Sustainable, natural, organic, herbal, etc, and goat husbandry

mamaluv321

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Ahhh, so much info to digest! I never would have thought of giving goats kombucha or sour krout! Now speaking of feeds, I have a friend who has goats and says the majority of their feed is from the out of date produce at the grocery store. He has 3 or4 that he hit regularly, they even save stuff for him. Now I've been told on here that my friends cafe veg scraps should be used only occasionally and it didn't make any sense to me. The scraps are made up of carrot apple and beet peels, celery ends, mixed greens ect. Nothing post consumer, all scraps from prepping. I thought this would be great for them as long as I make sure they get their fill of hay as well. Any thoughts? And what about corn in feeds? Just a filler?
 

freemotion

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I feed veggie scraps...in the fall, I feed lots of pumpkins and squash that I glean from the farm next door. Just get them used to it gradually and divide it between morning and evening feedings if you have a lot.

I don't feed corn to my goats. It is not really useful for them....maybe for meat goats, I don't know, but for dairy, well, I don't feed it. I might put a tablespoon or so of whole corn kernels in my pocket as a bribe now and then, and they love it, but like candy bars for me, it is a rare treat for them.

I would grab that prep scrap in a heartbeat. Vegetable matter starts breaking down as soon as it is cut, so feed it right away or refrigerate it.
 

mamaluv321

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That was my plan, they fill almost a 5 gallon bucket every morning! As a bonus the cafe is about 3-4 minutes drive down the road. Good to know, I read somewhere that beet could be bad because the amount of calcium in them, and goats get...gall or kidney stones? Or cacifications?
 

freemotion

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5 gallons is a LOT of veggies each day....you need a pig! I don't remember how many goats you have, but that is a lot unless you have a few goats. I have six now and have only fed maybe 2-3 quarts per day, divided, to a large, lactating or pregnant doe along with free choice hay. I introduce it slowly and watch the poo. The moment it looks the least bit clumpy, I back off.

That is a serious amount of scrap! Another thing to consider is to go through it carefully, as not everyone remembers to keep trash out of the scraps. Also, you want to re-chop some of it so no greedy goat chokes. I run a lot of stuff right through the food processer, chopping enough for 2-3 days at a time, and keeping the pail on a cool porch in winter or in my second fridge in warm weather.
 

mamaluv321

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Thanks for the tip on food processing, wouldn't have thought of that! I don't actually have my goats yet, but I'm planning on three. And all the kids that work at the cafe are pretty good about what goes in the bucket cause right now it goes to a community compost project. If I want to mix my own grains, what should I use, approximately? And salt lick versus loose minerals? I have no experience w that so...? Thanks everyone! Especially Free, you are a wealth of information!!:D
 

freemotion

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Take what I say with a grain of salt (pun intended) as I am learning, too. For example, I used to offer block salt along with loose salt and loose minerals because that is what I had...the block was leftover from my horse, and the two goats I had at the time preferred it. They did fine with it, too.

Then I got a neglected dairy doe, starved and weak. It took a year, but now she shows copper deficiency. When I first spotted the signs many months ago, I removed the block and the loose salt and now just serve loose minerals. Live and learn.

I suspect that five gallons of veggies a day is going to be too much, but I would take it all anyways. Compost what you don't use, or, as I said, get a pig. A pig can eat the entire bucket and turn it into pork for you!

And three goats turns into 9 goats in one season if you breed them.... :p

I don't mix grains because in my book, grains are merely a supplement, not a main part of the diet. I am a huge fan of a diet that is as widely varied as possible. I vary their diet with grass and alfalfa hay, as many different veggie scraps as they can get, and leafy branches brought in when they've again de-nuded all the brush in my pasture. The only grain I feed is sprouted barley, and only to the ones that need it. Right now that is the two lactating does. When I can't get barley, I switch to oats. Corn is used as pocket treats for training and bribes.
 

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