Total newbie with probably a silly, no brainer question...

What breed of goat do you have

  • Alpine

    Votes: 5 19.2%

  • Boer

    Votes: 5 19.2%

  • Nigerian

    Votes: 14 53.8%

  • Nubian

    Votes: 7 26.9%

  • Lamancha

    Votes: 4 15.4%

  • Pygmy

    Votes: 6 23.1%

  • Fainting

    Votes: 1 3.8%
  • Total voters
    26
samssimonsays

samssimonsays

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BUT I do not know the answer so, here it goes! Laugh if you must but this is a real question...

I am adding in two beautiful BABY Alpine goats at the end of May (one may be an alpinexboer), they will be weaned then. What are the dietary needs for a growing alpine doe x2. Like hay, what should I feed, supplements and general needs for their growth and health with minimal waste. I want to do this up right y'all :) I want to get everything set up before bringing home babies. We have to wait until the frost is out of the ground to do a fence and their building but at least I can research feeds and get any supplements they will need as well as the supplies we need to build their pen. I am not doing anything fancy, just basic. Once I get the basics down in the first year I hope to add in a couple more babies next year :)
 
Southern by choice

Southern by choice

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Goat feed 16% with a Calcium Phosphorus ratio of 2:1 or greater.
Loose Minerals (I like Manna pro)
Grass Hay- Orchard. Alfalfa, Timothy, ... there are many hays available and some are not available in some regions yet prevalent in others.

Simple is best.

I would ask the breeder for either some of their feed so you can mix it if you prefer something else. Ask for some hay too (be prepared to buy a bale) for the same reason. Look closely at what the breeder suggests for a feeding program, ask lots of questions.

Congratulations on your new goats! Great choice. LOVE an ALPINE!

We do not do any sweet feeds but many do... something to look at.
 
samssimonsays

samssimonsays

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Southern by choice said:
Goat feed 16% with a Calcium Phosphorus ratio of 2:1 or greater.
Loose Minerals (I like Manna pro)
Grass Hay- Orchard. Alfalfa, Timothy, ... there are many hays available and some are not available in some regions yet prevalent in others.

Simple is best.

I would ask the breeder for either some of their feed so you can mix it if you prefer something else. Ask for some hay too (be prepared to buy a bale) for the same reason. Look closely at what the breeder suggests for a feeding program, ask lots of questions.

Congratulations on your new goats! Great choice. LOVE an ALPINE!

We do not do any sweet feeds but many do... something to look at.
Click to expand...



Oh yes! Gosh... so many things I do for my rabbits and pups but never thought to with these guys as well... OOPS! And this is why I ask before! Thank you :) I have a note book started for all of this information... I took down the equation for how much hay they need a day for maintenance only not growing or anything else and hopefully will be purchasing hay from them or their neighbors. My rabbits eat hay like no other so I go through a TON of it with 17 rabbits weighing between 10 and 16 pounds. The building we will be making for the goats will also double as hay storage for both. Since my rabbits can't have alfalfa could I stick solely with orchard or timothy hays? Or do goats, or baby goats NEED alfalfa occasionally?
 
samssimonsays

samssimonsays

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Will I need to clip their coats? I have a friend near by that does farrier work and I can hire her to do hooves or teach me to. I live in Northern Minnesota, a side from the babies, should I invest in goat coats for the adults? The lady I am getting them from keeps collars on them at all times and I would like something like that but don't know if halters or collars are the way to go? We will most likely be making our own goat milking stand next year when they get a bit older and I would add in the milking pumps probably closer to actually getting milk... If that is the way I want to go. The more I read the more confused I get... and the more I have questions. I know the same thing doesn;t work for everyone and climate accounts for a lot of it.
 
animalmom

animalmom

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Just curious as to why your rabbits cant have alfalfa. My rabbits (AlTex mixes weighing 14+ lbs) love the stuff, can't get enough of it and since the goats eat the alfalfa leaves and pretty much leave the stems I get double use of each bale of alfalfa. Both sets of animals waste the hay or alfalfa, and not having opposable thumbs is a bummer, but it is nice to think that both groups get their fair share.

Other than that, taint no such thing as a silly question cause if'n you are thinking it so is someone else. You are going to really love your goaties. I'd keep things simple the first year, but definitely get you a milking stand, purchased or home built. Milking stand is really truly a necessity for more than just milking. A stand makes giving shots and trimming hooves sooooooo much easier than tying the goat to a fence. You can learn how to trim hooves and the more often you get your girls on the stand and trim the hooves the better they will behave on the stand... as they come to realize you are not intent on killing them, silly goaties. I keep collars on my goats all the time as I find it helpful to have something to hold on to. Some folks don't keep collars on because they are concerned about the goat getting caught on things, like fencing. I like to use halters on goats that are having a difficult time learning how to walk on a lead; not that they are hard headed, no not my goaties. I call it the "blue halter of shame". They get the idea pretty quickly.

Regarding milking, just a suggestion, when you actually get around to milking and if you only have two goats to do then at least for a while just milk by hand. It is a good way for your hands to learn each doe's udder. If you find yourself with more goaties then you would need to consider your time, the amount of milk, and your finances to determine if you want to go with some type of milk pump.

I've been using a hand pump for 4 years now and am pleased with its performance. I milk 6 does a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. Again it is time vs money vs amount of milk and then make a personal decision. The hand pump gets most of the milk and then I still have to do a final stripping to ensure I got it all, greedy little woman that I am.

