What Do I Feed My Goats?

Goats are very adaptable, and your feed will depend a lot on your individual animal's genetics, what is locally available to you, and your goals in keeping goats.

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A goat's natural food is browse. This is shrubbery, broad leaf weeds, grasses, bark, tree leaves, vines, and the like. Goats are not grazers like sheep or cows, but more like deer that prefer weedy, woody, scrubby forage. In ye olde goatherd days, you would move your goats to fresh browse fequently, allowing them to trim up woody areas in terain that sheep and cows would not forage in. These days, however, your neighbors would take umbrage to you rampaging a herd of goats through their yards, so we mimic that system with pasture rotation and forage walks.

Hay

When browse isn't available, hay is a suitable subsitute. Not all hays are the same. The important thing to note is the different in calcium between legume hays, like peanut and alfalfa, and grass hays like orchard and bermuda. Legume hays tend to be higher in calcium (around 4:1) while grass hays tend to be equal in calcium and phosphorus (1:1), with timothy grass hay being slightly higher in calcium than other grasses (2:1). Hay is also higher in nutrients with subsequent cuttings -- a first cut hay is less nutritious than a third cutting even of the same field.

Hay and browse should make up the majority of any goat's diet. Roughly 80-100% of their intake should be in the form of hay or browse.

Grain, Pellets, and Concentrate Feeds

"Grain" is a general term used to refer to any grain based feed, whether is it pelletized, ground, a mixture of grains and seeds, etc. Goat pellet feed, COB (corn, oats, and barley), ground mixtures (mash), seeds and whole grains are all lumped together under the term. Grains are not a natural food available to ye olde goatherd -- they would get comparatively few seeds and ripe grains on forage walks. The greatest danger with grains and particularly with seeds is an imbalanced calcium to phosphorous ratio. When using grain mixes pay careful attention to the balance of the feed, as well as the balance it makes up in the goat's total diet.

Grains should make up 20% or less of a goat's total feed. Not all goats need grains to meet their caloric needs.

Genetics and Your Herd Goals

In the same way that a five foot/1.5 meter tall woman needs fewer calories than a six foot/1.8 meter tall man, different breeds and types of goats need more calories than others. A five foot/1.5 meter woman working an office job also needs fewer calories than a woman of the same height training as an olympic level long distance runner, in the same way that goats doing different jobs needs more calories than others.

I'm going to break this down in very general terms, remember that every animal is different:

Breeds:

Meat Goats - These animals typically need more calories than their dairy and mini counterparts. Bred to put on lots of extra muscle mass, they typically require some concentrate feeds or very high nutrition hay to keep good condition.

Dairy Goats - These animals are typically bred to be slender, and require fewer calories than their meat breed cousins. Dairy animals are bred to put calories towards milk production, not muscle mass, and so over feeding when they are not lactating can cause them to become obese.

Mini Goats - Mini goats are divide into mini meat and mini dairy breeds, but on average require 1/3 the food their full size breed counterparts need. Mini meat goats like the pygmy might be well kept on nutritious hay with an optional small ration of grain, while mini dairy breeds like the ND should be monitored carefully to prevent obesity.

Herd Goals/Caloric Draw

Wethers as pets - These goats typically need the least amount of calories for their breed. They are the "office workers" of the goat world, with very minimal caloric draw.

Wethers as pack animals - These goats need more muscle mass to carry packs on long hikes. When they are expected to "work", they need to be given a gradual increase in calories to meet the demands of their job. Usually pack wethers receive a grain ration to account for these extra calories.

Dry does - Does who are not nursing have much the same needs as a wether pet.

Pregnant does - Does who are pregnant do not typically need extra calories until the last 4-6 weeks before kidding. Kid growth is exponential at this stage and giving a small ration of concentrate feed or very nutritious hay can help provide the calories needed for all that growth.

