Posted by Vicki McGaugh on May 11, 2001 at 22:51:12:
In Reply to: Re: proper weight-question 2 posted by melissa on May 10, 2001 at 07:50:35:
12% protein is a little low and you will want to make sure it is all plant protein with no animal protein in it at all or you may be really feeding even less than that. Ask the feed dealer to find out how much percentage of molassas is in the feed, less than 10% is ideal, 6% is about perfect, higher and they have so much acid in their rumen that without feeding lots of baking soda, they simply can't assimilate all the grain a great milker needs. I do know with your cashmere to get the best hair you also would want the protein to be higher than 12%. When you want to put weight on your goats, think carbohydrates, like with us, bread, cakes, cookies :) So increasing the real grains of their feed, like oats, barley, some corn, and even better is Black Oil Sunflowerseeds. Great 14% protein, a really good source of fat, with its own little hull of roughage making it just about impossible to cause stomach problems even if they over feed on them. Like all things in nutrition make all your changes very slowly. Vicki