Hello everyone, I have 2 young( 4month old) wethers coming next sunday,and am very excited!! I have only had females before,,we're talking pygmy's..I wondered if there is any special feed required to keep down the chance of getting crystals in their urinary tract.? I plan on feeding fresh hay available at all times,and grain in the morning,,is this correct? and is there anything that I should watch out for with wethers? (food wise) I have ducks and a giant rabbit and the goats may get at their food at times. thanks all!
Im a new goat owner myself so do not know a lot im still learning. But i think chicken and duck food is bad for goats. I would think rabbit food would be ok if they only got a little bit of it. My goats got into the rabbit shed a few times and ate the pellets that dropped down onto the ground and there fine. Hopefully someone with my experience can help you. O And welcome this is a great forum to learn from
Thank you,! I will try to keep the ducks feeding area away from them then,,I will only feed them IN their duck run..but you know goats! they want to get into everything! LOL
It's very important that goats do not get into rabbit or poultry feed......as far as feeding wethers, I fed mine 1/2 cup of goat ration until they were about 1yr per my vet and now I only give them that same amount as grown nigi's and pygmy mixes during the winter months, they really don't need it.....but makes me feel better. I also buy a ration that has AC added to it for urinary stone issues and I add AC to their loose minerals, it is cheap...I order it from Hoeggers, it comes with directions on how to mix with minerals.
Thanks Denise,,would you mind telling me what AC is?? So when I go get the feed I can ask them for it.. thanks !
Ammonium Chloride (food grade) is used in a ratio to help acidify the urine to prevent urinary calculi. Hoeggars supply carries it and there are some meat goat feeds that have it added, I provide my goats with Manna Pro loose goat minerals which has the AC added already. www.thegoatstore.com they also carry numerous goat neccessities as well. The feed store may have it but if it's only available in a lamb/sheep feed, I'd get it from Hoeggars and mix it into a goat specific ration, sheep feeds don't have copper in them and goats absolutely need to have copper in their diet.
AC is to help with stones but the most important thing is to be sure that you Ca ratio is approx. 2:1 I wouldn't feed alfalfa as that is high in Ca (and too rich? I think I remember that)and tends to upset the balance. I have more notes on this from a long conversation I had w/my vet so if you are interested I'll try to dig them up...
