# Feed Prices ...



## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

We paid 10.05 a bag for generic feed store brand layer pellets yesterday. That is just unreal. Oats are over 9 dollars a bag. Not long ago they were 7 a bag, sometimes even under 7 dollars. Thankfully Alfalfa is holdling out for now. My understanding is feed prices are expected to only go up. 

What if you couldn't buy feed? Would you be able to keep your goats? Would a person just have to breed their goats every other year? Let them have a little fat on them when they kid and manage their fields for high quality forage? Perhaps time their kiddings for when their grasses are in seed? Grow some pumpkins, corn, root crops? Where and how to store them? Do you have enough land to feed your animals? I know I don't, unless we moved over to Rea Valley where we have some more land. It would have to be cleared though.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Ashley, 

two ways to go about this ... obviously higher feed prices will drive up price of milk. If I can't turn profit, I won't be raising goats except perhaps a family milker or I will buy my milk.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

With that said, we just recently changed out set up that the goats can roam my 5 acres freely all day long and browse. My previous plan was that we would have to fence and cross fence the back 5 acres. The cheaper solution was to extend the small yard surrounding the house (where goats don't have access) and turn the rest of the property to pasture. They love it and life has been much much cheaper (I mean one bucket of pellets instead of 50lbs) and they are producing more and looking great. Since we have free browse I finally chose to utilize it.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

To save on expensive grain I have a group of bred does and yearlings (plus a friendly buck) grazing/browsing. I do give them some hay, but no grain at the moment and they look great. One group of my older milking does also gets to do some browsing in a small pasture beside the barn.

I try to find low cost, but reasonable quality hay. Right now I'm pretty lucky with some nice grassy alfalfa hay, but all through the winter I used hay that I got for less than $15/big square bale. It was hay from a farmer who had enough and it wasn't the quality he needed for his dairy cows, so if we baled and hauled it ourselves we could have it. Found someone to bale it for us, hauled it ourselves. Got me through the winter, and then some! 

As for grain: I feed as little as possible, without shortchanging the high producers. My does get 'all you can eat grain' while they're being milked, but I mix the 16% dairy goat feed ($15 +/50 lbs bag, OUCH) with about half whole corn (a LOT cheaper, gets my mix to about $10/50 lbs, or even less, depending what deal I can get on the corn, which I get in bulk in a gravity box). With this 50/50 mix the does can't overload on high protein, high dollar feed, but they do get enough protein and energy to keep their production up. I let the ones that produce less, or are somewhat overweight go out of the parlor as soon as they're done milking, while the high producers get to stay until their whole group of 5 is done. Not a super scientific system, but it works really well for me and keeps things affordable.

This is a great topic, Ashley, and I can't wait to hear how other goat farmers are dealing with these increasing feed costs.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Ashley said:


> What if you couldn't buy feed? Would you be able to keep your goats? Would a person just have to breed their goats every other year?


I think we all come to a point where we find our amazing 'hobby' is now suddenly an extravagant luxury we can't afford with these feed prices. We decided our goats had to start paying for their feed, so instead of decreasing the herd, we kept every doe and decided to go 'commercial'. With as little a budget as we have, we could not build a (small, simple) grade A parlor AND buy enough good does to fill the tank, but realizing I couldn't be the only one frowning at the feed bill, I asked around and found two trusted goat breeders, who like to show, but don't like to milk and especially don't like to pay for all that feed (as a matter of fact one of them was just about to sell her herd, because she didn't know how to pay for feed anymore). So now I milk their goats, they still own them, but don't have any feed or 'maintenance costs'. I have to feed and take care of a lot more animals, but get to sell the milk (almost..., should be next week). This way we all profit from this situation!


