# Completely confused now re: goat grains....



## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Ok so now the word is to feed cattle grains.... or alfalfa pellets? What is wrong with textured sweet feed (balanced for goats?).... or is the cattle grain better? Now that I know that Cob is empty calories....

Goats have 8 hours browse, free fed hay and just lookign for what would be a good addition to balance them out and that is healthy (I will feed it to the one milker on the mild stand and to the other 4 as a treat, plus the two littlest ones need feeding up they are being dewormed and are scrawny....)....

I am stopping TSC tommorrow and want suggestions on what to buy....(they like the Purina goat chow just fine but I heard its bad and the Farmers goat ration is 3 dollars cheaper, or I can just get allstock grains or sweet cob)....


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

In the end you have to buy what you can find. If TSC is the only place you have, then I would just buy the Purina Goat Chow. Compare labels of the other brands and see if any are better. If they seem better, then you can decide if it is worth it to make the switch.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Thanks Karen. I will compare the labels.. they like the Purina goat chow just fine...... Not sure they will eat pellets (thats the local mill's brand Elk Grove Mills if anyone has any input)....


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I love love love elk grove. My little buck put good weight on with it. But I don't know if elk grove duped the price or if the jerk feed store did but I can't afford to pay $98 a barrel. My friend feeds the sheep mix and her goats and kids do great on it but the protein is lower.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Jessica84 said:


> I love love love elk grove. My little buck put good weight on with it. But I don't know if elk grove duped the price or if the jerk feed store did but I can't afford to pay $98 a barrel. My friend feeds the sheep mix and her goats and kids do great on it but the protein is lower.


What elk grove? the goat pellets? I NEED TO KNOW!!! I can stop by that feedstore tommorrow I am almost out of grain/sweet feed (they are goats but eat like HOGS) ....
Not sure how much a barrel is but I have to buy the 50# bags as I am driving my little commuter car...


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Lol yes the goat pellets......and I have never heard anything bad about elk grove.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Ok thanx the Goat pellets it is I will give that a try..
( now we just need to know where you get Wolf Pee....)...


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## SunnydaleBoers (Jul 28, 2012)

CAjerseychick said:


> Ok so now the word is to feed cattle grains.... or alfalfa pellets? What is wrong with textured sweet feed (balanced for goats?).... or is the cattle grain better? Now that I know that Cob is empty calories....
> 
> Goats have 8 hours browse, free fed hay and just lookign for what would be a good addition to balance them out and that is healthy (I will feed it to the one milker on the mild stand and to the other 4 as a treat, plus the two littlest ones need feeding up they are being dewormed and are scrawny....)....
> 
> I am stopping TSC tommorrow and want suggestions on what to buy....(they like the Purina goat chow just fine but I heard its bad and the Farmers goat ration is 3 dollars cheaper, or I can just get allstock grains or sweet cob)....


The Noble Goat is just fine, as is the cattle feed and the alfalfa pellets and the sweet feed (confused yet?). I've missed the earlier posts, so not sure if you're feeding for a certain type of production, etc., but if you're solely feeding to ensure they have a balanced ration then I'd invest in a bag of mineral or a lick tub, and a salt block. If you're not feeding for optimal milk/meat/show production there is no reason to bankrupt yourself on high end feed.

If they've got a nice pasture with a good selection of browse they'll most likely be able to meet their nutritional needs without any further intervention on your part- the mineral and salt can be offered free choice, and if they goats need it they'll eat it. There truly is not much difference between your basic cattle and goat feeds, other than that the bag with the goat on it is going to cost more. Good old whole or cracked corn is a nice option if you have goats that need to put on a few extra pounds, or if you just need a little something to entice them to come up to the barn each night.

I personally prefer the Purina brand to a lot of the store brands if I'm only needing to buy a bag or two until the next feed delivery. Despite the naysayers grain/forage/etc by-products are NOT necessarily a bad thing. You're feeding a ruminant- it's amazing what they can do with "leftovers"!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Some Purina plants are better than others as well. Many of us feed differently, I doubt if any 2 people on this forum feed exactly the same things. We all have different goats and different goals. Area tends to dictate a lot of what you do as well. For beginners, premixed feed is easy while they are figuring out the rest of the balance.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I don't like sweet feeds due to the molasses. Molasses isn't good for the rumen and is basically all sugar and too much can cause your does to have congested udders when they kid. Not to mention you might be getting 50 lbs of "feed" but how many lbs of that is molasses? Molasses is cheap but they charge you a lot for it anyways. In the winter sweet feeds can also be a pain because the feed will "freeze" together and be very difficult to scoop out. 

