Dairy Goat Nutrition (More information coming soon!)
- Proper nutrition is vital for animal health, reproduction, and milk production!
Basic Nutrition
· Goats are classified as small ruminants. Ruminants have compartmentalized stomachs, chew their “cud”, and require diets high in forages. · ALL ruminant diets should consist of at least 60% forages, which includes: hay and pasture – browsing brush alone is not adequate in most cases. · Too much grain/concentrate in the diet can cause several metabolic disorders including ruminal acidosis; this can lead to reduced nutrient absorption, ulcers, toxin production, laminitis, and death. · To avoid metabolic disorders you can offer your goat(s) free choice hay, and feed grain based on recommended guidelines found on most feed bag labels. · Fresh, clean water should be offered free choice to all goats. · An average sized dairy goat weighing approximately 130 lbs. should consume approx. 5% of its body weight per day of Dry Matter Intake (DMI). · If you are interested in figuring out how much feed, and hay your goat(s) need you can follow some simple calculations to determine their intake needs. |
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Sample calculations:
Body weight x 0.05 = pounds of required DMI 130 lbs. x 5% = 6.5 lbs. of DMI Feeds contain a percentage of water, so an average of 85% dry matter can be used to determine the approximate dry matter content of feeds. 6.5 lbs. DMI / 85% Dry Matter = 7.65 lbs. 7.65lbs. is the amount of total feed (forages and grain/concentrates) you would weigh out to feed to your goat(s) every day. To determine how much hay and grain you feed your goat, first calculate the minimum amount of forage they need to consume on a daily basis. Since goats need around 60% of their diet to come from forages, the total dry matter is multiplied by 60% to determine how much forage should be fed. 7.65 lbs. (DM) x 60% = 4.59 lbs. forage (minimum) Approximately 5 lbs. of forage (never round down!) 7.65 lbs. – 5 lbs. forage ≈ 2.5 lbs. grain/concentrates The above "results"/weights are in DM. Since most products do not have 100% DM, the actual weights would be slightly more. Ex. Convert 5lbs. hay based on DMI to actual weight that the animals would consume on an "as fed" basis (assuming the hay has 85% DM content) 5lbs. / 0.85 = 5.88lbs. hay on an as-fed basis 2lbs. / 0.90 = 2.78lbs. grain on an as-fed basis Total amt.- approx. 8.66lbs. on an as-fed basis |
Simple Ration Formulations and Calculations (more information coming soon!)
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