What Should I Feed My Goats? The 5 Essentials for Feeding Nigerian Dwarf Goats

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What do you feed? This is a common debate among goat breeders. This video is an overview of the 5 components of our feed program for our Nigerian Dwarf herd. Our next few videos will provide a more in-depth discussion of these topics, but this covers the basics of what we do here at Novella Farm. I’m not a vet or animal nutritionist (and I’m not playing one on TV), but we consulted both in figuring out how to provide our goats with the best nutritional program for our context and breed.

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28 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 58

@simmonds6063 3 года назад

Thanks for the video! Our goats love kelp meal which is choc full of minerals. I used to mix it with their grain, but now I just offer it free choice and they eat it like candy. Periodically, I mix their herbal wormers (black walnut hull, wormwood, etc.) into the kelp and they hoover it up. Also, I switched from the copper bolus to copper sulphate powder. It is so much easier to put a pinch or so in their water every day and I have seen overall improved health since the switch. Their coats are slick and fur is soft. Other than that, it's just some alfalfa and local mixed grass hay, as well as sunflower seeds and some occasional oats. They also appreciate some magnolia leaves in the middle of winter when there is less fresh green in their diet.

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

I've heard good things about kelp. I know several breeders that use it and speak highly of it. I'll also have to check out your herbal wormer and the copper sulphate powder. Thanks for telling me about those!

@asmile4don 2 года назад

Where can i get copper sulphate was wanting to try it instead of copper bolus

@simmonds6063 2 года назад

@@asmile4don I found it at my local co-op. It's a blue crystal. It is in a lot of mineral mixes.

@williamthebeardedwhiskeyro8102 2 года назад

I have only 1 buck boer He just shows up one day out of nowhere ( I live in the north Alabama forest on my peaceful 9 acre isolated home .. I decided to rescue the little guy because he was so small and so weak and malnourished.. So I did some initial research and decided to start home with some different things to see what he was easier to ingest and attracted to… Made him a nice and safe shelter with cedar shavings as floor and bedding Feeders for water - Dumor sweet/goat grower feed - containers for loose goat mineral and baking soda and He has brandlee compressed alfalfa att will I deworm him with Safeguards goat wormer And he gets apple slices or cantaloupe slices + I’ll treat him with celery pieces or broccoli florets and he loves a granola and honey chewy bar for a morning energy treat… I will give him some power punch (Goat Rocket Fuel) when or if he gets droopy from shitty weather or just goat boredom … 1 or 2 times a season.. He doesn’t have contact with anyone except maybe a (UPS OR FEDEX DRIVER) And usually sends them running back to their truck 🤣 So I’m his herd and he’s become quite the little demonic destructor !!! He loves to fight and ALWAYS TESTS ME !!! He has more goat toys than most children but I know he loves his daddy because he’s always pushing on me and asserting his dominance trying to get me to play or fight !!! LMAO 😜 Just thought I’d share and see if you actually read your comments 😎

@lonewolfmike33 2 года назад

Apparently, he doesn't care about his viewers. He made videos just for the money. Piss on him!

@CorasCreativeCorner 3 года назад

Awesome information. I’m from central Florida as well and this is a big issue for us and we are working to mitigate all mineral deficiencies and fix our water to accommodate our animals. I loved this video! I’m binging on all of them now. Thank you for this info 🐐🤗👍🏼

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

Nice! Maybe I'll see you around at a goat show or something. Thanks for saying hello.

@danno1800 2 года назад

You made a terrific video - lots of helpful information about what goat need. Thanks - much appreciated…

@karens.8194 2 года назад

Great content, very insightful! Thank you so much for sharing. I am getting my Nigerian dwarf goats and getting the most information I can.

@versatileyoungyahmantin5089 3 года назад

Thank for sharing that information

@omarims 15 дней назад

thanks for the informative video

@hometablet5219 3 года назад

Great sir,God bless you

@stinkypuddleranch 3 года назад

Excellent video. Well put together and very informative. Thank you for sharing. ✌️🙂

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

Thank you! We appreciate the kind words!

@stinkypuddleranch 3 года назад

@@novellafarm9879 , you are most welcome. The pleasure is mine. I look forward to future videos of your awesome farm. 🙂

@lindokuhlempanza182 2 года назад

Wow lam new to farming industry great information thanks alot

@bretthines1020 2 года назад

Great information! I’m trying to be the best Goat Dad I can be and this helps!

