Feeding your goat
This is what we feed our goats but please adjust or change diet according to your own goat's needs.
We mix into a larger bucket and then feed according to goat's particular needs.
We feed in the morning and evening-no large meals or they can bloat.
Goats should poop small round pellets and if they have clumped poop or diarrhea then they may be eating too much or too much of the wrong feed. Adjust to what your particular goat needs. Some people feed beet pulp shreds as part of their diet.
Goats main diet consists of BROWSE (free ranging on land eating leaves etc. from bushes, trees or weeds and grass. When this is not available or only in small quantities we have to supplement their diets.
HAY is their main supplemental diet!
Always have good quality (mixed) grass hay available at all times for both Does and Bucks. This is their main food source when free roaming browse is unavailable. Alfalfa is apparently too high in protein for males so to be safe we just use mixed grass hay. Never feed moldy hay or it can make your goat sick or die.
DOES:
When a doe is pregnant or in milk you may need to provide additional feed/supplements. This is what we feed ours but you may need to change this according to where you live and what nutrients that your goats have available to them.
- 1 cup Purina Dairy Goat
- 2/3 cup General "All Stock" labeled for goats etc.
- 1/4 cup Alfalfa pellets
- 1/4 cup Black oil sunflower seed
- Always provide a general goat mineral supplement containing copper (a necessity for goats!) even if your goat is free ranging
BUCKS:
If free ranging browse is unavailable you may need to supplement your buck's diet.
- Hay is the main food for bucks
- 2/3 cup General "All Stock" or Goat Pellets
- 1/4 cup Black oil sunflower seed
- Always provide a general goat mineral supplement containing copper (a necessity for goats!) even if your goat is free ranging
We like to add a small amount of Manna Pro *Calf Manna Supplement-see bag for feeding directions
We free feed a general Goat Specific loose Mineral (mineral blocks are only for licking and goats can't bite off chunks so they may not get as much as they need); throwing minerals on top of their food could cause them to ingest more than they need so letting them choose it from a free feeding station seems to work best for our goats; we've heard great things about the *Mineral Buffet for goats but have not had the chance to try it yet. You can find information on line about it.
Always keep a salt block available by the water source for them to lick
Loose Baking Soda Powder is advised as free choice which can help keep a goat from bloating when being fed grain. (There are anti-bloat medications that can be kept on hand in case of severe bloat which is an emergency.)
