you overfeed them, and then you risk bloat. 

You can give him as much as he needs, but obviously start off slow.


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## hphorses (Feb 16, 2010)

Do you have to soak beet pulp for goats before you feed it?


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Fake fat as in they look more filled in. Not as they have fat that is fake. xD


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Since I stand with the boys while they eat, I make sure they all get their share....and nothing more, it's amazing how fat Teddy has gotten since being wethered and it's impossible to keep him away while Chief and Hank eat so I stand guard and he gets a handful while the 2 bucks each get a cup, I have a half cup of the beet pulp soaking now, ready to feed at 4 so I hope Hankster likes it as I really hope to get his body in as good condition as his skin and coat.


LOL...Well, I had the 1/2 cup soaked in warmish water and there was still a bit of water left over..It was a big hit! Hank even sucked down the beet water, he didn't get all of it though, just half a handful with his grain. The rest was tried out by each of the other 8..a little taste for each, Bootsie was the only one that snubbed it.


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## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

Can goats eat beets? I have a ton in my garden, and sometimes i give some to the chickens, wondering if the goats could share the treat?


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