@HomsteadingThePioneerWay 2 года назад

Hi, just found you, i;m in MS but lived in Lakeland Fla and loved it, we still have family there in Jax and Mullberry and visit , would like to meet you sometime, i do the same for my Nigie does alfa oats am and Beet pulp shreads pm along with mixed grass hay daily, monthly selinum and E and worm as needed, copper 2x a year every 6 months, bucks get CD&T 1month before breeding and does 1 month before kidding to protect kids till there 3 wks old then kids get CD&T and another at 6 weeks, but bucks do not need grain as it causes stones that can kill them so my bucks get hay with beet pulp shreads am and pm have a blessed day

@CanterburyTrailsFarm 3 года назад

New subscriber :)

@kodiak7691 Год назад

What filter do you use on your garden hose?

@johnpaulparra6477 2 года назад

Question for u, I’m going to get like 5 Nigerian dwarfs, I have a lot of pasture do I have to feed them hay or grain?

@annedonnellan6876 Год назад

Obviously the babies love the owner

@courtneyelaine89 3 года назад

Thanks for the video! What brand of grain do you use?

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

Hi, Courtney! I cover grain in this video. We don't use anything super fancy. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eRn56k4ABqw.html

@stacihowell3817 Месяц назад

We are trying to just keep our two weathers from screaming. They war 9 weeks, and don’t seem happy with just hay.

@chadturnbull Месяц назад

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).

@brendabs688 Год назад

Do you separate your goats for feeding grain a second time ?

@jameschege2166 Год назад

how much grain do you give per animals

@Plantsinafarmhouse 3 года назад

What about baking soda do you offer that? I was told to offer it always new goat owner here want to do it right! They are Nigerian dwarfs.

@annedonnellan6876 Год назад

Do you grow herbs?

@GoatyGoatGirl 3 года назад

We plan on getting 2 or 3 pet dwarf goat castrated males. I have heard that wethers should not be given grain. That only bucks, does and babies get grain. Pet wethers get so many treat fruit and veggies normally that grains are bad. What do you guys say to this?

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

Hi, Cynthia! The issue that causes people to question giving grain to male goats is urinary calculi, which are "stones" (solid particles) in the urethra that can create a blockage. The typical reason this occurs is when the calcium to phosphorus ratio gets off. There are basically two approaches to preventing urinary calculi. One is to not give grain (commercial goat feed) to bucks/wethers at all and give high quality hay like alfalfa or peanut hay. The hay is high in protein and they can get most of their nutritional needs from it. The other, and this is what we do, is to give bucks grass hay like coastal, timothy, orchard which is lower in calcium, and then supplement their diet with grain (commercial goat feed) with ammonium chloride in it. The ammonium chloride lowers the PH level of the urine and keeps things flowing smoothly. We prefer the latter solution - grass hay and grain - for a few reasons. 1) We feel like the grain/hay combo meets their nutritional needs better. 2) Giving grain creates a daily health check moment. If the goats don't come eat the feed, then you know something isn't quite right and can further observe to diagnose. I did a video on feeding grain and you can find that here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eRn56k4ABqw.html. I hope this helps!

@callycharles2515 2 месяца назад

Yes, you're correct, wethers should not be given grain. Gee, I just noticed your post is from 3 years ago - I sure am late to the game!

@marihasites7706 2 года назад

Can u help me my goat will not eat hay what’s a good one to get she’s so picky I got grass hay and Alfalfa hay she won’t touch it only wants to eat what’s outside Is she barely even eat her grains strange

@novellafarm9879 2 года назад

When you say she only wants to eat outside, do you mean she has access to a bunch of forage that she can eat, like from the woods? How old is she? Three things come to mind: 1) She is a baby. If she still needs milk more than grain then she will mostly just nibble hay and grain, and you need to talk to her breeder to figure out a milk solution for her. 2) She is sick. My goats will always eat grain no matter how much hay or forage they've eaten unless they are sick. You'd want to talk to your vet. 3) She is filling up on forage and isn't hungry. This seems like the least likely scenario.

@lisaanderson4748 3 года назад

I've got 1 faintin' goat. Is the feed guide in the video the same for him? He is a rescue.

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

I'm not familiar with your breed needs specifically, but in general this guide will work for all goats, especially smaller breeds.