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

I don't know if y'all saw I had posted about a nightmare I had where there was a bunch of people standing around at the feed store wondering what we were going to do because something awful had happened and we couldn't get feed anymore.
So obviously it is something I think about. Right now I pour money into the herd and don't get much in return. I think if I depended on browse only i could support about half the number of goats I have, but without some really knowledgeable management, it would just be a matter of time before it would be useless.
I have also thought about fodder pumpkins and squash. The seeds inside and the flesh would provide quite a bit of nutrition. Sunflowers. With this stuff you would need to section off land to grow it. So it would limit how much land is available in the summer for grazing.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

The corn is not a solution in the south here, since we are already in the 100's.


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## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

"The corn is not a solution in the south here, since we are already in the 100's."

Please enlighten my ignorance Jana... why is corn not an option in the heat?


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Yeah, this is tricky, since we are all in such different parts of the country. Okay, brainstorming here: we used to have a dairy in TX, and we had coastal for grazing the dry cows, that did produce some reasonably good grazing, but only part of the year. Other things we did to have forage year round (apart from of course the corn silage for the cows, which is not a good option for goats) was have some winter wheat, which we cut/chopped and fed fresh (some years this even worked in Dec/January, and at least it got us closer to when the coastal would be producing again), and Sudan grass, which may work for goats in it's younger stages? Pumpkins seem like a lot of work, a high risk crop in TX (dry) weather and although they produce volume, they would probably produce less dry matter than the 'grass/wheat type' crops. We also experimented with having different types of grasses in one field, picking types with different peak growing seasons, Like Coastal with Matua grass (although I remember that one was a bit tricky to manage), and Coastal with winter wheat seeded through it, so you extend the growing season. Just some ideas to start off new ideas! 

I am 'stuck' with an alfalfa field here, but I want to mix it with a grass/clover/herb mixture this fall to see if that would give better browsing here in MI next spring/summer. Barenbrug has a seedmixture called 'Browsemaster', which is suitable for the southern part of the US and it is especially geared towards goats, containing chicory, red clover, alfalfa and forage brassica. Personally, I think that figuring out what grows well in your area and then creating your own seed-mix is probably the best option.


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## tendermeadowsnigerians (Sep 8, 2010)

I was going to order more feed for the calves which we were feeding a mix from a local mill it was $126 for 500lbs I was going to order more but the price has jumped to $179 for 500lbs!!! So they are going to get what the milking girls get its a mix of oats & barley with a little cracked corn & soybean to make 16% the other mill charges $10 for a 50lb bag plus we get a 4-H discount its 5% and every little bit helps.


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## tendermeadowsnigerians (Sep 8, 2010)

I planted Plotspike forage feast seed in 2 small pastures, its supposed to be for attracting deer but the goats love it and it grows great here with now real maintenence. 
Whats in it: PlotSpike's exclusive forage oat along with small grains and 20% premium forage rape, clover and Austrian winter peas.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Karen, 

corn produces heat, it is used to warm the animals up some in the winter and we usuaully cut out as much as possible of the corn in our grain mix in summer. 

To add to the discussion, my girls are doing great grazing on plantain pasture.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Concerning pumpkins - we went with a friend and collected free pumpkins from a town HAlloween/Thanksgiving display that were headed for the trash and I fed it through late fall and winter as snacks to the girls (we got a truck load). They lasted stored outside (off the ground some) for a long time as they would sometimes freeze. Pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc I believe, and we had nice coats in late fall and early winter. So many pumpkins going to waste each year from the town decorating, contact your local city hall and see if you can get them  There were also corn husks, etc. and bales of hay (some can be used for bedding, etc) We only got the pumpkins but I will be exploring this option again this coming fall.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I would think that everyone is thinking about this now, before they can't afford feed. What is the goal of your farm? Do all the goats at your farm bring you to your goal? (If you have 3 or four goats you make excuses about why they are there, butcher them). Do you sell all your kids each year for the prices you want (cause if you don't, it may already be time to only kid out every other year). Do you sell all your milk or utilize it in your home? If not maybe it's time to sell down on the amounts of milkers you have. How many pets can you afford? There are always cheaper alternatives for feed than the $15 oats here, it just takes a lot of doing to find it. Just recently in talking with a horse gal I found out she gets her 16% allgrain for her horses, with beet pulp and rice bran, roasted soybeans, oats, barley and corn, and an ADM mineral mix, pelleted because as her horses aged, they were sorting out anything that is harder, she has it pelleted and then only pays $11 per 50 when purchasing the 3 tons, she then sells the extra she can't use in 1 month. I brought some home to see if the girls would eat it, a handful over their milkstand grain and they loved it...so I will be moving to it, it's a little higher in fat than even I feed and much higher in roughage it will be an intersting change. She also has much better hay than I have ever seen which she buys by the semiload. So I started in goats hooked up with a sheep guy, then deer guys and now a horse gal...so think outside the box when dealing with your goats. 