I feed mine alfalfa pellets some calf manna and the kids are getting a calf creep feed right now (non medicated). It is best to feed what is available to you and what your goats like and do well on. A lot of people like to stay away from the pelleted feeds mostly because the first ingredient is typically "grain by-products" and you really don't know exactly what is going into that pellet and they do add molasses to the pellets to help bind them together and make them tastier.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

OK that does.... sorta clear it up.... Yeah we just home goat keepers, they supposed to be eating weeds (which they do unless hiding from our dogs, we are still acllimitizing everyone to each other)... and have hay and minerals and a selenium cattle salt block as well....
(I think my vet is worried about them getting into the chicken feed, which they did in the past I quit filling the feeders and am getting few eggs d/t hungry hens, as apparantly it is really high in copper, they bolused themselves)....


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

For the pee ;p I think the site was called predators pee.com I ordered a ton last year but yahoo deleted all my emails so I lost the site but I'm fairly sure that's what it was. Make sure there is no wolfs in your area though. I know not far from Standish ca there has been wolfs seen. 
Any how I swear by the wolf pee I lost 7 kids before I got it and knock on wood none since. My brother actually seen a coyote head to the herd of goats stopped and turned the other way.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

In all reality, you shouldnt be feeding a processed grain as a main stay for any goat. With the many different kinds of hay available, there really is no reason not to be feeding them just a good quality hay and if available, browse. Then supplemented with a great mineral mix. Grain should be saved for lactating does.

Now for those that dont wanna feed hay or cant, alfalfa pellets would be your next choice. At this point, it wouldnt hurt to mix an all stock / dairy ration grain into the alfalfa pellets to up the protein, mineral and vitamin levels to better reflect a green feed. I dont feed pellets but would think a 75%/25% pellet/grain mix would be sufficient. 

Just need to remember, most pelleted feed grains are made with off fall and or lower quality grains and then things like minerals and vitamins are added to the mix when they pelletize the feed.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

well we went to the feedstore reccomended by our goat vet, picked up a bale of Alfalfa (that makes 5 bales, so we should be good thru Feb at least-- its 80 degrees and very green in the pastures still)... and wanted a bag of the reccomended goat rations (by Associated feed)... ended up with a bag of Show goat medicated feed (with ruminisen).... really, drove all day yesterday (4 hrs 15 minutes)and spent today driving around-- DO NOT WANT TO TAKE IT BACK....Feedstore is 40mins away....

What is Ruminisen, we are worming the goats monday anyway so milk goes to the dogs for another week(we could make it a month til we go thru this bag of grain....) its it ok for them....?....

Oh and its not pellets, have never done pellets, just stuck with the textured feeds (mix of grains and...?)...


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If you are milking anyone for milk for you, you can't drink the milk. You can't have the drugs in the milk.

Rumesin is fine for the goats but you MUST feed it according to directions or you will just build a resistance to it. Rumesin is a preventative for coccidia.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

ksalvagno said:


> If you are milking anyone for milk for you, you can't drink the milk. You can't have the drugs in the milk.
> 
> Rumesin is fine for the goats but you MUST feed it according to directions or you will just build a resistance to it. Rumesin is a preventative for coccidia.


We are feeding the milk to our dogs for now (Safeguard is due monday anyway)...

(Sigh) I wont be thru that part of town til next TH I guess I could haul it back and switch it out , I am not keen on the medication anyways....
I do not want to get any resisitance started....

Oh and seriously we bought unmedicated, and went to childs school fair and got home.... and realized they had put Medicated Feed in the back of the Car....


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Ruminisen is a cocci preventive, used mainly in market wethers or goats (usually boers) that will be shown. It can be used in your case, but IMO I wouldn't do it. 

How many goats do you have and how much hay do you feed a day? We have 8 minies and 1 eight m/o Boer, and go through about 25 lbs of hay a day. So 2 - 3 bales a week. 

I am switching my goats to a mix of 2 parts Rolled Oats, 2 Parts Soaked/Sprouted Barley, and 1.5 parts calf manna. Along with a handful of BOSS, and a little bit of safflower oil if they need a little extra. This mix will be for lactacting/show/growing goats. Hope that is provides enough, I think it will be a lot healthier than the pelleted feeds at the store.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Scottyhorse said:


> Ruminisen is a cocci preventive, used mainly in market wethers or goats (usually boers) that will be shown. It can be used in your case, but IMO I wouldn't do it.
> 
> How many goats do you have and how much hay do you feed a day? We have 8 minies and 1 eight m/o Boer, and go through about 25 lbs of hay a day. So 2 - 3 bales a week.
> 
> I am switching my goats to a mix of 2 parts Rolled Oats, 2 Parts Soaked/Sprouted Barley, and 1.5 parts calf manna. Along with a handful of BOSS, and a little bit of safflower oil if they need a little extra. This mix will be for lactacting/show/growing goats. Hope that is provides enough, I think it will be a lot healthier than the pelleted feeds at the store.


