Official SS Goat Thread

[Blackbird]

I was hoping you would post about that Monique!

That is exactly what I was thinking about the corn oil (See, you've taught me well )

I don't even know what wheat bran IS. Isn't that a cereal??

 

[cmjust0]

"...1 bucket of beet pulp is optional if you feel they need it, just don't feed beet pulp to the boys..."

Curious...why would you not feed beet pulp to a male?

 

[Blackbird]

Notice that is something I quoted from another breeder. I would have to ask her to get her personal opinion on it. I have never fed beet pulp to a goat so I would not know.

Also, Cmjust, I remember you saying something on BYH about 'red is dead' when speaking about minerals. I don't remember all of what you said, but I was wondering if you would share what you know about feeding goats minerals? I am quite interested

 

[freemotion]

That's all great info you guys. Now you just need to go over to the rabbit thread and post feeding info over there. I hate buying rabbit pellets, but all the reference books I have read say ONLY FEED PELLETS!

Free, do you keep a constant supply of grain sprouting, or can you, say, sprout enough at once for a couple weeks and keep them in the fridge? Do you sprout them just like bean sprouts?

Hm, I wonder how on earth wild rabbits survive without pellets? I can't say anything about that, though, since I don't have rabbits at this time. I may explore meat rabbits in the future, but not this year. I have enough on my plate for new projects right now. I remember giving our meat rabbits hay and oats and veggie scraps from the grocery store, though, when I was a teen. We lived in farm country and picked the bales up right off the field for $0.45 per bale (boy, do I feel old! ) and brought our own bags and barrels to the farmer at harvest time and stocked up on whole oats for the year.

I do keep a constant supply of grain sprouting. I have two buckets that have holes drilled in them for rinsing, and one without for the first 24 hour soak. I can fit four big scoops (ummmm....two quart scoop? Three? I feed by condition of each animal, not by a chart or a list in a book, so I have a series of scoops and go by that here.) If I am feeding more animals grain, I have all three buckets going....one soaking, one sprouted, and one not yet quite sprouted. It varies. For example, my buck was just sold and my chickens are getting a lot from free-ranging suddenly, so my usage just dropped. So right now I have one bucket soaking and one bucket just about to sprout, and a handful left in the sprouted bucket, but everyone is fed for today. So I will feed from the almost-sprouted bucket tomorrow.

I have found, from my experimenting, that the bigger the sprouts, the more the goats can tolerate without getting dog poo. So if someone needs more condition, I try to favor them with the more sprouted grains, and if I get low, I just feed less if the grain is less sprouted. Am I making sense?

 

[justusnak]

I have found, from my experimenting, that the bigger the sprouts, the more the goats can tolerate without getting dog poo. So if someone needs more condition, I try to favor them with the more sprouted grains, and if I get low, I just feed less if the grain is less sprouted. Am I making sense?

Yup. clear as mud! LOL
I really dont get all this...guess I am about as dense as oak here in the noggin. Where do you get the grains? My feed store doesnt sell them...unless they are coated in molasses.

 

[freemotion]

Wish I remember where I wrote details about this....call around to all the feed stores and see who sells or can get whole grains for you. Oats, barley, and corn are the most common. Forget TSC, they only have whole corn. I have to get barley when I go up North to farm country. I can get whole oats locally.

Depending on where you live, you might be able to buy them directly from the farmer, especially if you explain what you are trying to do, express your frustration with what is available, and offer to pay what you would at the feed store. Then buy as much at one time as you can possibly store, and don't bug the farmer for each and every 50 lb sack. Expect to buy it by the bushel, too, which varies in weight from grain to grain and from lot to lot. I have been collecting galvanized trash cans over the past few years so now I can buy about 7-800 lbs at once and store it.

When you talk to the feed store people, expect to be argued with. They love to tell you how you will be killing all your animals.

Always switch feeds gradually for any animals. Chickens need three weeks to develop the crop strength to handle whole grains.

 

[justusnak]

Hey Free....I can get cracked corn..as a matter of fact, I will be getting a pallett of 50 pound bags...cracked corn, for $1.00 a bag! So can I use that as well? For the sheep and goats? I mean, along with the other grains, provideing I can find them?

 

[freemotion]

I don't feed corn to my goats, but I would certainly feed $1 cracked corn to my chickens as up to half their ration if I could get it! Just make sure it is not moldy at that price.... I wouldn't bother soaking it if you have other grains to add to their ration. You can sprout the other grains and then feed it half/half with the corn, feed it on the ground. Never put dampened grain in a hopper feeder, always on the ground for chickens.

 

[Blackbird]

We haven't noticed a whole lot of difference between feeding pellets and oats to rabbits. A form of hay, grass, and/or alfalfa mix is always fed to them as well, which should be the mainstay of their diet. I am down to only three rabbits now, versus the 30+ from when I used to show and breed. A retired mini-lop pair, and a nice large meaty doe that I might either butcher or find a male for. Haven't decided.

When I used to show I always made sure I started mixing pellets with the oats a couple days before, that way when I was at the show and they were eating pellets I wouldn't have anyone tell me I was feeding 'the wrong food', which has happened before. Of course, the judges and other people showing never new the difference, they usually placed well.

 

[ksalvagno]

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1957

Here is the link to the thread on BYH about loose minerals.