Nursing does - Lactation takes calories, typically dairy goats and meat goats are fed a concentrate ration when they are nursing/milking. General rule of thumb is 1 pound of feed for every 3 pounds of milk, but this will vary by animal and stage of lactation.

Bucks, not breeding - A buck who is not in rut or not breeding will typically have the same caloric needs as a wether pet or dry doe.

Bucks, breeding - Bucks in rut may need additional calories because they are distracted from eating. A nutritious hay or small ration of grain can be helpful in maintaining condition.

Older goats - Aged goats may have trouble eating enough to sustain themselves on browse alone and may need additional calories from palatable foods like mash. Extremely old goats need to have quality of life balanced with feed preferences -- you wouldn't deny grandma a peice of cake, and you shouldn't your 16 year old wether either

Kids under 6 months - Growing kids of dairy breeds typically do well on a high quality hay and optional small grain ration daily, while meat goat kids and particularly kids bound for the freezer are usually fed a large ration of grain twice a day or even free-fed grain to put on as much bulk as possible.

Why is there so much variation??

Goats are kept all over the world, on hundreds of different feeds, with a huge variation in pasture space and hay. For such an adaptable animal it is difficult to pin down a "one size fits all" feeding regimen. Instead, use the Body Condition Scoring system to determine if your goat needs more or less food. Frequently check BCS and adapt your feed as your animal's needs change.

BCS for dairy goats: https://youtu.be/FC0u1j06y5Y

BCS for meat goats: https://www.sare.org/…/Video-Body-Condition-Scoring-of-Goats

Some additional info on body condition scoring: http://kinne.net/bcs.htm

Calcium to Phosphorus Ratio:

Ca/Phos ratio is of vital importance to goat health, as too much phosphorous can result in urinary calculi. While less common, too much calcium can result in kidney stones. Goats do well with 3 times as much calcium as phosphorous, although they can tolerate as low as 2x calcium and upwards of 4 or 5x calcium. Ca/Phos needs to be analyzed for the *total diet*. That means taking into account your pasture browse (typically 1:1), your hay (alfalfa hay 4:1 for instance) and your grain ration. (most are 2:1, but sunflower seeds for instance are 1:7!)

Here are some examples of balanced diets:

Bobby the wether pet has a large pasture to browse during the day and gets half a flake of alfalfa hay in the evenings.

Minnie the dairy doe gets milked twice a day, she has a grass alfalfa mix hay to eat free choice in her dry lot and gets 2 cups of goat pellet on the milking stand twice a day.

Bruce is a 5 month old kid destined for market, he gets 2 cups of goat pellet in the morning and 2 cups of goat pellet in the evening, as well as free choice alfalfa hay all day.

Here are some examples of imbalanced diets:

Bobby the wether pet has a large pasture to browse during the day, he gets 2 cups of goat pellet mixed with sunflower seeds in the morning and a flake of bermuda hay in the evenings. Bobby's diet is too high in phosphorus and is likely to eventually result in urinary calculi.

Minnie the dairy goat gets milked twice a day, she gets grass hay to eat free choice in her dry lot and a cup of cracked corn on the milking stand twice a day. Minnie's diet is also too high in phosphorous, but more importantly it is low in protein -- corn provides lots of empty calories, but it is hard on the rumen in large doses and it isn't able to provide her with the protein and calcium she needs to keep up her milk production. Minnie is at risk of urinary calculi, but she's also at risk of bloat and acidosis from the large ration of corn and her milk production is not going to be as good as a goat fed a balanced diet.

Bruce is a 5 month old kid destined for market, he gets free choice alfalfa all day but no grain. Bruce isn't likely to make market weight and may suffer poor muscle tone compared to his grain fed peers. If Bruce is kept as a pet companion he may suffer kidney stones later in life.

Do not just look at one feeding, look at the *entire diet*. Check body condition score frequently and adjust based on your animals. Keep ca:phos in mind and balance feed based on what is available in your area.

Remember that in addition to a balanced diet, goats need 24/7 access to fresh clean water and a loose mineral made for goats.