feeding Archives - Central Coast Ranch

What to feed Nigerian Dwarf Bucks/Wethers

Nigerian Dwarf Bucks and wethers are fed only grass type hays such as forage hay or Bermuda grass. Because of the urinary tract of male goats, wethers are at higher risk of developing urinary calculi or ‘stones’. The development of these stones can cause an obstruction in the urethral process (a small tube that acts as a urine sprayer). In our feeding practices we avoid feeding legume hay and grain to our wethers and not frequently to our bucks.

Preventing Calculi buildup

There are a couple of things you can do to detour calculi build up. You can supplement their fed with aluminum chloride to counter act the acidity of the urine. Wait to castrate bucklings until they are 3-5 months old to give more time for the urinary tract to mature and open up more. Feeds should be lower protein with plenty of water available.

Also read our article on feeding your Nigerian Dwarf Does and Kids

Getting your KuneKune Pig Pen Ready

Please take the time to get your property ready for your new animals. When they come to you they are young and small – so if it is winter be sure you have extra bedding until they get more bodyfat. A heatlamp is also a good idea – on very cold winter nights we have used a 250W red heatlamp for the youngest babies. Pigs are particular as to where they urinate and defecate and once they choose a corner that is where they will always go for as long as they live in that pen. So MAKE SURE you make it difficult for them to leave their waste where you need to walk. We will typically take an old pallet (they hate walking on those) and leave it in front of the gates so they use a different corner.

Shelter

Pigs need dirt. KuneKune pigs may not root for food but they lie in dirt to sleep (or bedding when its cold) and need wet soil or even mud if it is hot outside to stay cool. They should also have some shade to get out of the sun. As simple leaning shelter with a corrugated steel roof only 4 feet off the ground will work wonders.

Fencing

Piglets will be sure to exploit any hole they can squeeze through. We recommend using pigwire when you build out their pens, it is strong and the holes are smaller toward the bottom. T-Bars are a great way to erect fencing quickly and still keep it strong. A 3’ tall fence would be just fine but what you want is strong. A full-grown, hungry pig is extremely strong and they can push through anything, so use heavy-duty wires on your Pig Fence

Water

automatic bowl waterer water nipple for pigs Make sure you have a freshwater delivery system as well. So as you prepare your farm now is the perfect time to run some PVC and setup a livestock waterer.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-automatic-waterer

We recommend a bowl type that mounts to a fence and includes a float. Make sure you set these up at the proper height as pigs need them much lower to the ground (especially piglets). You can also use cinder blocks so they can setup up to reach a slightly higher watering bowl.

If you have high water pressure (above 50 PSI) use interactive watering devices like hog nipples.

Feeders

These work great for feeding grain to our pigs. And since pigs are so low to the ground we put the hay in a clean place in the pen. Rubber Grain Feeder

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/double-tuf-rubber-pan-with-handles-3-gal

Getting your Goat Pen Ready

Goats are not considerate of where they go to the bathroom. Unlike pigs they do not have a favorite corner, so plan your pen to make it easy to clean and replace the bedding.

Fencing

Goat kids (and adults) will be sure to exploit any hole they can squeeze through, a table they can climb on, and chew any plant they can reach! We recommend using pigwire when you build out their pens, it is strong and the holes are smaller toward the bottom. T-Bars are a great way to erect fencing quickly and still keep it strong. Make sure your fences are a minimum of 4′ high (but keep climbing objects away from the fence as goats will just jump off a table or large rock over a 4′ fence). Playground equipment for goats would include a toddler slide, large tires buried vertical, boulders, or large spools used by electrical contractors.

Shelter

Goats can live in a simple shelter such as a medium to large dog igloo to a goat condo! What is of imperative importance is that they are able to get out of the weather. There is a common saying among goat owners, “a wet goat is a dead goat.” That being said, goats absolutely hate getting wet! Whatever shelter you choose to buy/build it will need to be mucked out weekly or sooner. When waste matter is left behind (especially if there is no air circulation) ammonia fumes build up and linger at the bottom of the enclosure. The build up and constant inhalation of these fumes can/will irritate the goats lungs and they can develop pneumonia. Pneumonia in goats more times than not results in the death of the goat.

If you buy a dog igloo, get the large size (over 50lb animal) and flat bottomed igloos are easier to rake out.

Water

automatic bowl waterer Make sure you have a freshwater delivery system as well. So as you prepare your farm now is the perfect time to run some PVC and setup a livestock waterer.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-automatic-waterer

We recommend a bowl type that mounts to a fence and includes a float and if you have high water pressure (above 50 PSI) use interactive watering devices like a paddle water bowl that requires your goat to push on a level with their nose. Put these waterers high enough so they cannot poop in them. Also be prepared to use a cinderblock so your bucklings and doelings can reach the water until they grow taller.

