Comments on: Traditional (Natural) Diet for Goats

By: Shaelee

Shaelee — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:10:06 +0000

Hello, what herbal formula for worming do you use, and what is is dolomite for? I am new to goats, having have my does have their first freshening last month… are there any books that you recommend for holistic goat management?

Thanks!

By: PETRA

PETRA — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:42:57 +0000

I just found this article and found it very helpful. I’m deciding what breed of dairy goat to get and noticed you have nubians and nigerians both? Can you share why you chose those particular breeds? I was trying to decide between the nubians and french alpine, but I hadn’t considered nigerians or a pygmy variety so I’m not sure if you get much milk from them?
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By: Yolanda

Yolanda — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:44:18 +0000

I just ran across this thread today in searching online for natural goat care. Currently, we feed a mixed goat dairy ration from our grain elevator that they mix on the premises. It does have corn (probably gmo) and I need to find out exactly what else is in there. We give a small amount of Calf Manna, some alfalfa pellets, loose mineral and bicarbonate of soda free choice. They have milked like gang busters this year. The one thing I am most concerned about is just how to keep them wormed. They are not on pasture, although I do sometimes take them into the woods when things are greener than right now. This topic seems to have a lot of interest and a lot of opinions. Knowing that cows fed only grass make the best milk, I was hoping to find something similar; for goats, but it sounds like that is not possible. I wonder about the health of the milk. It is wonderful stuff, but what about it’s composition?
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By: Yolanda

Yolanda — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:32:24 +0000

Oh! I just didn’t read far enough. Thank you about the BOSS.
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By: Yolanda

Yolanda — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:27:22 +0000

Please tell me, What is BOSS?

And what do you all do about worming your dairy goats?

By: Darcy

Darcy — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 03:10:26 +0000

I have read a goat should only eat wheat as 10% of its diet or it can cause problems.

By: Grandmajo

Grandmajo — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:31:32 +0000

Wardeh,

I would look at finding some BO-SE from a vet in your area. That is the injectable form of Selenium with Vitamin E. Crucial to have the Vitamin E, since it makes the Selenium work better.

I copper bolus my goats even though they have a good quality mineral that has copper in it. I use the copper oxide rods, which I put into size 00 empty capsules. The copper oxide rods work a bit differently than the copper sulfate in that they break down and release gradually instead of all at once. Usually I bolus every 6 months, unless they start to show signs of needing it more often.

Also, look at your water supply. Do you have alot of iron in your water? If so, then you want to make sure that your minerals do not contain much, if any iron. Iron blocks the absorption of copper.

You want your total feed ration to be about 16% protein for optimal milk production too. So, you have to factor in how much protein your alfalfa hay has and your grain ration. In other words if your hay is at 14% protein and your grain mix is at 12% protein then you average those 2 numbers and you have 13% for your total feed ration percentage.

I actually quit mixing my own grain and went to using the Purina Noble Goat Dairy Parlor 16%. My milk production increased and has stayed steady even with our recent drop in temps. This is just what I prefer to use, so I’m by no means saying that this is what anyone else should do.

By: Wardeh

Wardeh — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:53:35 +0000

Laura — We are pretty certain our goats are mineral deficient, so we have been supplementing with the homemade mineral mix recommended in Pat Coleby’s book. Our milking mamas have very little milk this year, not even much for their babies. We are not milking most of them. This has been very disappointing to us on many levels — not just the lack of milk, but the fact that they aren’t doing well because we care for them so much. We hope that TLC and time will bring them back to better health. So, your question is very timely, and even though I don’t know the answer, I’d say that kelp is not enough. It wasn’t enough for us, anyway.

By: Laura @ Rejoicing Evermore

Laura @ Rejoicing Evermore — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 04:03:34 +0000

Hi Wardeh! Do you have any updates on what you are doing for your goats? I’m especially curious as to if the kelp is enough minerals for them. I’m just now researching that today after deciding I really don’t want to give my goats anything chemical or inorganic. Have you had to supplement with selenium and copper? I live in Alaska (actually I’m a facebook friend of yours, Laura S.) and I know that the whole PNW is considered selenium deficient. Alaska is copper deficient also.
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By: Wardeh

Wardeh — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 13:41:21 +0000

Thank you for helping, Jenny!

Stephanie, I really hope you can save him.