# Flake or Pellet



## LochBonnieFarmer (Apr 21, 2020)

OK, first day, first post on forum. I'm not entirely sure which topic to put this under. Dairy and Cheese since I have dairy goats; or Health and Wellness since this is about food. Here's my question. I have two Nubians, one in milk and one not in milk. They normally get alfafa flakes, morning and night and then they are supplemented with alfalfa pellets and rolled barley along with the normal loose minerals, lactating goat grain and baking soda. They usually waste at least half a flake a day. Pellets are cheaper and of coarse would cut down on waste. Will they get all the nutrients and fiber they need from the pellets. If so, how would I go about transitioning them from the flakes to all pellets?


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## CaramelKitty (Mar 28, 2020)

Hi! Sorry, I do not have the answer to your question but, I can help redirect you to a better site. There is another forum called The Goat Spot with many more members who can help you. Unfortunately, this forum is basically dead..


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## GinnyT (Sep 1, 2017)

They need the scratching action of the long fiber hay in the rumen, so stick with some hay and add pellets. 1/2 a flake is not bad for waste. There are so many posts about minimizing waste hay from goats. They are picky eaters! Look into fence line feeders designed to have less waste.


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## Angelia Gregg (Sep 8, 2019)

LochBonnieFarmer said:


> OK, first day, first post on forum. I'm not entirely sure which topic to put this under. Dairy and Cheese since I have dairy goats; or Health and Wellness since this is about food. Here's my question. I have two Nubians, one in milk and one not in milk. They normally get alfafa flakes, morning and night and then they are supplemented with alfalfa pellets and rolled barley along with the normal loose minerals, lactating goat grain and baking soda. They usually waste at least half a flake a day. Pellets are cheaper and of coarse would cut down on waste. Will they get all the nutrients and fiber they need from the pellets. If so, how would I go about transitioning them from the flakes to all pellets?


I wouldn't switch entirely to pellets, it is hard to really know the quality of the pellet, could be more stems then flakes ground up, also the pellets are hard to chew so hard on the upper palat. Its good that you can get lactating goat feed, I love to use that stuff, I notice a pond a day drop in milk production if I can't get it. 
I feed 1 flake per goat per day, so 1 in the am and 1 in the pm with 1/2 flake loss is not bad, they rarely eat the stems here.


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