For those who don't cringe at lard, feeding bakery products to your goats in the dry period or when they are growing and to bucks is a good alternative, high in fat and energy/calories.

But for me, when I have to move to a byproduct pellet that contains god knows what in it, I will sell goats down before feeding it and pretending it doesn't effect the quality of milk I am producing. Vicki


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## Odeon (Oct 26, 2007)

Vicki makes some great points... I think tough economic times actually can make us better breeders.. it forces is to cull animals that we probably "should" have culled some time ago. By only being able to afford to feed your BEST, then you are only having kids from your BEST! I think of it as forced culling.. it may make you look at difficult choices, but in the end, the breed may be better for it...

Just my 2 cents....


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## lonestrchic23 (Jan 7, 2011)

Oats are $12.99 here now! Hay is up too thanks to the drought we're in.......and I'm feeding a good bit of hay since all of our vegetation was lost to wildfires & hadn't come back thanks to no rain....

Two of my girls are reserved and leaving soon.... Put two kids in the freezer....I have a friend who is going to use my Alpine buck to breed 4 of her does late fall in exchange for local oats & a bunch of hay.

This is purely a hobby for me..... I can't legally sell milk, though I've had several ask for it. We drink a LOT of milk though, so it all works out.....as long as I keep myself in check & don't keep anything I don't need.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Having a separate bank account for the farm expenses really helps too.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I like trading services/stuff too, like lonestrchic23 mentioned. Today we traded the use of our skid loader by a neighborhood farmer for one cutting of 25 acres of his grass/alfalfa hay (we'll have to mow, bale, and haul ourselves, but no cost for the hay). Also, my neighbor is a veterinarian, and we exchanged her doing a health check for my does going to a show, for my husband AI breeding her cow. 

I think culling more is also an excellent point and I can't wait to get to that (I have some candidates, that take better care of themselves than of my milk-tank), but right now it's all hands on deck to produce just enough milk to get it picked up by the coop. Won't be long though: this fall a few of the 'border-liners' are going to get a one way trip to the auction or butcher....

I have been thinking about trying to get outdated bread/bakery items for dry does for quite a while and Vicki just got me more determined to go out and see what I can find. I have a few does who love bread, but also a few who don't care for it, so I'm kind of wondering how it will work out overall? Worth a try!


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

I had to quit feeding Noble Goat once it hit $14.79 a bag..... I am back to a plain old COB. I am so glad that we raise our own hay, because if we didn't -- there is NO way. Our sheep friend just contracted for this year's 3rd cutting at $240 a ton. Over double what it went for last year, and if he contracted that price, they are expecting it to be higher.

I have several show does that are going to have to go....Girls I would like to hold on to, but I just can't keep them all. I also have 17 doe kids out there that need to be thinned out -- these are the best of the crop, but again -- can't keep them all


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

That is the hardest part Tracy, selling out animals you know you should keep...that is what I am doing right now...when even your family who doesn't even pay attention sees someone leave "your selling her/him"????  V


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I am planning to stop feeding commercial feed when I get milkers back. I can still get native oats and alfalfa pellets fairly reasonably (at least for now). I have no place for browse, but I can probably trim along back roads or grab limbs form woodlots that are being worked. 

