LOVE this idea! The deep root system of the alfalfa plant allows it to accumulate minerals from the soil, which are then incorporated into the plant. again thank you. Besides our horses we use them with our pigs and chickens. I have only had goats four months and have two 5 month old Nubian doelings and one 6 month old Boer wether. We will be getting two 5 week old and a 9 week old buckling tomorrow. Around here they also cost more then good quality goat feed. I love using alfalfa pellets for my goats, rabbits, pigs, and horse. I have actually been looking for a recipe to make some type of cake/biscuit out of the powdered pellets so that there is no waste. They are due in April. It is extremely rare for adult goats to have a problem with coccidiosis. When I went to see them two or three weeks later, I was horrified! That is a great idea to use them with the goats! Feeds that are high in protein include fishmeal, soya bean meal, cotton seed oil cake meal and brewersâ grains. Because we do not have continuous access to good quality alfalfa hay, we choose to feed good quality grass hay. So whatever you take from the article, be sure to take the part that the pellets are supplementing and not the main diet. Sometimes I sprinkle the little bit of the sweet feed in the minerals and baking soda hoping they get some in this way. About 51% of these are feed processing machines, 28% are hay. I would have estimated at least two bales per week (8 per month) for three ND does, but maybe your hay bales are extra heavy or your goats get a lot of pasture and browse. Will he eventually get used to it? He has pasture as well as Timothy hay and sanfoin hay plus a little bit of COB with powdered probiotic to help his tummy and add weight. So, if your goats are not on pasture, you need to provide them with some type of hay, in addition to the alfalfa pellets. Here is more info on Goats in Winter: https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goats-in-winter/. Hay is the main source of nutrients for goats in non-grazing seasons, or all the time if they dont have access to browse. So all of my goats have been on alfalfa/Bermuda grass hay (compressed bales from TSC), alfalfa pellets and browse since I got them. The goats LOVE it. Alfalfa is therefore a naturally excellent source of good quality protein and is particularly useful for breeding stock and dairy goats where protein requirements are greatest. The size of the feeder is suitable for small pens or birthing goat stalls, being enough for 1-2 goats. This sounds like just what I need. But if you have more than a couple of goats, you won’t have enough crumbs. Alfalfa is one of the best sources of calcium, which means itâs great for fast-growing, young kids (baby goats), does in the last trimester of pregnancy and does in milk. Alfalfa is used extensively in dairy operations where alfalfa helps deliver high protein and calcium needed for heavy milk production. And grain causes urinary stones. Hay and Alfalfa Feeder for Goats with Minimal Waste - G Farm Episode 5 - Duration: 3:56. To make the process of selecting grains easier for novices, there are manufacturers that distribute special mixes that were formulated to be fed to goats. I can try alfalfa cubes, after all, alfalfa is a good feed for ruminants. Early to mid-winter is a time when does should be in early pregnancy. I’m surprised the vet didn’t tell you to stop feeding him grain after surgery. I started using the pellets because of the exact reason…waste! Be prepared for hay waste -- goats like to eat some parts of the hay and let ⦠They don’t seem to care much for anything in there pen except the leaves they can reach. There are various types of hays are available. Some people only have baking soda available for their bucks (not does) because they don’t feed grain to the bucks. Alfalfa hay is the classic here. But they don’t need alfalfa in their daily diet. I want to try them for my laying hens. Wethers and dry does are very easy keepers, so there is no need to try to trick them into consuming minerals or baking soda. Good to know. Tractor Supply carries them. It’s just not working and I’m super concerned especially with winter around the corner. When it comes to new goat owners, more goats die from over-feeding than under-feeding IMO. This choice is good for the digestive system of the pet because it is combined with bacteria cultures. I have been using Standlee Alfalfa pellets with my goats for about 3 years now, great to see them adding an Organic option! I feed only organic feed. They don’t get enough good quality browse to eliminate actual baled hay, and I don’t always have a choice with what kind I feed, but they always seem to have Timothy pellets and beet pulp pellets at TSC. It’s not any different than alfalfa hay when it comes to feeding. My sales contract says I have first right to retrieve my animals. You could mix in a little grain to get them more interested. When I sell a couple of wethers or bucks, I tell the buyers that they can buy a 50# bag of grain and when it’s gone, they don’t need to buy more. I am very happy to hear that someone is making organic pellets especially for goats, but not sure I can source them up in Northern BC where we live. Besides, you can find special hoof trimmers in most farm supply stores. Do you think the sheep would benefit from these. I just introduced the pellets to them recently and they LOVE it, purchased the Standlee, but was recommended the alfalfa and timothy hay mixture as winter is coming and they would need a little extra protein for the cold, although in Las Vegas, our winters are pretty mild compared to other places. Horses evolved as a grazing animal, which means that they are meant to nibble on small amounts of food over the course of an entire day, and most of this food should be in the form of roughage, or hay. Aug 23, 2012 #10 Renegade Overrun with beasties. Year before last we planted a small patch of alfalfa. The outside will fade to brown over a few months, but when you open the bale, it should be mostly green. Colleen, The pellets are actually quite hard and would be impossible to eat without teeth — unless you soak them in water first. If you donât know what perennial peanut hay is, itâs a forage grass hay made out of the Arachis glabrata plant (also known as rhizoma peanut) and has roughly the same nutritional qualities as