Posted by Vicki McGaugh on April 06, 2001 at 14:04:26:
In Reply to: Lots of questions! posted by Kim on April 05, 2001 at 18:47:39:
Yes the 10% sweet feed will cause urinary calculi in your wether, because of the molassas which really needs no grain at all. The reason the commerical mix is working is because it contains ammonium chloride. If you want to use the 10% feed than purchase a small amount of ammonium chloride from Goatworld.com and add 1 teaspoon of this to his grain each day. Would probably be better than buying 50 pounds of grain that takes for ever to go through for just one wether. I also understand that you want to give him something when you feed your horse!
You could eaisly worm your wether with whatever you are using for your horse, and living up north, and also with only one goat, you probably don't need to be worming much. Double the dose of whatever you use, Zimectrin, Safeguard etc. Do you worm your horse on a schedule? If your vet does fecal samples for your horse to determine your worming needs than they can easily do it for the goats.
Go to caprinesupply.com order yourself the catalog. Shows exactly how to trim feet, and farrier's usually trim goats feet since so many folks keep goats in with their horses. A goat wieght tape, a pair of Shear Majic hoof trimmers and all the info in that catalog would really be a help. Hoof trimming needs to be done when it looks overgrown, though we do it monthly, you certainly don't have to do it that often, perhaps every 3 months, once again going to depend upon what your soil is like, ours is spongy leaf and pine mulch. That is so great that your horse and goat get along so well! Vicki