I use "dead bread" for the goats. They don't get a lot, but they get a snack of it at night during the winter months. I save the whole grain bread products for the goats and horses and the rest goes to the hens. I've been doing this for years and it works out well. The goats/horses think they are being spoiled, they carry a nice layer of insulation thru the bitter cold winter months and the feed bill is not as high.


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## Creamers (Apr 4, 2011)

I pay $10.99 a bag for buckeye goat feed - 4% fat 16% protein


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

The cheapest goat feed around here is now close to 15.00/50 The whole oats are 12.00/80. They seem to like the oats better.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

I can get the Sondra Mix mixed for me at the feed mill for about the same price as Purina Goat Chow.


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## akhalpin (May 17, 2011)

This has been an interesting thread. When mixing and matching various feeds and browse, how do you make sure your protein and calcium phosphorous ratio is good? Especially when they are eating browse? My goats are browsing during the day...depending on where I move them it could be just grass (of various wild types) or weeds or shrubs or fur/pine...I have no idea what the calcium phosphorous ratio would be on their browse. My milkers get a 4/10th COB, 4/10th all breed pelleted feed, and 2/10th BOSS mix on the stanchion.


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## Creamers (Apr 4, 2011)

Whole oats are $19 an 80 here - when mixing COB and adding BOSS in - I wasn't pleased with the condition, but as soon as I put them on a premixed, quality ration, production and condition improved. . .now with horses, I do feed whole oats sometimes - and condition is maintained as good on those as anything I've fed save the highest dollar feeds out there that run $20 a 50 or so.


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

Alfalfa prices here are unreal. I spend more on quality hay then I do on grain... but I've learned that skimping on hay isn't going to save you a dime in the long run.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

When you live on the west of the Mississippi and especially in the south, there is no such thing as a quality premixed ration...the byproducts used are simply disgusting when your thinking about drinking, selling or using the milk in cheese etc.... I can get a 16% feed for under $9, but I simply won't feed that to dairy goats.

Allyison I don't count my browse, I fix my TMR for what is supplied in the barn, and since the mainstay of the goats ration is alfalfa pellets, I know my calicum to pho is much higher than neeeded. Vicki


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Vicki, you got me scared! What IS in those feeds????


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Most of the time you have no idea what byproducts are used...be them protein, roughage or fat byproducts...here it's easier. We also found out during the BSE problems and meat and bone and bloodmeal were outlawed in feeds for ruminants, then found in them again...they then had to disclose what was being used. Fish and feathermeal is the most used protein. Bakery products is the most used fat. The real problems for our goats is that with byproduct feed tags only guarantee protein, fat and roughage, to get to those numbers it can change each milling, and we know how poorly goats due with change. Find out the protein, fat and roughage in your byproducts feed tags...it is detective work because your feed dealer has no idea either. East of the Mississippi, protein can come from really great things like the byproducts from soy or peanuts, real things our goats would actually eat if given the chance  Vicki


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

I know that Tracy is saying that hay is high but it is still cheaper than grain;. I find that by feeding the highest quality hay I can get (which is stall cheaper on a per ton basis than most "feeds") I can eliminate grain for all but my milkers on the stand and still maintain good growth rates and healthy goats.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

We grow our own hay (alfalfa and prairie) and I want to plant oats next year. And maybe sunflowers. Now to figure out some way to store a year's worth of oats (I see a grain bin in my future.)


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians said:


> That is the hardest part Tracy, selling out animals you know you should keep...that is what I am doing right now...when even your family who doesn't even pay attention sees someone leave "your selling her/him"????  V


Exactly. I get the "GASP -- why would you sell HER/HIM???" Well, if you fill up your barn with the older girls -- where do you make room to keep the younger up and comers? And then when Right now Allure is going on the sales list, as is Wind Chill and possibly a few more. Sigh. There is literally a pen of SEVENTEEN doelings and I like them all for one reason or another -- well, good kids out of some nice breedings have to get sold. What else can you do?