alfalfa. People just use it to put weight on goats, which should not be the only goal. The only possible problem with too much alfalfa would be too much calcium, which causes zinc deficiency, so if she starts to blow her coat in the middle of winter or foam at the mouth, I’d switch to timothy only. I’m wondering how safe it is to feed the non-organic pellets. It has a lot of calcium in it, which could lead to zinc deficiency because calcium is a zinc antagonist. You don’t usually see that in bucks until they’re a year old or more when they are really mostly done growing. you can add some grains powder or vitamins in your raw materials, I don’t think we are supposed to feed alfalfa to our weathers. Oh, and he’s losing his fur. As a new goat farmer, it may seem overwhelming trying to figure out what you need for proper care of your animals. Alfalfa is what is most readily available here. I heard a lot about alfalfa for milking does in your article, which is what my friend does for her does, and is what my doelings have been on for their whole lives. Milking does can have all the alfalfa they want. They can eat as much as they want. For that reason, Alfalfa hay is a great choice because of itâs higher protein amounts. I think I will try pellets and see if they like them, they seem a lot less messy. If you are asking about sheep, goats, and cattle, the answer is no. Everyone talks about how goats waste hay, but pigs are even worse. We are new to goats and I want yo be sure we feed them correctly. It can be a good choice for feeding milking goats as it has more protein, energy and calcium. Donna My dairy goats are not huge fans of pellets and it maybe due to the larger sized pellets so I would be interested to try these and see if they like them better. If you have a good quality Alfalfa hay that has a ratio within the range of 2:1-5:1 (actually a bit below 6:1) it is FINE to feed to any goat, does, wethers or bucks. We can never be sure all their nutritional requirements are met when they’re free-ranging, however, so we offer hay and alfalfa pellets on a somewhat irregular basis, mainly because they have addictive personalities and will forego their grazing to insist on handouts if we’re not careful. If you are still not sure what goat shed design best fits the space that you have available, take a look at the models that we have selected for you and added in the buying guide that we have prepared on the topic. The tea, which is prepared by using Alfalfa has a very good nutrient content. Even though alfalfa pellets generally cost more than bales of hay, there is zero waste with the pellets. The kids in Glenna’s scenario were probably overweight due to feeding too much grain. Would love to have organic though! I’ve been feeding alfalfa pellets to my Nigerians for the past three years. There is too much calcium, which can bind with zinc and cause a zinc deficiency. Oats are a palatable feedstuff and may be safely included at high levels in the grain ration. All grains are simply seeds. I like to turn my goats out for browsing in the weeds but like to have their bellies full of hay first as a "buffer" in my minds eye. Help! I also give each kid 1/2 a cup and the momma 1 cup of grain in the evening (it’s like a treat). If she had a doe that had never had grain in its life, it did well, but if she tried to take an adult doe off grain, she either lost too much weight or her supply plummeted. He gets 1 cup twice a day — nothing else. A 70-pound bale of alfalfa will feed 50 adult goats. This website is reader-supported. What hay is best for goats? Thrifty Homesteader is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. What brand? The leafy fiber strands are longer than the ones produced by a grass hay. Some people choose to not feed hay during the summer months while their goats are on summer pasture, but at Goat Milk Stuff, our goats get free-choice hay year-round because I want the dry material in their rumens in addition to the wet pasture they are eating. . My goats love alfalfa pellets. However, hoof trimming is not very challenging. . My goats love chaffhaye but in the summer it seems to go bad before we can get through a bag. Equi-analytical laboratories analyze feeds for hay producers as well as horse professionals around the country, and their 10 year averages are a good baseline for nutrition values. They are both 2 and a half years old. Because goats have thin skin and because they do not develop thick coats during the cold season, quality nutrition is essential. Would appreciate it very much We won't send you spam. Lastly do you think we should put a heating lamp inside their sleeping shed during the night for the winter? Pregnant does are fine eating peanut hay because they NEED the calcium in the hay to grow babies. The problem is that modern dairy goats are bred to produce so much milk that does tend to get very skinny without grain. Feed your goats mold free qualified grasses based hay. I’m so bummed about this. What specific mineral do you have available for them? My mini goats, horses and Piggies love the Chaffhaye. Marla Since we live in Hawaii it’s pretty much impossible to get hay (we can grow it, just can’t ever dry it!) By itself, alfalfa is too high in calcium and protein for healthy goats and should be limited to sick, pregnant, or debilitated animals. I gave them to a friend how picked them up. I had my first experience with UC in a 2 year old wether. I hope you are not feeding them grain either, as grain can lead to urinary calculi in male goats. This varies depending on the maturity of the hay or alfalfa and the way that its cured and stored. I currently add alfalfa pellets in their grain when milking. I think my goats would love it. They get alfalfa pellets and COB on the milk stand when in milk plus pasture. If, for any reason, we need to close them up early, we ring the bell and the herd comes running. Another aspect that you should remember is that older goats are more likely to suffer from obesity than younger ones. 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Lethargic, and minerals than grass hays, typically grass but can see they. Is impossible to eat some parts of the hay and occasional goat minerals note, these systems particularly. Should i start giving him 1/2 cup alfalfa pellets or grain to diet!
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