Chat
06-09-2015, 08:52 AM
Your goats are beautiful. The all brown one almost looks like a deer.
I feed alfalfa pellets to my old goat, but no one else gets them except as a little treat from time to time. I've never fed calf manna, so no experience there... sorry. I give grain to my girls but largely avoid it with the boys unless they start to get thin during a growth spurt. I don't have a ton of experience, but don't think an all-natural diet is detrimental to their growth. They may not grow quite as fast up front, but they always seem to catch up. My old Cuzco never got anything but pasture browse in summer and grass hay in winter and he's thirteen years old and going strong. He grew 38" tall and weighs 200 lbs., so I don't think he's stunted.
I'm raising all my current boys on just pasture and they are all in good weight with sleek coats, strong hooves, and bright eyes. They'll get alfalfa and grass hay come winter, but nothing but pasture till then. One thing you don't want to do is accidentally make your boys too fat. Too fat is as dangerous to their health as too thin. You should be able to feel ribs but not see them. Don't push the calories unless they look like they actually need them.
I feed alfalfa pellets to my old goat, but no one else gets them except as a little treat from time to time. I've never fed calf manna, so no experience there... sorry. I give grain to my girls but largely avoid it with the boys unless they start to get thin during a growth spurt. I don't have a ton of experience, but don't think an all-natural diet is detrimental to their growth. They may not grow quite as fast up front, but they always seem to catch up. My old Cuzco never got anything but pasture browse in summer and grass hay in winter and he's thirteen years old and going strong. He grew 38" tall and weighs 200 lbs., so I don't think he's stunted.
I'm raising all my current boys on just pasture and they are all in good weight with sleek coats, strong hooves, and bright eyes. They'll get alfalfa and grass hay come winter, but nothing but pasture till then. One thing you don't want to do is accidentally make your boys too fat. Too fat is as dangerous to their health as too thin. You should be able to feel ribs but not see them. Don't push the calories unless they look like they actually need them.