Raising Boar Goats

[Swift Family Farm]

My kids are new to Boar Goats, raising a couple meat goats for 4H. The breeder we purchased them from said to free feed grain and to hand them a small flake of alfalfa every couple days. Is this accurate? How much hay and/or grain is too much? We have two Boars and a Nubian Buck staying together and don't want to overfeed?

 

[Alaskan]

My kids are new to Boar Goats, raising a couple meat goats for 4H. The breeder we purchased them from said to free feed grain and to hand them a small flake of alfalfa every couple days. Is this accurate? How much hay and/or grain is too much? We have two Boars and a Nubian Buck staying together and don't want to overfeed?

wha....huh????

Maybe she misspoke or you misheard? ??

Because that is bad.

Free feed HAY, and then give just a bit of grain or pellets depending on the age. Little growing guys can use some grain, but brush and twigs is better and it helps the rumen develoo. Also, if they are young and you feed them whatever you want them to eat later... they will prefer it.

Grain is great as a training aid.

 

[Latestarter]

Ummm yeah, what Alaska said... @Mini Horses @babsbag @ragdollcatlady <---all with Boar experience.

 

[Mini Horses]

Boer goats are great foragers. They graze but, like all goats, prefer to browse. Weeds, vines, tree limbs/leaves, just their type of feed. They are generally fast growing and should be well filled out, so they DO NEED some volume. A coarser hay is fine. Some alfalfa is fine. Like all animals, some grow better than others. If the basics are there, less grain is needed. I always liked to train mine to come to feed --- for all the obvious reasons. Some do free feed (creep feed) the young ones PLUS free choice hay, graze, until they get past weaning and such for first few months. Not forever!

Mine were trained to be handled -- especially the bucks!! They are not a mean or aggressive animal by nature. For 4H you will need to work with them and they enjoy it once begun. Because you are raising to show, you may find you will need a little more concentrates than your average herd animal because the show ring looks for better than average. But do not get excessive as they convert feed very well. Excellent hay will be great for them. It's all about body condition. You adjust as the animal needs. A showing animal is a little different than one in a field herd. They also need plenty of exercise. Collar, lead line, trot them along. Showing animals do require extra care.

This one is 10 months old......Free choice excellent hay small scoop of feed 1X day with free choice vit/min & baking soda. Also allowed to graze but bucks had their own large runs. Controlled as we had several and about 75 Boer does plus, that many Nubians for 1/2 blood. We raised to sell for herd improvement. They were registered.

 

[Erin&G]

Yeah that's definitely a quick way to get fat goats. Our adults get about a pound of 16% protein Kent goat feed per day. If you're raising market wethers it's a little different since you're trying to get them to gain a lot quickley, but you don't want them to be fat, you want them to gain muscle, so keeping grain out all the time isn't the best option. I don't know how big your goats are at this point, but maybe start with about 3/4 lb each twice a day and just keep an eye on them. If they're getting fat you'll be able to tell and you can reduce it, and definitely don't give them more than they'll eat in one sitting. Additionally, we give the kids 18% protein feed instead of the 16% since they are growing.
We keep hay out pretty much all the time, but that also depends on the quality of hay. We give our nursing moms "the good hay" which basically just has more alfalfa in it, and we do limit that since it is so high in calories, but as far as grassy hay it's all-you-can-eat. This also depends on the pasture they have. If they have access to a pasture with lots of grass and forage they won't need nearly as much hay.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Locally around here, boer goats for show or food are fed primarily grain with literally a handful or 2 of hay a day, just for the rumen. If your animals were not terminal (going to butcher) within the next few months, I would recommend more hay along with less grain, which is how i feed my breeding animals. In show animals, they want to avoid the "hay belly " look, hence the cutting down on longer fibers. I would be watchful for founder though, if you go with higher grain amounts and be wary of rate of gain. Our market goats have a limit for the top weight in a class and you dont get paid more if your animal is over weight. We have had to limit feed and excersize more in the last week's before shows to keep our kids at appropriate sizes, keeping tabs on growth helps you add or cut feed as needed to try and keep your animals ready for the specific show dates. I am primarily a dairy goat raiser, I have had them longer.... but I love my boers!
Best of luck!
Hope that helps

 

[West Tx]

MY 2 CENTS JUST TO TRY TO BE HELPFUL SO YOU CAN TAKE WITH A GRAIN of SALT... if it's a legitimate breeder (as in knows what they're doing in relation to market wether goats) listen to them as the goats probably need cover fat and are young and rapidly growing so also need that protein and balanced feed to continue to meet their potential. Rather than putting out unlimited amounts of grain though, as in creep feeding which is probably what they transitioning from, you give them as much as they will clean up in a feeding. Start big, them cut back until there's a few crumbles and vise versa, if they clean it up, add more. One problem is feeding them together, there's no way to really know whose getting how much so go on the slightly extra side of you have no choice but feeding them like this so you know they got all they could eat. You'll have to change this practice in order to control fat cover/ growth/ etc ALSO, BIG PROBLEM WITH GOATS, if your feeding textured rather than pellets, the stinkers can sort thru feed and pick out the goodies, therefore, that's not consuming the balanced diet that that Show feed is designed to provide. this makes it important to only put out what they eat. AS FOR HAY, your only feeding a couple handfuls for gut health (scratch in the Rumen) not so much about diet but it does add nutritional value that throws off the balance your show feed has put science into. Alfalfa is not only a higher protein hay but has faster clearance rate helping reduce that hay belly. keep in mind these are market MEAT animals so diet is super important. Don't skimp on quality of feed because there IS a difference. And don't forget, your not raising them for breeding or homesteading etc, rather meat production, so use that mindset when feeding, exercising, etc. It's allot of trial and error and every animal has different genetic potential and qualities. i hope y'all enjoy 4h as much as us!