I'd imagine those BYHers who live in the North and Canada would be able to help you with questions about goat coats. Seems to me, she who lives where if it gets to 20 degrees it is cold and when it dips to the teens starts wondering how she offended the good Lord so much that He moved the Great State of Texas north, that if you have a good shelter that blocks the wind you might be just fine. You can always hang a heat lamp for babies or make them a warming barrel -- directions are somewhere on BYH.

Don't worry about reading and getting confused. Just read more! It is ok, there's always something that confuses me that I eventually get unconfused from only to find something else. Life... it is a learning process.

Good luck with your Alpines! They will be a lot of fun if you let them.
 
samssimonsays

samssimonsays

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animalmom said:
Just curious as to why your rabbits cant have alfalfa. My rabbits (AlTex mixes weighing 14+ lbs) love the stuff, can't get enough of it and since the goats eat the alfalfa leaves and pretty much leave the stems I get double use of each bale of alfalfa. Both sets of animals waste the hay or alfalfa, and not having opposable thumbs is a bummer, but it is nice to think that both groups get their fair share.

Other than that, taint no such thing as a silly question cause if'n you are thinking it so is someone else. You are going to really love your goaties. I'd keep things simple the first year, but definitely get you a milking stand, purchased or home built. Milking stand is really truly a necessity for more than just milking. A stand makes giving shots and trimming hooves sooooooo much easier than tying the goat to a fence. You can learn how to trim hooves and the more often you get your girls on the stand and trim the hooves the better they will behave on the stand... as they come to realize you are not intent on killing them, silly goaties. I keep collars on my goats all the time as I find it helpful to have something to hold on to. Some folks don't keep collars on because they are concerned about the goat getting caught on things, like fencing. I like to use halters on goats that are having a difficult time learning how to walk on a lead; not that they are hard headed, no not my goaties. I call it the "blue halter of shame". They get the idea pretty quickly.

Regarding milking, just a suggestion, when you actually get around to milking and if you only have two goats to do then at least for a while just milk by hand. It is a good way for your hands to learn each doe's udder. If you find yourself with more goaties then you would need to consider your time, the amount of milk, and your finances to determine if you want to go with some type of milk pump.

I've been using a hand pump for 4 years now and am pleased with its performance. I milk 6 does a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. Again it is time vs money vs amount of milk and then make a personal decision. The hand pump gets most of the milk and then I still have to do a final stripping to ensure I got it all, greedy little woman that I am.

I'd imagine those BYHers who live in the North and Canada would be able to help you with questions about goat coats. Seems to me, she who lives where if it gets to 20 degrees it is cold and when it dips to the teens starts wondering how she offended the good Lord so much that He moved the Great State of Texas north, that if you have a good shelter that blocks the wind you might be just fine. You can always hang a heat lamp for babies or make them a warming barrel -- directions are somewhere on BYH.

Don't worry about reading and getting confused. Just read more! It is ok, there's always something that confuses me that I eventually get unconfused from only to find something else. Life... it is a learning process.

Good luck with your Alpines! They will be a lot of fun if you let them.
Click to expand...


Oh thank you! Since I have never owned anything with hooves I am totally in the dark on what are necessities and what can be added later. We do have wolves near us and known cougar sightings so having a sturdy building to lock them up in until getting an LGD would be something that is a must for me. I can pen them in my rabbit barn no issue aside from it blocking my center aisle and having to climb over things to reach rabbit cages :/ We have a collie who is learning her protection skills on her own (just turned one)... and a St. Bernard/Great Pyr mix (just turned 6 months) who is , you could say not the brightest bulb. We love him to death but he is no LGD nor do we have hopes of him ever being one... My rabbit may be a better one sadly... BUT he is big, with a little bark but BIG almost 80#s at 6 months old. He got all the bernard qualities as his siblings are all great LGD's or home protectors... It came naturally to them all. Not our boy :) He pees a little and hides behind mom (me) when a squirrel chatters, car engine revs up and so on. I plan on adding a sibling of his from this years litter to be the LGD. This time I hope to get a more dominant one ;)

I never thought about getting them used to a stand before having to start milking. And I really like the idea of having a collar on... I would probably go as far as having dog tags on them as a JUST IN CASE measure.... I am weird like that. Hoping to have hog wire so as they can not fit through or climb it. I actually don't know if my girls will have horns or not, the lady had some of both but most of the horned goats were boer crosses? which is one I was looking at from her as well.

As for the Alfalfa, the calcium level is too much for my guys. Since they are show rabbits and not meat it builds up in their urine and can cause urinary issues. By rule of thumb I will only feed alfalfa when it is double digits below zero because it does beef mine up a lot more with the added steam rolled oats, BOSS and calf manna added into their feed. But I don't feed anything over 6 months old Alfalfa due to the calcium. So I try to avoid giving it as much as possible. Some of it mixed in with my timothy is ok but not in major quantities.
 
Hens and Roos

Hens and Roos

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no such thing as a silly question ;) everyone is great about helping out as you can see from the posts so far!

just something to remember is that goats are just like chicken math :lol:
 
Pearce Pastures

Pearce Pastures

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I caution folks on feeding sweet feeds, salt blocks, sulfur, or hard mineral blocks. Simple is usually best--grass hay, water, minerals.

Beyond that, you might think about what they will have access to eat aside from what you provide. Here is a link to a list of potentially dangerous plants that you should avoid feeding your goats.

In general, avoid letting them have rhubarb, azalea/rhododendron, and yews. Take a look around where they will be and note the types of plants growing. Many of the items on the list require the goat to eat a lot of before they would have an issue, so if you see there might be a problem with say TONS of milkweed, you might work to reduce it.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/goatlist.html
 
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