Ok, I searched the goat forum archives and could not find a homemade goat feed recipe.

Where possible, we like to mix our own feed. We make our own dog food, cat food, cockatiel food, and catch our own turtle food. We have too many chickens to mix our own feed (it's over 100 chickens now!). But we have only 2 goats (1 doe in her first lactation and 1 yearling maiden doe). They are currently getting timothy/alfalfa hay -- very good quality, and Blue Seal Caprine Challenger. I'd like to be able to make our own goat ration, and would really appreciate some "recipes." I've looked at several books (Jerry Belanger's and Pat Coleby's "Natural Goat Care," and I don't even know what some of the things are that they mention in their rations. Can someone give me a simple recipe? Thank you! :-)

-- Andrea Gauland, Big Flats NY (andreagee@aol.com), April 02, 2002

Answers

Posted our current recipe before. It originally came from one of Belanger's books so you may not be interested. Recipe we tried once: mix two parts cracked corn with one part oats. Top dress with Calf Manna. Simple

-- Scotsirish (notreal@anywhere.net), April 02, 2002.

50 lb corn 50 lb oats 25 lb soybeans 25 lb black oil sunflower 10 lb molasses 1 lb trace mineral/salt 1.5 lb di calcium

or 50 lbs corn 50 lb oats 50 lb barley 1 lb mineral 10 lb molasses

or 50 lb corn 50 lb oats 40 lb soy 10 lb molasses 1 lb mineral

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 02, 2002.

Thank you!! Again, I apologize if this thread has been beaten to death. I honestly did search all the goat archives and the goat board. If the recipes are there, they're buried deep, perhaps under a header that doesn't match content?

Thanks, again, Andrea

oh, btw, what is a good source of trace minerals? I was planning on feeding ground kelp and sea salt, free choice... is that good enough?

-- Andrea Gauland (andreagee@aol.com), April 02, 2002.

Don't forget the selenium, if your area needs it. My friend left it out once...lots of dead newborn goats.

-- Gertie (hirefams@mhtc.net), April 02, 2002.

Andrea, with just 2 goats you might be better off just using the sacked feed, boosting the nutrition of it with perhaps black oil sunflower seeds and or calf manna (animax, headstart etc.)

There is an old feed mix but it would be certainly more hassle to mix your own with only two goats but here it is. The custom mix I use is losely based on this mix, which we used for years. Thurman's mix: 1 part crimped or chopped corn (never whole), 1 part whole or crimped oats, 1 part whole or crimped barley, 1/2 part alfalfa pellets, 1/4 part black oil sunflowerseeds, young growing stock and milkers get 1/4 cup calf manna each day also, free choice loose minerals and lots of folks feed kelp. Calf Manna and the knock offs are by far the best source of minerals, protein etc. going they are also high in calcium. With feeding alfalfa hay you may have them balk at the alfalfa pellet in the grain mix. Oats should not be more than 1/4 of the ration. Problem with mixing your own grain is that you will not know what your calcium to phosphrous ratio is, until you see problems in your milkers or bred does. You really ought to join one of the many goat clubs in your area, we have nutritionists come and talk to us at least once a year, clubs are a wealth of information and are fun places to meet folks who love thier goats like we do. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (Nubians) (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 02, 2002.

Can you raise healthy goats completely "al fresco" and "au nautural" with carefully tended browse pasturage (plus a little supplemental grain for milkers), or do they really require all that extra stuff? If so, then how do they get it in the wild?

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.