Here's a blast from the past -- an old feed receipt from October of 2005 -- *50* bags of alfalfa pellets - $237.50 Bag of laying mash $8.00.


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## Holly Govero (Mar 26, 2009)

I talked to my feed store. I was lil happy to hear that they DO make pellets if I can find the ingredients for them to make it for my goats to eat. And My custom made feed is going way too high. I need to start looking for different ways to feed my goats. But he said he made his own pellets for me to try. It looks like my goats liked it . He said he did not put molasses in it and it is rice bran and soy hulls and other stuff. What do you think about that?? I really need more help about getting ingredients for him to make the pellets for my goats. His pellets cost me 6. 65 dollars per bag. I was surprised to hear that he will make pellets for me if i need him do as long i find the ingredients. Sorry hijack this..


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## Red Mare (Apr 23, 2011)

I feed Purina goat chow right now- 
and pay pretty high for it. 
Hay is also expensive, but the nigerians aren't hay burners like the big guys are. 

Since I am in south florida- I would love to here what you would suggest feeding Vikki! (Remember I don't milk currently, just breed and show!) 
I'm worried now also!! 
The biggest problem is ease of feeding. My mom is the main caretaker as even though we own the farm together- it's her residence. 

We feed the goat chow, free choice horse quality coastal, and evening feeding of Alfalfa or T/A high A if my dealer doesn't have straight A in.)


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Whitney, goats don't get grain here unless they are growing, 100 days pregnant or milking. So it would be easy to feed yours, pen your growing kids seperatly, put them on the chow and feed the rest coastal hay and some alfalfa daily. The rest you gotta do what you gotta do...I am feeding 3 grandboys and my great nephew who is just 1, my milk customers are elderly, sick, and the very young...to feed them healthy milk while knowing that I have no idea what really is in the feed I am feeding, or worse know what is in it but can't disclose it....I simply can't do it. So this conversation isn't about what I would tell someone else to do, it was what I do  V


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Mar 2, 2009)

Feed prices continue to rise, everything else continues to rise. The only thing not going up is our income. We are actually facing giving up our herd. The cost to properly care for them is just getting to be too much.


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## Bar-K Nubians (May 13, 2011)

We are sell a few more goats here too, I sold 7 yearlings and milkers this spring but feed goes up every time I go to the feed store.......... :help. Oats last week were $10.50 50# and chops $9.75 50#, alfalfa pellets are $255 a ton if you buy them in bulk! They are $10.99 for 40# at TSC. I've been adding SBM to the oats/chops mix to up the protein and its only $8.75 50#

Kelly


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## IndyGardenGal (Jun 11, 2009)

We are in a good position with contacts in the local area. We are going to start growing transitional (organic) grains and we can sell all of it locally above the normal prices for those crops. DH is also going to try to get a few smaller acre plots to rent from to start haying as well. We also keep our numbers low because we milk for personal consumption only.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Someone mentioned that using better (more expensive) hay pays off, since you can save on your grain bill. I already agreed with that, but just to illustrate that point: I just started feeding (a lot) better hay and apart from me taking some hi-pro grain away from my milkers, they actually choose to eat less of the grain themselves, too, while they are milking. High producers who were eating the full 5-6 lbs of grain (about 10-12% protein 50/50 corn/Purina mix), are now down to about 3-3.5 lbs by their own choice. Apparently, getting more protein out of the much nicer and tastier Alfalafa hay that I have now, they don't feel like they need that much grain and are 'balancing their own ration'. They ARE gulping down that hay, though...... Hope it lasts me for a little while!

I know I am still in charge of balancing the ration, but I was surprised to find that goats are apparently smarter than cows and are more naturally eating what's right for them. I wonder if that has to do with them being browsers instead of grazers. After all, If I have a sick goat that's off feed, I do let them out of their pen and they tend to find something they do want, and it usually gets them back on track. I LOVE MY GOATS! They are such problem solvers! :biggrin


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