The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: sokel on March 29, 2013, 08:29:49 pm
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Just been working out today how much feed we are going through ::)
we are using just for the goats in a month 3 large round bales of hay , 8 bags of dairy nuts, 5 bags of whole oats, 2 bags of sugar beet, 2 bags of alfalfa, 2 bags of readigrass and 2 round bales of straw and the brewers grains that we get free :o
How much are you all using ?
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how many goatsare you feeding ?
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That seems a lot of feed so interested to know how many mouths you are feeding.
I have 6 adults and their 6 unweaned kids and go through a small bale of hay a day, 2-3 bags of oats, some sugarbeet when I remember to soak it so not much (!) about 2 bags of coarse mix and third of a bag of calf/beef pellets. Mind most of the hay ends up as bedding.
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Just the two goats and get through a bag of coarse mix every three weeks, dairy nuts for one goat lasts a couple of months, sugar beet pellets last three months, just grass lasts two weeks. They also have pony carrots when I can get them and about a bale of hay a week.
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Our main herd is out and gets roughly 6kg beef nuts / sugar beet pellets between 11 adults and 20 kids per day with ad lib hay and grazing. Any more hard feed doesnt seem to suit them.
Our goatlings which are still in get 2kg of beef nuts / sugar beet pellets between 8 per day with ad lib hay.
Our billy who is still in gets about 250g beef nuts with ad lib hay a day.
All goats have access to and are using a mineral bucket / lick aimed for cattle on a high forage system.
When all goats were in were feeding 2 bales of hay a day prior to kidding and about 500g each of beef nuts / sugar beet to does just prior to kidding.
Our bank balance is looking forward to the season improving and all goats being out /weaned and the adults no longer requiring extra feed!
Do goats like brewers grain? how can it be fed ie how much etc?
Thanks
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I am feeding 40+ goats.....all ages...........+2 horses on the following for a week:
1 large sq. bale hay, 5 bags dairy/calf nuts, 2 bags rolled barley, 1 bag calf mix. & Mollichaff Condition or Just Grass.
Your totals would keepmy lot going for 2 weeks.............could you be feedingmore than they need ?
My milkers are high yielders averaging 4-5litres a day.
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I am feeding 11 goats plus 12 kds at the moment. 8 of them are dairy and give high yields, some give over a gallon a day when the kids are taken off them.
If we reduce the amount they get the milk drops.
They love the brewers grains when they are fresh so we collect them every couple of days. when we collect them they are still boiling hot ! normaly give them a scoop full in the bucket every day
when we first started with the brewers grains the yield did go up within a few days
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Are you giving enough in the way of minerals/balancer............goats need a lot of copper / trace elements etc to get the best out of their food.
The Brinicombe Balancer which would vbe delivered to your door..........I found it increased yields & was able to reduce the feed intake (concentrate) by up to 500gms per goat. Might be worth looking on their website for further detail. I find goats waste the blocks so feeding the balance in their feed at least ensured they ate it !!!
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I have 7 and we use a bag of dairy nuts and a bag a of beet nuts a week, plus as much hay as they want. That varies from week to week. Also garden trimmings, cabbages, carrots etc etc.
They have feed blocks too, the sheep ones at the mo but cattle ones next. And the goat balancer :thumbsup:
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I will need to go and work out how many bags of mix we are using just now... But, we are using 1 big round bale of hay every 2-3 weeks, 1 bag of grass every 3 weeks, 1 bag of beet pulp every month. 1 net of carrots every 2 weeks, a box of apples every 2 weeks, and probably equivalent to two nets/boxes of cabbage a fortnight. We use flaked barley, and we probably use 1 bag a week.
We currently have 13 adults and 4 kids. But I will add 3 adults are on minimum rations of a handful of mix and a handful of grass every feed in an effort to keep their weight down..... So really only 10 adults eating appreciable amounts.
Beth
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Mine always seem to be hungry. Is that normal? Every time they see me they are calling. I think I need to get some carrots and veg to give them something else to nibble on other than my fingers! Boy does that hurt.