pygmy goat owners..how much a month?

[MamaMage]

how much a month do you spend on grass hay for your little guys? how much on other supplemental feeds? like goat pellets? alfalfa? sweet grain? im only starting out with two pygmy goats. they'll be a couple weeks old when i get them, so i know ill be bottle feeding first but im just trying to get a general idea for how much a month it costs to you to feed them in general.

 

[Latestarter]

Gosh Mama... most of us goat folks here have herds of them... not just two. I guess anyone giving you numbers you could then extrapolate back to get an idea... With just two and being pygmys I would guess one bag of medicated feed (while they are growing) a month, maybe 2-4 bales of hay, a couple bags of granulated mineral for them... and of course whole milk from the grocery store for while they are really young before they start on real food.

Just so you know, bags of feed have a date stamped on the bottom string seal for when it was packaged. Some retailers don't store their feed well (heat and cold as well as moisture can ruin feed) so always look at the "packaged date" when buying to make sure you're buying fresh feed. Not sure where you're located but where I am in TX the local TSC keeps feed stacked on pallets in non climate controlled areas and I have opened bags 6-8 weeks old and found mold. Properly stored, feed will lose nourishment but still be good for quite some time. I don't trust it. I want fresh. Oh, and sometimes instead of a regular calendar date, they'll use Julian date (1-365). The below from oracle docs.

 

[SonRise Acres]

That’s a hard one. My guess is 1 bag of feed. We get a great deal on feed due to there being a local feed store that’s independently owned. But my guess for TSC type retailers is $20-$25/bag?

We use large round bales that we get from our own property but I know round bales go for $40/bale where we live. You NEED to know what grasses they use and when it was baked. I’ve seem square bales go for $7 and people snatch them up, but one educated look and you can tell it’s really old and sat outside the entire time which can lead to mold.

We buy minerals. Goodness, you might need 2ish bags (give or take).

Good clean water is a must!

Also we built a hay crib. Goats don’t like dirty hay and once it’s on the ground it’s junk to them. Under the hay crib I put troughs so any fallen hay is still not on the ground and they eat it from the trough.

Lots of grazing on fresh grass in their pasture of course. Make sure any accessible trees are not poisonous to goats. They will eat any leaf they can reach and can stand quite tall.

We use the enhanced cow milk formula for our bottle babies (whole milk, buttermilk, cream). Also make sure to have basic things on hand such as syringes, needles in case you need to do an injection, nutri-drench, etc, etc for basic first aid.

 

[Latestarter]

I'm feeding 13 adult goats, Lamanchas, and they eat quite well.

I was buying a 16% protein pellet feed at TSC with AC added for ~$12-15.00/bag. It's the store brand; Dumor, and I didn't use the sweet feed (No AC added and don't need the added sweet, more expensive).

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-goat-feed-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005 (It's the blue label vice red label)
There was no problem with the feed formulation, but the price went from ~$12 to ~$15 in the span of a year and as previously stated, the feed was over ordered and old/stale/moldy so I switched over to a different feed source. It's an actual outlet/store front for a feed mill. It's a 45 mile drive to the feed store but I'm getting a 17% feed with AC added for $10.40/bag. @~$5 less per bag, I buy once a month at 12 bags, it's a savings of ~$60 which is twice what it costs me in gas to go get it, and it's a better/fresher feed. The oldest bag I've gotten from them was packaged ~2 weeks before my purchase. I now buy my chicken feed there as well as again, it's less expensive and fresher than TSC.

Last trip I asked them about goat mineral. The stuff at TSC was Manna Pro and cost ~$12 for an 8 lb bag. It was good, the goats liked it, but way too pricey. I got a 25 lb bag of Sweetlix at the new feed store for ~$10.00. That's a ~$24.00 savings over all.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/manna-pro-goat-mineral-supplement-8-lb?cm_vc=-10005

If/when I get my pig(s) I'll buy hog feed there as well. If I get everything cheaper and all in one trip, the savings add up substantially and quickly. Just those 2 items; feed and mineral, saved me ~84/mo or a thousand dollars a year ($640 after gas costs). That's 2-3 goat sales or 2 months worth of goat supplies (for me).

My hay I buy from a hay salesperson, private, and he offers several types and sizes. The hay I'm using now I was buying in small square bales (~60 lbs), alfalfa/orchard grass mix, for ~$13-15/bale. The last time I went, he didn't have small bales available. He had large squares (~110 lb) of pure alfalfa at $26/bale or a 3'x3'x8' square of the mix I like for $150. I went with the latter. I typically buy 12 bales/mo @$162 and that would total ~ 720 pounds of hay. The 3x bale weighs about 790 pounds so essentially got an extra bale/13, for $12 less than the 12 bales would have cost. So was like paying for 11 and getting 13.

You need to check around where you're located and see what's available to you. Since you'll only need small amounts, it might be better to spend a little more and shop close rather than traveling like I do.

 

[greybeard]

but I know round bales go for $40/bale where we live. Y

This winter?

 

[SonRise Acres]

This winter?

So far! I haven’t checked prices this week though. As I said we bale off our own pasture, but my last quote was $40 for round bales. This year was a good year for hay and people are coming into our area to buy due to price.

 

[MamaMage]

you guys are great. thank you!

 

[MiniSilkys]

Hi, MamaMage. I have 6 pygmy goats. Four does and one buck. I mostly feed them hay during the winter with just a cup of mixed feed and grains until they are pregnant, then it goes to twice a day. I also have 35 chickens and a duck, so I can't base my price for you on the feed. If I was only feeding the goats it would be: $10.45/goat pellets, $7.50/ alfalfa/pat pellets, $7/ sweet feed (which they love), $6.50 whole corn, $10/ wheat. I have everything in separate containers and I mix it all in a bucket at feeding time. This lasts about 3 months. Mine like Bermuda hay which I get for $6/ square and mixed grass hay for $5.60/ square. Minerals I get for $28/ 50 lbs. I get everything at my local farm store. I also fork up grasses dried after bushhoging on the farm to use for bedding( which they also eat). Summer feeding is a breeze on our 40 acre farm. They have pasture, kudzu, vegetables, 1 watermelon a month, pea vines, and wild blackberry vines ( they chew the whole thing,stickers and all!) I am waiting for kids right now. Good luck with yours!

 

[MiniSilkys]

Have you gotten your goats?