The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: angie on October 18, 2016, 09:36:00 pm
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I have two gg kids that are coming up to seven months old. One is bottle fed twice a day but now starting to ween her,the other one has been suckling from mum but is now being weened by mum.
They have field browse,tree browse and ablib hay,they also have cabbage,lettuce and banana as a treat,should I be also giving them hard feed?
If so what and how much?
Many thanks for reading this.
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They should have had some hard feed from about 4 to 5 weeks at the latest - I presume they did pick at the food from their dam?
If not - start with small quantities of preferably 18% protein calf mix (or if you feed the nanny on goat mix then just continue with that). Cannot give any amounts as to how much, just see how it goes, observe them eating as well not that one bullies the other out of the way, eats all the food and then goes down with enterotoxeamia...
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Thank you Anka
Have had the kids since June, plenty of advice given about feeding mum but no mention about feeding the kids. The goat books I've read don't cover giving hard feed to them either.
Glad I have gained the information I need on this site.
Mum has coarse calf mix and beet. Would that be ok for them?
The kid that has been feeding from mum is a lot bigger than her sister, have a feeling that I will need to keep an eye on her weight.
Should I feed small amounts several times a day or just twice a day?
Again many thanks for your help and advice.
Angie
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I feed all my goats 3x per day, but that is because I am around during the day. If you can 3x per day is better, but twice a day (morning and evening) is fine too.
Whatever mum is getting is fine for the kids too - I suspect the kid on the dam was taking some hard feed - do hey share a pen?
Unless you want to milk the mother I would just leave the kid with her - she will be weaned when mum decides she has had enough. If the other kid is quite a lot smaller I would continue with milk for (only if feeding proper goatsmilk though, not replacer), maybe a bottle last thing at night?
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Sounds like you have had some good advice already. However, this is how we rear our GG's along side our boer goats - they run together. The kids have access to hard feed from mums bowl from word go. Creep feeder introduced at 2-3 weeks old. Even if bottle fed they are weaned at 12 weeks old. Creep given ad lib upto about 16 weeks. Then fed with rest of the herd once per day. All the herd fed to condition - allow about 250g per day for the doe kids. The GG kids are not thin! They have ad lib grazing as are out in fields with pig arcs as shelter - last few weeks have added hay in hay feeder to supplement their grazing too. Our male gg kid is fed about 500g had feed. The creep is calf creep - then as older fed cattle reare / grower - both 18%.
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Thank you every one for your advice.
Mum and kids have free access to their shed,field and hay feeder inside shed,they are all together. I have been milking mum since I got her which has enabled me to be able to give bottle fed kid her mums milk. Mum has more or less weened the other kid as I am now getting around 2lt a day.
I will start feeding them the hard feed three times a day as my oh can feed them when I am at work.
Angie
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As we have recently acquired 3 5 month old kids I am following this thread. I have been feeding a mixed livestock mix as this is what they were fed on original home ..... I see you feed calf/cattle feed what is the reason for this... cost?
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As we have recently acquired 3 5 month old kids I am following this thread. I have been feeding a mixed livestock mix as this is what they were fed on original home ..... I see you feed calf/cattle feed what is the reason for this... cost?
Both - cost (cattle feed, especially dairy nuts, are a lot cheaper than special goat mixes) and also goats need copper, which is usually absent from sheep mixes/nuts and also (for some bizarre reason) from goat mixes - I think often the goat mixes are just sheep mixes in a different bag and a couple of pounds added for the "goat"...
However all this depends on a) how many goats you have and b) if you have other livestock too (like sheep or cattle). And what you can get locally, if you are feeding for maximum production and what the goats like! (Some of my original GG's would not touch dairy nuts, as they had been on a mix all their life before coming to me...). GG's are in my experience a lot fussier than my BT's...
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As we have recently acquired 3 5 month old kids I am following this thread. I have been feeding a mixed livestock mix as this is what they were fed on original home ..... I see you feed calf/cattle feed what is the reason for this... cost?
Both - cost (cattle feed, especially dairy nuts, are a lot cheaper than special goat mixes) and also goats need copper, which is usually absent from sheep mixes/nuts and also (for some bizarre reason) from goat mixes - I think often the goat mixes are just sheep mixes in a different bag and a couple of pounds added for the "goat"...
However all this depends on a) how many goats you have and b) if you have other livestock too (like sheep or cattle). And what you can get locally, if you are feeding for maximum production and what the goats like! (Some of my original GG's would not touch dairy nuts, as they had been on a mix all their life before coming to me...). GG's are in my experience a lot fussier than my BT's...
Agree with the above - copper levels in goat feed have been reviewed by EC and recommendations for max inclusion have gone / are to go up.
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Ok so I'm getting this slowly.... I have 2 options
feed a general purpose mix and have a mineral block (with copper) available. Or give a cattle nut which has copper included.
I usually have a general purpose mix here to keep both cattle and sheep friendly ... so think that may be better route.
How much copper should be in a goat mix for it to be OK?
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You can also supplement with minerals in feed, either caprivite or premium goat balancer can be added to their feeds to keep copper etc balanced. I also bolus my goats with cosecure boluses to make sure they have slow release copper, selenium and cobalt which helps as well. Others also use red Rockies which are licks with added copper (so again keep away from sheep) and the goats can choose to get more as they require it.