# With grass growing do I need to feed daily



## chuckinnc (Aug 9, 2012)

I usually feed sweet feed in late afternoon to my 3 fully grown and 2 - 2 month olds. They are in a 6 acre field, I feed them in the winter but now that grass, weeds, saplings are starting to grow do I still need to feed daily? They are good
browsers and there is plenty to eat in the field.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is up to you. Maybe slowly wean them off the grain. I personally like to give the young ones grain to make sure they are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need. Do you have minerals out for them?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I would feed some hay, once in a while to keep the rumen healthy, maybe once a week or so.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I too would feed them for a bit. You do not want to let them go out just to eat that until they get use to it, it could be a richer and cause bloat.
I feed mine in the morning hay until the pastures are good and they are out there without any problems, then I save the hay for the next winter.


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## chuckinnc (Aug 9, 2012)

Yes, I do add goat mineral from TSC to the feed, only about 1 cup of feed each.

I keep a round bale of field hay in the pen for them in winter.

Would it be better to feed them in the morning rather than evening?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That really wouldn't matter. What is convenient for you. You may want to put out the minerals free choice though. Most soil is so deficient in minerals that we really do need to supplement the minerals.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

What breed of goats do you have? Are they carrying good weight? Can you devise a creep feeder for the babies? Are the adults nursing the babies? I feed my does that are nursing naughty hungry babies. Last year when my grass/browse started coming in good, I put a little grass hay in the feeders in the morning to get some dry stuff in them before they went out. When they started wasting some of that, I quit the hay. But I kept feeding feed until the babies were averaging three months old or so. When my Boer does are not nursing heavily, they get WAY too fat if I feed. So my point is... it depends on your goats!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good advice.


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## chuckinnc (Aug 9, 2012)

*Not sure about the breed*

I bought a pair last August that were suppose to be pigmy but the male had
had no horns, was born that way. They had kids/does in early February, the
white one has horns like it's mom, the black one looks like it's dad and dosent
show signs of horns yet, the eat good, feed and browse. I also got a second Nanny (4-5 months old) in December, she is suppose to be pigmy also and is very fat so maybe I do need to cut down on feed, as I said before they are in a 6 acre field with all kinds of growth and browse everything well.


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