# What's Best to Feed My Goats



## Rebel985 (Jan 2, 2012)

Hi everyone... I am newbie to raising goats as some of you may already know. I have a question about feeding.. The person I bought my first to wethers (right under a year old) says they eats whole/crack corn, sweet feed, oats, and of course, hay. I tend to take garden clippings and give to them often. My question is, what is best to feed goats that are only pets... Is sweet feed ok for a treat or every other day?? Corn?? When I see people post they started them on grains, what exactly are they talking about? Any specific grains? My 4.5 week old is starting to reach into the feed bucket the other 2 or eating out of... Today it was sweet and corn.... Is it ok for the little guy to start eating those things? I just want to make sure they are happy and healthy... Thanks in advance..

Jeremy


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

Hi Jeremy,
Yes it is fine for the baby to eat grain. Is he also getting milk? As far as the older two are concerned Garden clippings are great and I think a little grain for the next year (until they are two) and I mean like a handful each twice a day would be fine. However you want to balance that with something that has calcium in it. You've probably heard about urinary calculi... that is what you are trying to prevent by not feeding too much grain. Wethers don't need that much energy and grains are also high in phosphorus. For calcium to balance things I'd feed beet pulp. It is high in calcium but not high protein (which alfalfa, another calcium source, is)

You didn't mention any minerals so I'm not sure if they are getting those. You need a loose mineral that isn't a "sheep and goat" mineral (too low in copper)... something like manna pro or onyx.....

Grains = sweet feed, corn, oats, barley etc.... In my opinion not necessary over a year old (although mine got some till quite recently because... well they liked them so much.....) 
When you say "today is was sweet and corn" it seems to imply that yesterday they got some other grain combination. I would be careful with that because an inconsistent diet/sudden change in diet can cause serious havoc with the rumen. What sweet feed are you feeding? If it is goat specific then I think I'd just feed that (at the rate that is recomended on the bag). If it doesn't say that it is for goats you could post the nutritional analysis and I'm sure someone would be willing to take a look for you to see if it an appropriate feed.

You could also just feed plain grains but I'd be a little concerned that the diet would be unbalanced and frankly for me it is easiest just to buy a premixed thing.

Anyway I hope some of that helps.
Here is some more I've written about feeding at various points and, down at the bottom two links that might be helpful...
https://sites.google.com/site/2creeksgo ... th/feeding
Goodluck!!
M.


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## Rebel985 (Jan 2, 2012)

Thanks for the reply Miranda... That is very helpful!! I am feeding them sweet feed for horses everyday... about a handful each once a day... I sprinkle a very small pinch of ammonium chloride about twice a week or so... Other than that they have access to good hay 24 hours a day... And yes, the little guy is getting milk 3 times a day right now... I am thinking I can start winding down to two a day in a few days... He will be 5 weeks old. What do you think? At what age should he be completely off of milk? I am giving him 12 ounces each time..


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

If you can I would suggest goat feed over sweet feed because the balance in the sweet feed may be off for goats. The corn is only a filler and not needed.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

Are they all wethers? I personally don't think wethers need any grain. Just good quality grass hay. If you want to feed grain Purina Goat Chow or 12% horse grain works fine :greengrin:



Rebel985 said:


> And yes, the little guy is getting milk 3 times a day right now... I am thinking I can start winding down to two a day in a few days... He will be 5 weeks old. What do you think? At what age should he be completely off of milk? I am giving him 12 ounces each time..


He should have milk till atleast 8 weeks old although 12 weeks is better. He should have 2 or 3 bottles a day until 8 weeks old. If you want to stop his bottle at 8 weeks just stop giving it to him.


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## Rebel985 (Jan 2, 2012)

Thanks for the replies.... Feed milk to at least 8 weeks...... I am assuming getting down to 2 bottles a day and then 1?? I am still at 3 as of right now.... I am thinking I can drop down to two in about another week... Puts him at 5.5 weeks old... Sounds good?


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

that sounds great!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Something like Noble Goat Feed or ADM Meat Goat Power would be good. It has coccidiosis preventative medication in it and also ammonium chloride (good to prevent UC). Since they are still very young, I would still give them grain. Once they are older, you can decide if they really need grain or not.


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