The Poultry Keeper

farmercoop

I give mine a scoop of goat mix in the morning, a scoop of chopped alafa and sort of seeds in, it was what came with the goat, and at nigth they get the same, they also get adlib hay and a couple of big branches of hawthorn if they cant go out, which they havnt done since the new milkers arrived, when i say a scoop its actaully a small saucpan with the handle took off, how much do you feed, i dont want to be feeding too much, too less, etc. thanks Joe

Teasal · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:33 pm Post subject:

Well my two billies just get a handful of goat mix, as a token gesture, although they would eat a full bucket full given the chance.

Are all the goats milking, and what is the feed? Is it just all round goat mix? Are you giving them the same at night too? Those that are milking do need feed to keep their milk production up - and to stand still while milking of course!!

Thats about the amount I was giving my milking goats. They also had veg peelings, and carrots sliced lengthways with the odd apple chopped up. In winter they enjoyed soaked sugar beet shreds which I give the ponies, and a lot of people who show goats use ALFA A which is a high fibre feed for horses, and my goats loved that too. Problem is, with being indoors they always needed plenty of water, as the goat fees and ALFA A are molassed.

I also used to pick hawthorn, but be careful of putting them in with goats, they always say they should only eat it when they browse it themselves, due to the danger of thorns getting in udders etc - ash, willow, and sycamore, hazel in fact all sorts of woodland trees, goats like all those.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6973 Location: isle of lewis

my wethers have hay ,and as teasel says,hand full of mix ,they are still suckling off may
my milkers have sheep crunch ,(i know what people will say ,but it's twelve pounds for goat food here for a bag )
one scoop morning and night
with one scoop of dried sugar beet (took me ages to get my head around that as it's lethal to horses feed dry Rolling Eyes

,and being a groom when i left school it just didn't feel safe )
one scoop of Alpha A
mine have seaweed in their feed
they have a lick .
grazing on good days ,heather ,reeds , sheep sorrel,willow and beech
we have to use more hay and feed than you would down south ,remember where we live is windswept ,not many trees Wink

,it would also depend on how much land ,my aunt with acres used to feed a 1 of scoop twice a day for her toggs and saanans
i always think in terms of mantaince and then production ration

nigel · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject:

Mine get alfalfa hay

and in the evening a scoop each of oats, sheep mix [they don't have goat mix in Sweden], alfalfa pellets and sugarbeet pellets, with a mineral supplement. They have salt licks too

If they are being kept in due to the weather they would get a feed in the morning too like above. I bring them in forage from the hedges as well [They are the only thing that will eat sloe]

As occasional treats they get carrots, vegetable tops from the garden, chopped apples etc.

farmercoop · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 3:28 pm Post subject:

thanks alot for that guys, maybe im feeding a slight bit much as its not a small saucepan! Its an all round goat mix, which is about a tenner for a sack so considering giving sheep crunch like you do suz, makes sense, do they do okay on it? mine also have a lick!

This might sound stupid but how big are you scoops

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6973 Location: isle of lewis

i phoned a couple of feed companies first ,to get advice on feed routines and what %of protien was in each one ,this works for us but our minerals are different ,no colbalt and selium here ,we can get goat mix but it often runs out ,and they might not be able to get it for a while
same as growers for chickens we cannot normally get that here Wink

Teasal · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:28 pm Post subject:

I have fed my goats on sheep ration with no problems ....and I was informed by the mill where it is bagged that it is in essence the same as goat mix - but about £1 cheaper!!!!

I was moaning at £7.50 a bag, but it sounds like mine is a lot cheaper than some of yours.

We do have to feed quite a bit of hay in winter, because we are 1200ft above sea level here, on the edge of moorland, and the winters can be really cold and snowy. Goats do tend to eat a lot of hay - thats more important than the goat feed.

To anyone new to goat keeping, fibre in the form of grass or hay or equivalent is very important. Always keep the mix or corn feed to a minimum, as if you feed more mix than hay or grass it can cause serious problems, Its always better to be underfeeding mixes than overfeeding.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6973 Location: isle of lewis

good advice Wink

we have just cut some corn from a few plants that i grew ,we grow sweet corn not for the cobs ,but for the roughage they produce large amounts of leaves ,we are also just about to ask my neighbor if i can cut the huge pile of stinging nettles that has been worrying her ,so we can make nettle hay Wink

,i notice before it gets really cold or snows ,the goats go though hay like it's going out of fashion

farmercoop · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:50 pm Post subject:

Hi all, thanks for the replies, anymore are obviously appreciated, i think I'm going to cut down on the concentrate as much and even though they get ad lib hay I'm going to get a few more hay bags around so they have more places to eat it.

can you tell me more about nettle hay suz? we've got loads of nettles around here but the goats don't seem to like them much fresh?

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6973 Location: isle of lewis

cut and dry ,we hang in the poly using baler twine ,a shed will do ,treat it as a crop ,nettles are high in iron , with the hay just to stretch the money Wink

,it's also nice to make a soup out of for your self Wink

debcat · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject:

at the moment mine just get a small scoop of mixed up sheep and goat mix.
They get loads of hay and are outside from morning till night. I leave the door open so they can go in and out as they want
once they go to the billy they'll get alfa a and suger beet as well as more goat/sheep mix