Goat Feeding Time

[BYH Project Manager]

Feeding time with goats can feel a little like opening the doors at a Black Friday sale. One minute everything is calm, the next it’s a mad dash with a lot of jostling, bleating, and wide-eyed excitement. Goats are smart, curious, and sometimes downright pushy when it comes to food, which makes feeding both fun and a little chaotic.

Some folks swear by set feeding times, while others let their goats browse and graze more naturally throughout the day. Then there’s the question of how to keep the greedy ones from hogging all the goodies while the shy goats hang back.

So let’s talk goat mealtime! Do you feed on a strict schedule, or do you prefer free-choice hay and browse? Have you found any tricks for keeping peace at the trough when everyone wants the “best bite” first?

What’s your feeding-time routine like with your goats?

 

[Mini Horses]

so much to add.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

A strict schedule....ummmm - I try, lol. Schedules around here are a goal to strive for and rarely achieved. I can say that I feed morning and evening and that's about as close as I get.

Hectic is an understatement. I hang feeders on a stock panel and most of the goats must stick their heads through the panel to eat. I have a few horned goats so there are a few feeders that hang on their side of the fence. That keeps me from being involved in the stampede.

It looks something like this:

This was one of those mornings when the "schedule" wasn't scheduling! Impatient much?

 

[Alaskan]

Back when I had milk goats...

I never had more than 4 adults at a time... so each goat had a collar (always on) and they all would get clipped onto a fence. Then with everyone stuck, feed would be brought out for each one.

The ones in milk would get their feed while being milked, on the milk stand.

When my high producer was in heavy production, she at times would need feed brought out 3 times a day.

All of my goats had access to great pasture... but I live in Alaska... so that doesn't last long! All year they always had a manger full of hay. In the winter it needed to be filled once a day, in the summer, only about once a week.