i went to get feed and noticed that it was chuncky and moldy looking :roll: so i threw it out and went to the local feed store. all they had was something called goat chow brand by purina. it coast 16 dollars a bag but i got it anyway cause the feed mill is about an hour away and i wont be able to get up there for awhile. is this a good feed? they were on a medicated pellet feed.
Yes purina is a good feed. It is expensive as you noticed though. Watch that they don't get the runs on the sudden switch in feed. If they do give them some pepto (dosage is like 3ccs for kids and 6ccs for adults).
i would not consider purina goat chow a good feed for goats. there is too much molasses and grain byproducts in there. you would be much better off to mix your own grain. this will garanty that you will always have the same mix, and the best part, it will not get cacky or moldy. molasses feed gets moldy very fast and unfortunately sometimes unnoticed from the care giver. my girls do excellent on oats, barley, sunflower seed and calf manna ( the only manufactured feed on the milk stand) barley is somehow expencive and i think you can leave that out. i have a girlfriend in alabama and she only feeds oats to her girls. of course they have hay, browse and mineral salt what kind of goats do you have? working goats or pets?
I use a molasses based feed and I never have issues with it going moldy. I only purchase what I need at the time and it lasts me about a month. I don't have the space nor the ability to mix my own grain - it would get moldy before I used it all. I know people who use purina feeds with great success - obvious the member knows what moldy feed looks and smells like since that is why she ran out to get more feed.
stacy i guess this is one of these opinion things maybe this is because we differ so much in our management. i can say that i'm very happy how my dairy girls look on the grain mix, they have to work very hard too, milking between 1 and 2 gallon per day at their peak. one doe is milking since january last year, and she still milks about 6 pounds.. the mix i make is also not as expensive as purina. since it is a dry mix, it doesn't mold at all. no waste. one thing i want to add, too much molasses in feed and does will have more congestion in their udder when they freshen. there is more problem with metabolic disease because too much sugar will deplete vit b which will through off rumen balance. do the goat love to eat the sweet feed? i pet they do. same with children that want their mc donalds fast food and sweets. but is it really healthy in the long run?
My goats wont touch the purina goat chow. I gave it to them once because my feed store ran out of dairy goat pellets and they ended up just giving me a bag for the price of the pellets. Took forever to get rid of that bag. I had to mix it with other grain and they would still pick all the other grain out before they would touch the purina.
I think it depends what the goats get use too. I have 4 different types of feed stores in my area and I have found that my girls prefer Poulin Sweet 18 , they turn their noses up at Blue Seal and Purina. I was feeding a canadian mix until it got VERY costly. I have never had a problem with molasses feed getting moldy if stored in plastic trash barrels and moisture kept out of it. I found that they get bored with premium milk maker pellets. My girls average 12 to15 lbs a day for the first 6mos of their lactation so I have to say it is a good feed.
don't get me wrong - I would LOVE to mix my own grain. I think it is healthier for them and probably would be cheeper. I just know that not everyone has that opportunity and there goats can be healthy on premixed grains. I have been using the same sweet feed for going on 12 years, never had an issue. One thing that I don't do is over feed. I feed grain in a minimal amount because it isn't their main diet. I rather spend the money on good hay.
I feed mine Purina and mine absolutely love it. I have tried to get mine off of it since it costs so much. There is not much choice that I have found around here. I have bought Intimidator and sweet feed for horses (as the feed stores don't carry a lot of choices here) and haven't had any luck. I never had any problems with being moldy..etc. I will say Purina does date their bags when made. Did have one instance where I got an old bag...buggy and yucky! So, I will check the dates before taking them home. As far as mixing feeds, don't have the capacity and the mill here requires a min. of 1000lb purchase. Too much for me at this time, feed about 50lbs a week. Hope this helps! :greengrin:
i mix my own grain, i feed a mix of rolled oats rolled barley alfafa pellets calf manna BOSS and dry cob. I prefere not to feed a bunch of sugar. sinse i have started this mix my goats look great. They also have purina minerals and kelp. i use the roughneck brand plastic garbage cans to mix feed. I can fit three fifty lb bags in one can. so even if you feed three different things, say barley oats and cob, you can get one of each and mix them. one garbage can doesnt take up much room. i have four garbage cans, one for oats one for barley one of alfafa pellets and one for cob. I buy all my feed at once. three bags of each thing. I go through less BOSS and calf manna, so only buy one bag at a time this is stored in rubbermaid boxes with lids. minerals are stored in big buckets with lids., it doesnt take much room to store feed this way. Im not a fan of any of the pre mixed grains i have tried, they are usually coated in molasses mold faster and the goats pick through them. This mixture i have been using my goats eat everything. beth
I fed mine purina also until I realized that Southern States was a dollar cheaper and the same feed. I tried other grains and feed for a cheaper price and they have refused to eat it. My pygmy's look great and I only buy what I need. I never store feed for more than a month in teh summer months. Winter, no problem.
I have never fed Purina but I personally havent heard much good about it. I used a feed similar to it developed by my feed store and a goat breeder...my goats loved it and it didnt have much molasses in it. I now feed a sweet feed for horses but it doesnt contain a lot of molasses either. I am very happy with my feed and it costs about $8.50/ 50# bag. I buy 2 at a time. 2 bags last me about 2 weeks. I also add BOSS to their grain. I have never had a problem with my feed molding for the goats but I dont have my feed for very long either.
I feed ADM ShowGoat Breeders Maintenance formula (something like that). It's non medicated and I mix in BOSS. I love the feed. It's about $11.50 per 50# bag. My goats looks great and I only use about 8 bags per month for 19 goats including weanlings and nursing does.
I would definately keep feeding the purina feed! We have been switching feeds throughout my 7 years of showing and we have found that purina show feeds are one of the best feeds when you can't mix your own. Our show goats get other supplements like starglo and fitters 35 or champion drive and are fed steam rolled oats, so we use the purina feed Impulse which has less fat and more protein. Here is even a before/after picture of my favorite doe thats only been fed this feed for ONE MONTH!! It made her wayy more defined and se grew very fast! I was so impressed.
I swear by Blue Seal and swear at Purina. Just a personal choice because of some things I found out about Purina and some comments a so called nutrition rep made about copper and selenium. My goats LOVE the BS Premium dairy goat pellet. They will eat the Caprine Challenger (sweet feed) but are not crazy about it. They also love the BS Energizer feeds (dairy cattle feed).
I agree here I LOVE the BS feeds! my goats do really well on it I switch back and forth between the Premium Dairy Goat and Caprine Challenger they love both of them Haven't tried the dairy cattle feeds but know people who have and loved them
I fed my 2 does on Purina goat chow growing up for over a year and they did great. (along with alfalfa pellets, orchard grass, minerals). I switched to a locally made feed because it's cheaper (PGC is $23 here!!!) and has no preservatives, is very fresh. But they still LOVE the PGC and I keep some on hand for special treats.