@lisaanderson4748 3 года назад

@@novellafarm9879 , he's a tiny goat. His mother rejected him. 10 weeks old. I'm learning as I go. Did find out that he can't eat a lot of grain🙄!!! He blew my laundry room up with 4 point turn diarrhea 🤣🤣🤣

@novellafarm9879 3 года назад

@@lisaanderson4748 If he's little, then our program will get him plenty of calories. Grass hay (coastal, Tiffany, orchard) and some feed with ammonium chloride in it are likely your best bet, along with lots of clean water, of course. Scours (diarrhea) are often from a coccidia bloom from the stress of a move, or something like that, more so than him eating too much grain. I'd recommend you keep an eye on that and treat it if he needs it.

@adeyemomathew910 Год назад

Nigeria goat is the best goat so far

@MrRileybobiley 2 года назад

I have a question - No one seems to answer HOW MUCH??? I am interested in knowing how much grain - how much hay (I feed alfalfa) etc... on a daily basis. I don't want to overfeed or underfeed so any ideas would be helpful. Thank you!

@wisconsinwildchild 2 года назад

Grain usually a decent handful per goat per day if you feed it and always free choice of hay is general rule of thumb.

@MrRileybobiley 2 года назад

@@wisconsinwildchild Thank you - that's what I'm doing - phew!

@throlyhd9448 10 месяцев назад

idk if you found your answer but to be more precise than a handful, our girls in milk get about 1-2 cups of grain in the morning during milkings and the same at night for second milking. The hay is always available same as minerals and salt licks and water. They also get kitchen scraps like apple peels orange peels stuff like that. I also have two pear trees in their pasture/area that if they want they can munch on when they fall. The bartlet pears are sweet currently so ive seen them munching some.

@MrRileybobiley 10 месяцев назад

Thank you so much. My girls aren't in milk anymore, so I settled on giving them 1/2 a cup once a day with free choice alfalfa and minerals. In the morning I give them a couple of peanuts or some lettuce. I am glad you mentioned the salt lick because I had one, but they finished it and I forgot to replace it. @@throlyhd9448

@karenranahan 2 года назад

I’m in Ocala and having serious medical issues with one of my Nigerian dwarfs. The UF Large Animal hospital vets said to NEVER feed bucks grains or alfalfa. This caused them to get urethra stones. So far our vet bills are over $2k since September trying to get this goat healed. He has a catheter in his abdomen to urinate out of and yesterday we had to have a penis catheter out in. The next and final option for him if this doesn’t work will have him castrated and converted. I’ve searched RU-vid and everyone is feeding grains to their bucks. I’m wondering if you have experienced similar struvite stones and how to prevent more stones from forming? I’m desperate to finding a solution to feeding them. They’re losing weight and all they can have is coastal or timothy hay. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@novellafarm9879 2 года назад

I'm sorry to hear your boy is having so much trouble! That's really hard. Many people recommend not giving grain or alfalfa to bucks, but I disagree. It isn't the grain or alfalfa that is the issue, but the calcium:phosphorous ratio that matters. Alfalfa and feed concentrates are higher in calcium and they mess up the ratio thus creating the stones. Grass hay is higher is phosphorous and why it is safer in that regard. The trick to it all is to feed a grain that has ammonium chloride in it. That balances things out and prevents the problem. Goats need more than just grass hay and water to thrive. So we give an ac (ammonium chloride) feed and have had no issues even when feeding an alfalfa blend plus grain to the bucks.

@karenranahan 2 года назад

@@novellafarm9879 thank you for your response and feedback. I add the Ammonium chloride to their water which they don’t like but have come around to drinking it. Do you also fed it to your doe’s in their feed?

@novellafarm9879 2 года назад

@@karenranahan You can purchase a goat feed that has it incorporated already. Purina and Nutrena both sell AC feed. Just check the tag on what you're buying. We give the same feed to bucks and does here.

@karenranahan 2 года назад

@@novellafarm9879 unfortunately I made the decision to have him put down yesterday. I’ve gone back and watched all your videos, joined a few groups on Facebook and the data is conflicting. I can’t afford to mess this up a second time. I have one buck remaining, his twin brother which was fed the same since I got them at 3 weeks. He has not shown any signs or symptoms of having UC and I’d like to keep it that way. I’m going to keep him on the coastal hay which he doesn’t really like and do the pulse dose of the AC in an alfalfa pellets that I pre soak for my horses. I only give him about a half cup with the AC. That is the only thing he will eat (soaked alfalfa pellet). He’s cleaned out all the grass so I’m not sure what else to offer. I’m too afraid to feed the grain. That cost me a ton of money and killed my goat. I have 2 females and I feed them grain and offer coastal (they just play in it and waste it). So fawn they appear to be healthy and vibrant. Just worried about my boy and keeping him from going down the same path. This has been a hard lesson to learn. Thank you for the videos.