feed questions

[mzgarden]

Today we have 2 dry nubian does that will be bred first time this fall.  Next week we will add our first buckling (intact) 10 months, followed by his little wethered buddy.

Today the does get a flake of alfalfa hay and a flake of grass hay free choice, 1 cup each Noble Goat daily, free choice Goat Minerals, baking soda and maybe 1/8 cup BOSS as a treat a couple times a week.  They are bolused Copasure every 6 months.  They also have 3 acres of pasture & forage in which they are rotated. 

Adding the boys makes me think about feed again.  I know boys should not, as a rule, have grain.  Am I right thinking they can have everything the girls are getting today (ex the grain) with a higher percentage of grass hay and lower percentage of alfalfa hay.

How do oats figure into goat feed?  I've always fed a commercial grain but wondering if I should consider an alternative?

[Wendy]

My buck gets the same hay & grain as my girls. You do need to be careful of urinary calculi in wethers, so they should not have grain or very little. When breeding season gets close I up the bucks grain to get some weight on him before breeding time. Sometimes they run themselves ragged when in rut & it's hard to keep weight on them.

[Deleted]

If you add some ACV in the water it can help prevent UC. I always fed grain to my bucks, just much less than to the does.

[Bear Foot Farm]

A little Ammonium Chloride added to the feed will help keep the urine's Ph low

www.jefferspet.com/products/ammonium-chloride

[Deleted]

My boys get the same as my girls. I know that some people have had issues with UC, and I hope never to see it, but.... <shrug>