# whole soybeans



## chewie (Jul 26, 2008)

can i feed them? would be easier for me to have them mixed into the feed at the mill.

also, do you change the feed rations (as in exactly what they're getting, as in so much of this or that)to lower protein or raise it, or whatever, at this time of year? or do your milking does get the same ration thru out the year??


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## texgran (Mar 29, 2009)

Are you talking about whole dried soybeans? I've never fed them. Would they be too hard? Can you have your local mill crack them? I'll be interested to see the other replies on this.
I'm curious as to the palatability of them.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

There are some drawbacks to whole raw soybeans. You need to be sure it is no more than a small portion of the ration.
They contain enzymes that are killed when they are heat processed that will make it spoil in storage. The fat percentage is very high and can cause acidosis if it is too high of a percentage of the ration. Perhaps your feed mill has a knowledgeable person formulating rations. There are great books with all that info for people in that biz. I would want to know how they are grown because some places (south) use chems that are otherwise banned with little restraint. You would have to know all about the rest of the contents of your mix to just toss in soybeans raw. I think it would be a mistake to just feed them as a single item. You need to keep in mind you do not want to change to a new food source quickly. Slow is the key to changes with goats. The rumen has to produce the correct compliment of organisms to digest the new food and should they take in something they cannot handle the best case would be acidosis the worst would be shutting down the rumen. I would do some reading and go slow if you decide to use them.
Lee


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

They also have to be roasted, I know several top herds who feed whole soybeans in their ration, but having seen their feed, it certainly is not a high percentage of what is fed. Vicki


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## chewie (Jul 26, 2008)

hmm, maybe i'll just stay with oats and corn. thank you for the replies


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## Rambar Ranch (Oct 25, 2007)

We feed whole roasted soybeans and the goats love them. If you taste them they taste like peanut butter. We use it in place of ground soybeans or calf manna. Our goats don't like to eat ground up feed, they prefer to have it whole grains as much as possible. It works very well on upping the protein of your feed at alot lower cost than calf manna and such.

Ray Adams


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

I use soybean meal but it is over 40 % protien so they only get a tiny bit mixed in with my oats barley BOSS cracked corn and beet pulp like a tblsp as a top dress.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Ray it's amazing how much more things you can get in your area that you can't even order in, in ours! It's not like you are that far away from me! Hope your watching the boards, alot of folks looking for Sannens. Vicki


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## old dominion (Oct 25, 2007)

We have feed them for years. They add a great deal of protein and fat. I have never fed raw beans only roasted. I roasted them in my kitchen for years until I found a feed store 70 miles away that keeps them for an organic chicken farm. Do you know how glad my husband was when I stopped roasting beans in our oven.

BTW - The roasting portion really makes them milk.

Jolene


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

Why do they have to be roasted?


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## old dominion (Oct 25, 2007)

You don't have to but the benefits are well worth the effort. Info is all over the internet about roasting beans. Here is some from a site I ran across

* More digestible – The trypsin inhibitor in raw soybeans prevent normal digestion of protein in the gut of poultry and swine. The Amino acids, methionene and cystine, are less available to poultry and swine as well as it retains a bitter taste which inhibits normal feed consumption. Research trials show that swine fed roasted beans gain 9% faster on 9% less feed. Roasted beans also helps reduce dust levels in the facility. A feed trial at University of Wisconsin discovered cows fed raw soybeans excreted the largest amount of visible soybean particles in feces, and cows fed ground roasted soybeans had the least amount of soybeans in the feces. Roasted soybeans broken in four to six pieces are optimal for milk production. 

* More by-pass protein – Raw soybeans are broken down quickly by microbes in the cows stomachs, but roasted soybeans will delay the microbial action, allowing the “undegraded” protein to pass into the cow’s intestines where it can pass directly into the cow’s bloodstream. That “by-pass” effect of protein can rise to an optimum of 6.5% and will provide extra milk in the bulk tank. * More energy – Whole soybeans are about 18% oil. Feeding raw soybeans, the oil isn’t digestible therefore, the energy isn’t available, but when soybeans are roasted, the oil becomes an available energy source and is 2.25 times as much energy as a carbohydrate without increasing the starch content. 

* More palatable – Most university studies suggest that dry matter intake was raised slightly (0.3 lbs./day) by feeding roasted beans compared to feeding raw soybeans. Roasting beans guards against oxidative rancidity. 

* More milk – Cornell University dairy production trial showed a five pound increase in milk production over raw soybeans. University of Wisconsin obtained 13.2% more milk per day from cows already milking 76 pound average (1989).


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

Neat, thanks for the info!


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