If piped water is not available, use a flat backed bucket and a bracket to mount it securely to the wall of a barn or wooden fence. These buckets are great for feeding.

Feeders

Flat backed buckets work great for livestock feeder feeding grain, but if you have many goats I would consider a trough that mounts to the fence. Goats are messy with their hay so use a large trough or a hay feeder.

livestock grain trough

What to Feed Nigerian Dwarf Goats

Most people think goats will feed on anything, “tin cans,” but this simply isn’t true; they are actually very picky eaters. In spite of popular belief, Nigerian Dwarf Goats are not strictly grazers actually, they’re browsers. The difference between the two are browsers like to take a nibble here and a nibble there of any bush or tree that they might have access to on your property. Shrubs and leafy plants will be the first things that goats go for, especially the pretty ones! They will eat grass but if they have a choice they will choose leafy plants as evidenced in my backyard. All our bushes are stripped of leaves and the trees are trimmed perfectly at goat head height! However, we still don’t mow our lawn because goats will default to the grass once everything else is no longer reachable.

Now that there is some common ground in defining Nigerian Goat feeding behavior let’s talk about what to feed. What you feed your Nigerian goats depends on 2 things:

The nutritional quality of the soil in which the feed is grown.
The gender and stage of your Nigerian goat.

What to feed Nigerian Dwarf Does

The feeding regime we implement for our Nigerian does involves using quality alfalfa hay in the morning and quality forage hay in the evening. Alfalfa is legume hay and contains more calcium and protein than forage/grass hays. Legume hay (alfalfa) will have about twice as much calcium and protein as grass hay. Does in milk and their growing kids will benefit from the extra protein provided in the legume type of hay. Forage hay as well as Timothy, Bermuda and Orchard grass hay are all grass hays with lower protein and calcium percentages.

What to feed Pregnant Does and growing Kids

Our does are supplemented with a mixture 2:1:1 rolled oats, BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds), and Alfalfa pellets. Does that are in the late stages of pregnancy, about 1 month to go, are given this grain mixture to give them extra nutrition and energy for the finishing of fetal & mammary development. Growing goat kids also need the extra protein provided by the grain. You may be able to find some premixed grain rations available in farm supply/feed stores. Check the label to ensure that the grain mixture is around 16% protein, 16% calcium to 8% phosphorus.

In the end you will have a grain mixture that looks like the picture on the right.

What to feed Milk Does

If you have Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats as a source of your own milk, there are things yo can do to influence the flavor of their milk. We have found that if you feed the Nigerian Dwarf Does a 2:1 ratio of the mixture above and shredded beet pulp the combination of the beet pulp and the BOSS will sweeten the milk. It is also a good idea to keep your milking does away from eucalyptus trees and leaves.

You may also want to read our article on feeding Nigerian Dwarf Wethers

Feeding Nigerian Dwarf Goats

Feeding Nigerian dwarf goats can be as complicated as you want to make it. There are a hardy animal that are easy to please but the simplest of diets could affect the quality of their milk.

Simplest goat diet

The simplest goat diet is to just let them roam free and eat to their hearts content all the weeds they can find. You’re guaranteed to have a very clean property and content goats, they will first only eat the weeds that they like and we’ll go after each weed type by preference so before a property is completely cleared it could be several weeks to months depending on size. And alternative to this method would be to use temporary fencing and locate the goats in a zone of weeds leaving them there until there’s nothing left but dirt. You will be pleased to see just how fast goats can cut down all the weeds and leave plenty of goat fertilizer behind. If you choose this method be sure to always leave to them free minerals so they can self-regulate the most important of these is a big tub of baking soda.

Again this can work against you especially if you are milking goats as what they eat will leave a taint and their milk. This may not be too bad if they’re eating sweet potatoes or yams but entirely bad if they’re in a forest full of eucalyptus.

Simplest feeding plan

If you are breeding goats, raising kids, or milking them you will want to get them on a more controlled diet. you can see a significant difference in the health of baby goats and the quality of the milk and then the sheen of their coat by the variety of foods that you get that give them. New basic feeding plan would start with alfalfa hay and grain always a continuous supply of freshwater, and free minerals one bucket of minerals would be baking soda, and another bucket of minerals would be one with supplements.

We have some more specific feed articles that are best for Bucks and Wethers, Pregnant Does, and Milkers.

Feeding Nigerian Dwarf Bucks and Wethers

Feeding Nigerian Dwarf Milkers