This is just a short and simple post about our homemade dairy goat feed.
We make our own, for many reasons.
it’s cheaper
it’s healthier
I know exactly what’s in it
I can control it for health and wellness purposes
We started making our own feed last summer when we had health problems in our herd. It was the best decision we made! It’s not very difficult and my 11 year old can even mix up a batch on her own.
Here’s the recipe:
5 cups oats
5 cups barley
1 cup black oil sunflower seeds (3 cups for milking does)
1 cup cracked corn
Usually I double it and keep it in a 5 gallon bucket. You can optionally add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and then 8 cups of water and let this soak overnight. Out goats did not like this concoction, so we just feed it to them dry.
I give my buck and dry/pregnant LaManchas 1/2 lb per feeding or 1 lb per day, according to Fiasco Farm’s recommendations. For milking does, I do 1.5 lbs per feeding or 3 lbs per day. I also up the amount of sunflower seeds to 3 cups in the mixture.
I do have one picky goat who will only eat this mixed with store bought pellets, so I do that for her.
That’s it! I know, this is very simple today, but I just wanted to share with you how we make our own dairy goat feed. I will have another post about goat’s nutritional needs and will link that here once I get it done.
As always, thank you for being here! I appreciate you very much!
I’ve been trying to figure out if there is something that can be used to replace the corn in this recipe. Any suggestions? Thanks for any help you can provide. I’m trying to avoid corn and soy if possible.
Hi! Thank you for your time spent here. 🙂 You can just not use the corn at all and keep everything else the same. Feeding corn to goats can be controversial and everyone needs to do what they feel comfortable with. I would just not include it in this recipe. Thank you again for your time and I hope that was helpful!
Thanks for this recipe! I was curious of what type of barley to use and if you have a recommendation?
I’ve been trying to figure out if there is something that can be used to replace the corn in this recipe. Any suggestions? Thanks for any help you can provide. I’m trying to avoid corn and soy if possible.
Hi! Thank you for your time spent here. 🙂 You can just not use the corn at all and keep everything else the same. Feeding corn to goats can be controversial and everyone needs to do what they feel comfortable with. I would just not include it in this recipe. Thank you again for your time and I hope that was helpful!