We get a lot of questions about how we manage our goat herd. The first thing to address when looking at a herd's management is their nutritional needs. While the following information gives some insight into our practices, please know that just because something works well here does not mean it will have the same result at the different heard. You will find different advice and opinions regarding goat care. There is no "one-size-fits-all" for goat management!
What we feed:
Our goats get a fresh supply of great quality well water ( our well is 750ft. deep and we have ZERO iron in our well, tested on regular basis with whole house filtration system) with a splash of organic apple cider vinegar or Kombusha tea vinegar for does which I am making and just plain fresh water as well. Entire herd get free choice organic kelp, sodium bicarbonate as a rumen buffer , cobalt salt, Himalayan pink salt and goats minerals- Zinpro, Right Now Onyx mineral supplement, Sweetlix 16:8 Meat Maker. We used to only offer Sweetlix minerals, but after we added 2 different minerals we noticed that some goats are only eating particular ones. Our goats have access to their pasture that include some area with maple, oak and hickory woods where they love to go snacking.
We feed all of our goats Orchard grass and alfalfa hay, we also feed pumpkins seeds and Lespedeza pellets, which is great for treatment of worms while providing high quality effective forage. you can find more information about Lespedeza https://www.wormx.info/single-post/2018/06/19/Sericea-Lespedeza-and-Worm-Control
Goat kids:
We bottle-feed goat kids on heat treating colostrum and pasteurized milk.
Kent 18% Show Goat Developer Medicated
https://kentfeeds.com/show-feeds/goat/show-kid-developer-20r
Bucks:
Blue Seal Meat Goat Grow & Finish DC pellets- Medicated- 16%
http://blueseal.com/files/feeding-and-mgmt/goat-sheep-llama/811-meat-goat-grow-and-finish-dc.pdf
Does:
Our does are fed a mix of Blue Seal Premium Dairy Goat Pellets,Blue Seal Caprine Challenger, Blue Seal EZ Pells, Steamed Flaked Barley, Oats, Flax seeds, Pumping seeds,Black Oil Sunflower seeds, field peas, alfalfa pellets, lespedeza pellets.
What we feed:
Our goats get a fresh supply of great quality well water ( our well is 750ft. deep and we have ZERO iron in our well, tested on regular basis with whole house filtration system) with a splash of organic apple cider vinegar or Kombusha tea vinegar for does which I am making and just plain fresh water as well. Entire herd get free choice organic kelp, sodium bicarbonate as a rumen buffer , cobalt salt, Himalayan pink salt and goats minerals- Zinpro, Right Now Onyx mineral supplement, Sweetlix 16:8 Meat Maker. We used to only offer Sweetlix minerals, but after we added 2 different minerals we noticed that some goats are only eating particular ones. Our goats have access to their pasture that include some area with maple, oak and hickory woods where they love to go snacking.
We feed all of our goats Orchard grass and alfalfa hay, we also feed pumpkins seeds and Lespedeza pellets, which is great for treatment of worms while providing high quality effective forage. you can find more information about Lespedeza https://www.wormx.info/single-post/2018/06/19/Sericea-Lespedeza-and-Worm-Control
Goat kids:
We bottle-feed goat kids on heat treating colostrum and pasteurized milk.
Kent 18% Show Goat Developer Medicated
https://kentfeeds.com/show-feeds/goat/show-kid-developer-20r
Bucks:
Blue Seal Meat Goat Grow & Finish DC pellets- Medicated- 16%
http://blueseal.com/files/feeding-and-mgmt/goat-sheep-llama/811-meat-goat-grow-and-finish-dc.pdf
Does:
Our does are fed a mix of Blue Seal Premium Dairy Goat Pellets,Blue Seal Caprine Challenger, Blue Seal EZ Pells, Steamed Flaked Barley, Oats, Flax seeds, Pumping seeds,Black Oil Sunflower seeds, field peas, alfalfa pellets, lespedeza pellets.