This blog post is inspired by a comment on our YouTube- What do we feed our Nigerian Dwarf goats? The essentials to feed your goats include: hay, minerals, treats, and grain (goat feed). Let’s take a look at each of these categories and how we approach feeding our goats.
Hay – The Cornerstone of a Healthy Goat
Goats need free access to hay. Free access means they always have the ability to eat hay, night or day. It’s their primary nutrition source and should account for about 80% or more of their diet. We started feeding our Nigerian dwarf does with a combination of coastal hay and peanut hay. We soon found out that most of the coastal hay would go to waste as our girls prefer peanut hay. Now, we exclusively feed them peanut hay whenever possible. If we run short on peanut due to local situations, we feed them an alfalfa/orchard mix from the local feed store.
They’re Minerals Marie!
The other essential piece of any goat’s diet is minerals. Goats needs access to a balanced free mineral solution. We use Mana Pro’s Goat Minerals and order them from Amazon using subscribe and save. This way, we always have a steady supply for our goats. Additionally, we order a Pink Himalayan Salt Block on subscribe and save to ensure they can freely access this.
Goat Treats – Not Just for Good Behavior
With how we operate, we consider two major categories of treats. First, are the pure treats. These include dedicated goat treats and any other treats we might feed them. You can find a variety of different goat treats at your local feed store, or you might order them from Amazon like we do. Alternatively, you can feed goats things raisins, Cheerios, and some other less-than-healthy snacks. In small amounts, it’s perfectly fine to treat them with these.
Alternatively, we also rely heavily on alfalfa pellets when feeding our goats. These pellets are compressed alfalfa, so while you can overfeed them with these, you don’t have to worry quite as much as you do with traditional treats. In fact, we rely on these pellets when milking our goats, giving a metered portion of grain and using alfalfa pellets to help keep their attention after they finish their main feed.
When to Use Goat Feed
The final category, grain, is only to be used in moderation. For pregnant or lactating goats, we feed a cup of gain each day to supplement their hay intake and ensure they are getting plenty of nutrition to support the extra energy they need. Like treats, there are different formulations of feed, but we usually just rely on the goat feed from Rural King to supply steady nutrition. You may also have more specialized feed at your local store.
Regardless, these are the mains categories of food to consider when raising any kind of goat. If you have Nigerian dwarf goats and need help on how much or how often to feed, feel free to reach out. Otherwise, it’s recommended you ensure you’re feeding the right amount to your goats based on their breed and size. Thanks for stopping by, and God bless!