[langdon]

is it ok to feed goats rolled oats and rolled barley?
app any advice

[Crofter]

Hi

It's certainly OK to feed both to goats but be aware that they are not a balanced diet and the goat will need at least a mineral supplement to go along with them.  You could look up the feed values in Mackenzie's "Goat husbandry" and see how they measure up as a feed.

Hope this helps

Dave

[langdon]

thanks dave for your reply
i mix in with their normal feed half and half.
they are 8 mths is this ratio ok?

[Roxy]

Why do you want to feed oats and barley to your goats, if you don't mind me asking?

I tend to feed a goat mix, but add some of my horses chaff, and female goats get some soaked sugar beet which they love.  If you are giving them the goat mix, that should be fine without the oats and barley.  If you look on the ingredients, goat mix has quite a lot of stuff in it to keep the goats happy enough.

[langdon]

just the same reason as you are giving your extra things which they love.
ours seem to finish it all.
when we first gave it to them we were out of goat mix, and the shop was too!
so i got oats and they love it.
i do know that it is not a balanced diet, i guessed that even before buying it.
i just thought it would be something nice and diff added to their feed.
so there you are roxy!
p.s. thanks for all your advice you give,
let me know your thoughts on this

[Anke]

If your goats are not in kid they only need a very small concentrate ration and lots of hay. I wouldn't feed anymore than is needed, my GG kid/goatling only gets about 100g of soaked sugarbeet and hay. and maybe about 50 g of concentrate, but moving that to every other day only. She is doing fine.

[Roxy]

I agree with Anke about the amount of feed for goats.  Goats need fibre - thats why I include the chaff, which is high in fibre, but they only get a handful of goat mix each, and some of the goats have no mix at all.  But I make sure they have a rack of hay, morning, lunchtime and at night, because they need the fibre.  I learnt very early on in my goat keeping days, not to feed much concentrates.  I had an in kid goat, and she was greedy.  She scoffed her feed, so I gave her a little more.  What I didn't realise was that she was eating her own, and the other nanny goats feed, and not bothering with the hay. After a week, she was really off colour.  Lying in a corner, and then wobbling when she stood up.  I took her to the vet, who said it was because she had too much feed and not enough hay. He said to always give hay in preference to hard feed, and that advice I have followed ever since.

If the shop has run out of goat mix, its ok to feed sheep mix (again in small quantities) and also I give them mixed flakes if I run out of feed. Or indeed cornflakes!!!

In the olden days before mixes for animals, people used to mill, or indeed mix their own feeds, and would include peas, beans, oats etc. to make up a ration.

Personally, I would not feed oats or barley mixed in with goat feed - I may give the oats to the horses if I wanted them to go faster though!!

[ballingall]

We feed a little bit of flaked barley to the goats, but more to the youngstock and male then to the milkers. Barley or oats helps keep them warm, so I try and give them all some when its very cold. We feed a basic sheep mix, but also use some goat mixes for the milkers to help keep the milk up! They all get either veg, beetpulp or alfafa during the day as well, along with hay, and (soone hopefully) grass. 

Do remember Langdon, you don't want your females to get too heavy. Goats store fat around their womb and ovaries, and too fat= they might not get pregnant.

It's one of my mother's constant sources of annoyance that judges like fat, well conditioned goatlings, when generally they are the ones that don't milk as well, or don't even kid at all the following year!

Beth

[RUSTYME]

oats are a very good source of fibre , about 11% , and are a slow release energy feed . One of the main reasons why they were fed to working  horses . You don't want a working horse all fired up and ready to take your head off after it has had it's hard feed , as would be the case if you fed it barley , which is a fast release feed . Oats were fed for their fibre content  also , they help keep the horse regular ,as it were , without risk of colic , (unless you give them silly amounts ? ). Much the same reasons as oats (porridge) are good for humans . Slow release energy , and high fibre content . Barley took over because it is easier to grow in some ways . But is a heating feed , so care is needed if feeding to warm bloods or any horse that is a bit fizzy already. The heating action is also a reason why it is fed to hens to bring them into broody condition . Boiled barley will also put weight on a thin horse, fast. But care is again needed you don't over do it . To feed any straight feed on it's own would risk serious problems . But as a mix , or part of a balanced diet , they are fine . They are after all , what the feed companies make their animal feed out of !!!
 Even only 30 years ago , I worked on farms that never bought in any bagged food at all . All the animal feed was grown on farm , and rolled , ground or milled to suit the feed  required. It was from grinding grain that I got farmers lung !!!   .

cheers

Russ