We have 5 goats, 2 part minis they are about half way between minis and standards, and 3 standards, one of which is recovering from pneumonia and all of whom are pretty thin and look wormy (he was fecal tested positve for intestinal worms so all of them are wormed and getting rewormed Monday then vet will re-fecal)...
I put in 2 flakes of hay in their feeder about 3 days ago (when I left for work, got back last night) and most of its still there....
Nanny goat gets a big bucket of COB/sweet goat ration twice a day while being milked (she doesnt finish it , it just keeps her busy while being milked- milk is going to dogs as they were wormed)....
I feed the little ones (minis and 6months old ones) when I am home, to train them to the stand, they get maybe a cup or 2 of grain daily, 3 or 4times a week)-- otherwise its hay and browse and minerals....


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Associated feed has the medicated goat feed??? I want to put all my kids on medicated feed but noble so kinda high that's why I'm asking. 
Now just my thought....could be wrong but if your goats are going threw that little of hay that tells me you have very good brows. You might be able to get away with little to no grain or a not so great grain like the cob and just use it for milking and training and a treat. I know there is many people who don't grain at all and except for my kids I grain very little.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

CAjerseychick said:


> We have 5 goats, 2 part minis they are about half way between minis and standards, and 3 standards, one of which is recovering from pneumonia and all of whom are pretty thin and look wormy (he was fecal tested positve for intestinal worms so all of them are wormed and getting rewormed Monday then vet will re-fecal)...
> I put in 2 flakes of hay in their feeder about 3 days ago (when I left for work, got back last night) and most of its still there....
> Nanny goat gets a big bucket of COB/sweet goat ration twice a day while being milked (she doesnt finish it , it just keeps her busy while being milked- milk is going to dogs as they were wormed)....
> I feed the little ones (minis and 6months old ones) when I am home, to train them to the stand, they get maybe a cup or 2 of grain daily, 3 or 4times a week)-- otherwise its hay and browse and minerals....


That doesn't seem like enough hay to me..


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

It's okay. I've been through where she lives several times. The grass and browse is pretty constant year round. The goats aren't going to eat hay when they can still get fresh stuff up until the new year...


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

goathiker said:


> It's okay. I've been through where she lives several times. The grass and browse is pretty constant year round. The goats aren't going to eat hay when they can still get fresh stuff up until the new year...


:doh:I guess I'm just used to my pigs... They'll eat all their hay even when the pastures are nice and green! But that makes sense.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Leaves, alfalfa, weeds, tree bark. Pretty much the top goatie preferred foods in order


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

You forgot windfall apples and acorns


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Yes don't forget the acorns......I think that's my goats all time favorite


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Jessica84 said:


> Associated feed has the medicated goat feed??? I want to put all my kids on medicated feed but noble so kinda high that's why I'm asking.
> Now just my thought....could be wrong but if your goats are going threw that little of hay that tells me you have very good brows. You might be able to get away with little to no grain or a not so great grain like the cob and just use it for milking and training and a treat. I know there is many people who don't grain at all and except for my kids I grain very little.


(Sorry was out and offline yesterday eve)-- yup its the Associated feed that is medicated, the vet's Feedstore is run by goat people and they really like it too....I ended up with a bag of Showmaker Feed (its totally not what was meant to be put into my car but we went straight to child's Halloween Fair and then drove home...)....but (new to this brand) there is another formula for young growing goats that is medicated as well...


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Scottyhorse said:


> That doesn't seem like enough hay to me..


Oh dont worry Scottyhorse, they have a little goat ramp so they can get in and outa their pen whenever they want (yes this is a problem)- so far they have eaten all our sugar snap peas, collards, kale, radish tops, next years carrots, most of the arugula bed and started in on the swiss chard. (Yes we didnt cover the raised beds enough- we have given up on the raised beds and now it is a perfect afternoon sunning spot for the goats)...

As well as the 2 acres of maples, pine, berry bushes, willows and grass....
.... Got the goat shed almost done (working on the floor) and then will finish the back fence for the goat pen....(the one area they have not gotten around to eating in- its waist high weeds and brush and stuff)...


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Thank you!!! Their place isn't that far from me so I'm gonna give them a call


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