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- #11
sawfish99
Loving the herd life
And Welcome to BYH!
Countryside feed
- Thread starter sawfish99
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OneFineAcre
Herd Master
That's quite the testimonial.faithfarmgoats said:
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
How many goats do you have?sawfish99 said:
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- #14
sawfish99
Loving the herd life
We have 5 does in milk, 4 wethers from this spring (already sold but not yet picked up), 5 doelings from this spring being retained, 3 bucks, and about to buy another yearling. So right now 17 goats, but next week it will be 14. The milkers consume the majority of the feed.
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- #15
sawfish99
Loving the herd life
Faithfarmgoats - do you keep any bucks? If so, are you supplementing them with anything to prevent urinary calcium since the Countryside feed isn't medicated?
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- #16
sawfish99
Loving the herd life
Just in case anyone finds this thread, I thought I would update our experience. We used the Countryside feed for 3 months on goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs, and 1 horse (a TB that needed to gain weight).
Over the past 7 days, we have had 7 rabbits die – 3 that were 11.5 weeks old and 4 that were breeding does, currently raising litters. While we cannot prove that the feed is the source of the problem, a preliminary necropsy concluded liver damage, most likely from a toxin. The deaths were not consistent with coccidia. We have lost over $350 in rabbits already. This morning we emptied every feeder in the rabbitry and dumped about 20lbs of feed into the compost.
Additionally, we have to face an economic reality. We have been using this feed for 3 months. I now have enough data to understand the full extent of the cost. For our goats, our milk production is about 30% lower than it was at this point last year. The cost per gallon of milk on commercial feed was about $4.50/gal. The cost on countryside is over $10/gal.
Because we started to see deaths in the rabbits last week, we decided to go ahead and slaughter all the rabbits that were 12 weeks old. The rabbits should have been 4.7-5lbs. Instead, most were under 4 lbs. The package meat used to cost us around $3.75/lb to raise. On Countryside, our cost was about $11.50/lb and would have gone even higher as we raised the rabbits longer. In particular, the live
ackaged weight ratio on commercial feed has hovered around 50-55%. On the countryside, it was 42% and the guts were all sloshy with high water content in the intestines. Now, with the conclusion of liver damage, we have been advised to throw away all the meat that was processed due to potential contamination of the meat. That adds over $200 of loss to the total.
When we started on this, I had discussions with the owner of Countryside about the Cah ratio in the goat feed. Today, while talking with him about the rabbit problems, I asked for updated analysis on the goat feed and rabbit feed. The mixture has not been changed in the goat feed and the Cah ratio is still more than 50% lower than any commercial feed. The volume of ground meal and fine particles in the goat chow is so significant, some of the goats start coughing whenever they eat it. We also identified copper deficiency in our goats about 1 month after changing the feed and there is no data in their feed analysis about selenium content.
Bottom line, after experimenting for 3 months and spending over $1000/mo on the feed, we have to stop. It doesn’t make economical sense and I am concerned about a number of other areas. While we would like to support what they stand for, I am no longer willing to accept the risk for our farm.
Over the past 7 days, we have had 7 rabbits die – 3 that were 11.5 weeks old and 4 that were breeding does, currently raising litters. While we cannot prove that the feed is the source of the problem, a preliminary necropsy concluded liver damage, most likely from a toxin. The deaths were not consistent with coccidia. We have lost over $350 in rabbits already. This morning we emptied every feeder in the rabbitry and dumped about 20lbs of feed into the compost.
Additionally, we have to face an economic reality. We have been using this feed for 3 months. I now have enough data to understand the full extent of the cost. For our goats, our milk production is about 30% lower than it was at this point last year. The cost per gallon of milk on commercial feed was about $4.50/gal. The cost on countryside is over $10/gal.
Because we started to see deaths in the rabbits last week, we decided to go ahead and slaughter all the rabbits that were 12 weeks old. The rabbits should have been 4.7-5lbs. Instead, most were under 4 lbs. The package meat used to cost us around $3.75/lb to raise. On Countryside, our cost was about $11.50/lb and would have gone even higher as we raised the rabbits longer. In particular, the live
ackaged weight ratio on commercial feed has hovered around 50-55%. On the countryside, it was 42% and the guts were all sloshy with high water content in the intestines. Now, with the conclusion of liver damage, we have been advised to throw away all the meat that was processed due to potential contamination of the meat. That adds over $200 of loss to the total.When we started on this, I had discussions with the owner of Countryside about the Ca
h ratio in the goat feed. Today, while talking with him about the rabbit problems, I asked for updated analysis on the goat feed and rabbit feed. The mixture has not been changed in the goat feed and the Cah ratio is still more than 50% lower than any commercial feed. The volume of ground meal and fine particles in the goat chow is so significant, some of the goats start coughing whenever they eat it. We also identified copper deficiency in our goats about 1 month after changing the feed and there is no data in their feed analysis about selenium content. Bottom line, after experimenting for 3 months and spending over $1000/mo on the feed, we have to stop. It doesn’t make economical sense and I am concerned about a number of other areas. While we would like to support what they stand for, I am no longer willing to accept the risk for our farm.
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Have you noticed that the glowing testimonial for Countryside feed is the only post that faithfarmgoats has made on the forum? I did. When I read it, I thought I was reading an advertisement, which I think I actually was. Those types of posts always seem fishy to me.
Southern by choice
Herd Master
Sawfish thank you for your update. I am truly sorry for your loss. You have given great data, hopefully this will help others. Had someone ask me about this feed (for goats) 2 weeks ago. I said I didn't knowany thing about it . I will refer them to this thread.
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- #19
sawfish99
Loving the herd life
Quick update. We lost all 5 does that had litters nursing, the 3 that were 11.5 weeks old, and so far 6 that were under 6 weeks. My wife is giving all the young ones that look bad Bounce Back 2 times a day, but I'm not sure it is helping. We have 4 more mature bucks and does that are not eating and only drinking a minimal amount. I took a doe that died on Friday to UConn for a necropsy, along with feed and water samples for toxicology screening.
On Wednesday morning, we started adding Purina Goat Chow back into the feed for our goats at a 50:50 mix. By Friday (48 hours later) milk production was 40% higher across the 4 does. We are pretty sure it is because so much of the protein in the Countryside feed is a ground meal and the goats don't eat it well. The pigs love it.
On Wednesday morning, we started adding Purina Goat Chow back into the feed for our goats at a 50:50 mix. By Friday (48 hours later) milk production was 40% higher across the 4 does. We are pretty sure it is because so much of the protein in the Countryside feed is a ground meal and the goats don't eat it well. The pigs love it.
Southern by choice
Herd Master
I am very sorry about your loss but very thankful you are following everything up with the necropsies and feed/water samples.
In sharing your story, you are helping so many.
Hoping all the reports will give conclusive answers for you.
In sharing your story, you are helping so many.
Hoping all the reports will give conclusive answers for you.
