We are a small homestead farm in Orlando, Florida dedicated to raising conformationally correct and productive Nigerian Dwarf goats. Our goats are all ADGA registered. We are also proud members of the Nigerian Dwarf Goat Club of Florida.
How do you feed your loose minerals so as not to waste your money. I feel like when I have it available they dont always eat it or tip it over or poop in it.
Hay only is the safest bet for preventing stones in wethers. But often, people then feed awful grass hay and water, and the goats die due to malnutrition-related issues or never thrive because they don't get enough to eat. A commercial feed with ammonium chloride plus constanct access to quality grass hay (meaning not alfalfa or peanut hay) is probably the best bet for keeping the goat well nourished and free of stones.
I know this video is like guzzling years old but do u happen to know what Feed I can give my nigiran dwarf goat so she stays small and not for milk and not for food just as pet! so I want her tiny as possible lol! thank you
I understand your desire to have your goat stay as small as possible, but her size is really out of our control. Your goat has a genetic disposition to be a certain size (most likely around the size of a labrador retriever). Stunting her growth, which would really only occur by starving her, isn't something that you can or should do. She'll naturally be small because of her breed and trying to make her smaller by not feeding her will make her miserable and sickly, not smaller. She won't make milk unless you breed her, so you don't have to worry about that one.
Thank you so much for this. I spent an entire night in the barn thinking mucus plug loss meant imminent kidding time and that was 7 days ago now and at 64 I’m too old to handle a mere 45 minutes of sleep so just listening for vocals on Ring and late night check ins is more doable.
At that age, they were probably recently weaned and are looking for momma or a bottle. They're able to eat feeed at that point and are growing, so will need the calories beyond what hay will give them. Find a commercial goat feed that contains ammonium chloride and start giving that to them twice a day (plus making sure they have good, dry grass hay available all the time).
Great video!! Todays my girls first labor and this was exactly what I needed. Thanks for sharing the “real life” waiting, nerves and labor! I feel more prepared today after watching your video then the weeks of reading I’ve done! Thanks
I have a question about Nigerian Dwarf wethers. They're going to be 8 years old soon and all along, I've been feeding a blend of timothy and orchard 2nd cutting. My goats are fat (and cute LOL) so my vet told me to get 1st cutting. They don't like it.... should I have stuck with the 2nd cutting? I'm concerned about the nutrition level of 1st cutting too. Fat or not, which is the best cutting for them? Both 1st and 2nd are mixed bales of timothy and orchard hay. Thanks!
Just to clarify, a buck or whether should have unlimited grass hay. Is that right? Where I live, there is no coastal hay so I'm assuming that unlimited orchard or Timothy is ok with pellet feed once a day. Please let me know if I have it right because I don't want to kill my nigerian dwarf buck when he comes home.
Great video here. I have a question how many times a day do you feed them. My two girls graze the land eating small amounts of pine needles, bark but not much of the hay we supply them. Right now we only feed them minerals 1 times a day but it seems like not enough.
I see your videos are from 2 & 3 years ago…Can I ask why you no longer produce content? I clearly see your content is very informative and you would have grown a very successful channel showing your life of goat in every aspect. I seen pictures you have shown in prior videos and it looks like you have show goats so that being said do you breed and sell your goats because you have some beautiful goats and very healthy looking rather they are show goats or not they are top notch. Sorry I definitely don’t mean to overstep and ask too many questions but I am interested to see you growing your channel and showing these beautiful goats!!😊 Take Care…God Bless
Thank you for this comment. It allows me to address misconceptions about wethers (castrated males) and feed. The key thing to prevent urinary calculi (stones) is the proper calcium: phosphorous ratio. Feed can help the ratio or hurt the ratio depending on the type of hay and forage one offers. It is not true that wethers should universally never have feed because it "could kill them". It is true that too much calcium is a problem. So a grass hay diet with feed is perfectly fine, particularly if the feed offered has ammonium chloride to balance the ph levels. I've seen more dead or sickly wethers on a hay-only diet due to poor nutrition than I have wethers that die because they're given feed, especially when fed grass hay and the right feed.
I have one 35-40lb adult buck. I just got him and all that the person gave me was a jar of sweet feed. Can you please tell me what to go get and ratios please!!
Mine won’t eat the straight alfalfa. They love peanut and will eat Timothy/Alfalfa blend. Coastal is what they sleep on and can eat during the night if they want, but I put it down for bedding. Straw is cheaper but they and the ducks prefer the hay. I love your hay feeder. Mine just go in the feed room and take what they want. There is a mat on the floor so it doesn’t get dirty, but I leave a 5 gallon bucket filled for them to eat from, which they usually do and leave the bales alone. Nice set up and beautiful, healthy looking goats.
interesting. I am just to the northwest of you and we feed our bucklings and doelings peanut hay for the protein and reduced calcium (compared to alfalfa, lol, that is actually the name of one of our goats.) But when they are mature, we will switch them off. We give them a mix too, beat pulp with molasses (4 parts), cracked corn (2 parts), and black oil sunflower seeds (1 part). This is based on our vet's recommendation as the goats were surviving but not thriving. Oh, they are Nigerians as well but not registered.... If we lived in a cooler climate I would love an Ibex or two.
Thanks, this is helpful. I've had a couple people tell me I give mine too much grain (they get about a cup each a day for non milking, and 2-3 cups each in milk) but everyone is happy and healthy so I'm good with that. This was a helpful video, thanks thanks making it, your goats appear to be in fantastic condition.