What to feed your goat

=What to Feed Your Goats= By Cheryl K. Smith from Raising Goats For DummiesBefore you get your goats, you need to make sure you have all the feeding equipment they need, as well as a stockpile of food. All goats need certain kinds of feed, but they have differing nutritional requirements depending on their gender and what stage of life they're in.

Goats are browsers, like deer, which means they prefer trees, bushes, and woody weeds; rather than standing still and eating grass down to the roots, they like to stay on the move, eating a bit of this and a bit of that. Goats can learn to graze a pasture, but don't expect it to be "mowed." The grass helps supplement the goats' diet, but low grazing also can spread parasites.

Goats have specific nutritional needs, only some of which are met by the plants on your farm that they browse on. You have to provide feed for the needs that can't be met by browsing. Unless you have a lot of property with a variety of browse, feed will be your biggest expense in raising goats. Don't scrimp on goat feed — it will pay dividends in good health, milk production, and lower veterinary bills.

Feeding hay and alfalfa
Hay is the main source of nutrients for goats in non-grazing seasons, or all the time if they don't have access to browse. Grass hay provides a moderate amount of protein and energy for the goat diet. Legume hays, such as clover and alfalfa, usually have more protein, vitamins, and minerals, particularly calcium, than grass hays. This varies depending on the maturity of the hay or alfalfa and the way that it's cured and stored.

Each goat needs 2 to 4 pounds of hay each day, although some of this need can be met by available pasture or other forage. Make it available free choice throughout the day when pasture is unavailable or feed twice a day when goats are also browsing.

You can feed alfalfa (and some grass hays) in pellet form if you don't have storage or if you want to mix it with grain. The goats don't waste so much alfalfa when it's in pellets, and you can limit who gets it by combining it with their grain.

Using chaffhaye instead of hay and alfalfa
Chaffhaye is forage in a bag and substitutes for hay. To make chaffhaye, producers cut early alfalfa or grass, chop it, mist it with molasses, add the culture bacillus subtillis, and vacuum-pack it into 50-pound bags. The treated hay ferments in the bag, adding good bacteria that's easy for goats to digest. It provides more energy, vitamins, and minerals than dried hay.

Goats need up to 2 pounds of chaffhaye per 100 pounds of body weight when you feed it as an alternative to hay. The nutritional value of one 50-pound bag of chaffhaye is equivalent to an 85- to 100-pound bale of good-quality hay.

Feeding grain
Grain or pelleted grain mixes add protein, vitamins, and minerals to a goat's diet. Some are formulated specifically for goats. Grain options include the following: Goat Glossaryabscess An inflamed collection of pus caused by bacteria.
 * Whole grain: This is the whole, unprocessed grain seed head.
 * Pelleted grain: A product made from grain or grain byproducts milled into small pieces and then made into pellets by adding a binding agent.
 * Rolled grain: Nutritionally identical to whole grain, rolled grain is simply rolled so that it's flat.
 * Texturized grain: Similar to rolled grain, texturized feed mixes usually have other ingredients added to improve nutrition.

Goat Glossarybrood doe A female goat that is kept for breeding purposes.

Goat Glossarybuck A male goat.

Goat Glossarybuckling A young male goat.

Goat Glossarycannon bone The shin bone.

Goat GlossaryCaseous lymphadenitis CLA A highly contagious disease caused by a bacterium, Cornybacterium pseudotuberculosis.

Goat Glossarychaffhaye Roughage that has the added benefit of containing good bacteria that aid in digestion.

Goat Glossarychine The are of a goat's spine directly behind the withers.

Goat Glossarycolostrum A rich, immune-system-boosting fluid that kids need during their first days after birth.

Goat Glossaryconformation The correctness of the body structure as compared to the ideal standard.

Goat Glossarydam A goat's mother.

Goat Glossarydoe A female goat.

Goat Glossarydoeling A young female goat.

Goat Glossaryenterotoxemia A disease also called overeating disease because it comes about when a goat eats too much grain, lush grasses, or milk.

Goat Glossaryescutcheon The area between the back legs, where the udder lies in a doe.

Goat Glossaryforeudder attachment Attachment of the front of the udder by the belly.

Goat Glossaryfoundation stock The stock you start your breeding program with.

Goat Glossaryfreshen To produce milk.

Goat Glossaryfuzzy goat show A goat show held in the early spring in a part of the country where the weather is still cold; you only need to do minimal clipping.

Goat Glossaryhypocalcemia Often called milk fever, this is a deficiency of calcium in the blood that arises when a doe doesn’t get enough calcium in her diet to support her needs and the needs of her unborn kids.

Goat Glossaryketosis A metabolic imbalance that usually goes hand-in-hand with hypocalcemia. It is caused when a goat doesn’t get enough energy because she has stopped eating.

Goat Glossarykid A goat less than a year old.

Goat Glossarymastitis An inflammation of the udder, often caused by bacteria.

Goat Glossarymedial ligament The attachment in the back that runs between the two halves of the udder.

Goat Glossarymilk stand A piece of equipment that a goat stands on with her head secured.

Goat Glossarypannier A pair of baskets or bags designed to carry loads on the backs of pack animals.

Goat Glossarypasteurization The heating of milk to destroy bacteria and other harmful organisms.

Goat Glossarypolled Naturally hornless.

Goat Glossaryprecocious milker A doe that has udder development and milk production without kidding.

Goat Glossaryregistered goat A goat that meets the standards of appearance for its breed and is recorded in the herdbook of the goat association for that particular breed. A registered goat usually is a purebred but may be a crossbreed (called an American or an Experimental).

Goat Glossaryrolag A cylindrical roll of wool or fleece that is used to spin yarn.

Goat Glossaryroving A long strand of ready-to-spin carded fiber.

Goat Glossaryruminant An animal that has a stomach with four compartments and chews cud as part of the digestive process.

Goat Glossaryscours The term that livestock owners use to talk about diarrhea in their animals.

Goat Glossarysire A goat's father; the act of fathering a goat.

Goat Glossarystifle joint The equivalent of a knee in a goat.

Goat Glossarythurl The hip joint, usually referred to in relation to the levelness between the thurls.

Goat Glossarywether A castrated male goat.

Goat Glossarywithers The area of a goat's spine where the shoulder blades meet at the base of the neck.

Goat Glossaryyearling A goat that is between one and two years old.


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