The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: grumpsgarden on March 30, 2012, 04:39:51 pm
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hi my goats have stoped eating there goat mix is there any thing else i can feed them they do eat chopped veg and apples a little sugar beet but nothing else they are not eating hay ether ,im now clueless as what to feed them ,thank you
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What else is going on with them? Age, pregnant, milking?
Mine love ReadiGrass (or JustGrass). They will also eat flaked maize and/ or chicken corn til the cows come home, though the risk of bloat and obesity means they only get a handful a day.
Mine also love branches cut from the hedge (no evergreens).
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If they are outside and eating grass, and they are not pregnant or milked, then they will only need a little sugar beet and vegetables/fruit, so should be fine.
My hay consumption is going down quickly now, goats are outside all day atm.
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they have just started going outside and 1 is in kid due in may and one we are not sure still if she is she will be due in august the other 2 do pig out all day on what ever they find lol and ive got the gurnsey in a field with lambs they have kids with them , so only eating veg and suagr beet is ok
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For the one due in May you should think of slowly increasing her ration, so getting her to eat for example more fruit, bananas, carrots and apples, plus cabbage (if she is not being milked) should get her appetitie going again. You could also try a Co VitB12 drench, I think it worked for one of JK's goats that was off her food for a while. However with branches coming into leaf you have a whole other feeding possibility coming up soon.
If you have your GG in the same field as sheep please watch her worm burden. Goats are a lot more sensitive to worms, and unless you are sure about the worm status of your sheep I would not co-graze goats and sheep at all.
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thank you i will try and up food for the one due to kid , my gg are in the same field as my bottle fed lambs as thats the only field with secure shelter for nightime and wet days when we get them all the animals that can be wormed are upto date ,the lambs are still a little young for worming will they be alright with the lambs
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OK, if it is lambs you had from birth and the pasture is clean you should not have too much of a problem.
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thats good as the gg dont like the other goats and as the gg are lots under weight i moved them away from the other goats to encourge them to eat where i got them from they had been out on grass all winter so dont think they are used to being fed but they are eating there veg and fruit they dont eat sugar beet but they do eat silage over hay so im hoping with some extra veg and fruit they might gain some weight :-\