Goat Nutrition and Care Essentials

Disclaimer

While I share our experiences with goat care and nutrition, I want to be clear that I am not a veterinarian, livestock nutritionist, or certified goat expert. This post is intended as an introductory guide based on our personal journey and research, meant to provide you with basic information and point you toward reliable resources for goat nutrition and care.

Every goat and farming situation is unique, and regional differences can significantly impact care requirements. The information provided here should serve as a starting point for your own research, not as definitive medical or nutritional advice. Always verify specific care instructions, medication dosages, and feeding recommendations with qualified professionals familiar with your situation.

Goat Nutrition Requirements

Goats are ruminants, they have a four-chambered stomach and are herbivores. Forage first is a good place to start with feeding goats. Although there are other nutrients goats will need outside of forage options. Grains add value to a goat’s diet but need to be rationed correctly. Minerals needed for goat nutrition are heavily based on your local area, this is information that can be provided by local goat breeders and extension offices.

Forage

Grass hay is what we give our goats to forage on and we always make sure they have access to it 24/7. Don’t worry about them having an empty hay feeder, they will let you know when it is low. Our spoiled goats will start hollering when there is still a third of the feeder full. Please note that they will not wither away if they go without hay for a short period of time.

Hay that has alfalfa in it is good for does in milk to aid in production. Bucks, however, do not need alfalfa and ingesting too much can cause them health problems.

Another option is to have a place where the goats can browse on grasses in a pasture. Dandelions, daisies, nettles, and plantains are examples of weeds that might be in your pasture and are good for your goat. The important thing here it to be sure you don’t have any native plants that may be poisonous to goats.

For example, goats love to eat leaves, but some leaves, like cherry tree leaves, become toxic to goats when they are wilting. Do not assume the goat will know it is poisonous; it won’t, and they will eat it.  Hemlock, oak leaves, rhubarb, milkweed and some ferns are not good for goats. This is just a few, make sure to research, research, research!

Also consider the weather when letting goats eat in a pasture. Listeria is a huge threat to goats in many places. Wet weather conditions are when listeria becomes more of a threat, and it is typically found in the ground where the goats browse.

Do research into plants found locally as well as how common listeria is locally. As mentioned before, extension offices are a great resource, they usually know goat breeders and a way to contact them. Local 4H and FFA groups will also know people with knowledge. Universities that have teaching veterinary clinics or agriculture focus will often be available as a resource as well.

Grain Ration

Grain rations are an important supplement to forage. There are many options out there commercially available from big box stores or local farm stores. As long as the feed is labeled for goats this will be sufficient to feed them. When you are just starting out with goats, this is the easiest option to ensure they are getting the nutrients they need.

We get our feed from a farm store that is just down the road from us, but we have bought some from Tractor Supply as well (mainly when we forget the farm store isn’t open on the weekends). Often small feed stores are more budget friendly for grain rations and usually allow for some customization.

Understanding the goat digestive system and what nutritional requirements they need will be the ticket to creating your own balanced rations. The basic list of what they need is carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins. However, for a beginner like me, I will be sticking to the feed from our local farm store until we really get the hang of things.

How Much Grain Do Goats Need?

Not too much is the best answer to this question. A goat overeating on grain can cause bloat and be fatal. We have three Nigerian dwarf goats; our buck gets about 1/3 of a cup of grain and the two does get around 3/4 of a cup or a bit less twice a day.

Nigerian dwarfs can get overweight easily on grain. We typically ask our friend and goat guru, Sherry, her opinion on how much we should feed our goats. She bases her opinion on how they appear. If they are looking a little more round in the belly, we need to give them less grain. If the opposite is true, we give them a bit more grain at feeding time and just keep an eye on their body condition.

When we first got our goats, we were terrified of overfeeding them. So, we started with very small portions of grain and just watched how they were growing. They were all babies when we got them, so it wasn’t too difficult to adjust the amount of grain based on their growth. We adjusted in small portions as well, to be on the safe side. We were probably overly cautious, but better safe than sorry and as long as they have hay to munch on, they won’t starve.

Other goat breeds seem to need a bit more grain than what we give our goats. If you research nothing else, types of grain rations and the amount needed are essential information to keep healthy goats. We are still learning in this department ourselves.

Minerals

Mineral supplements are important for your goats. Loose minerals or salt/trace mineral blocks are an easy way to provide this supplement. We have used both, our goats seem to intake more of the loose minerals than the blocks.

It is essential to research what mineral deficiencies are local to you. Local goat breeders or livestock vets will be good resources for what minerals may be missing in your area. For example, Zinc is a common supplement needed in my area. Phosphorus, calcium, iron, copper, potassium, magnesium, and sulfur are other trace minerals that are important for goat health.

We have a small feed trough in our goat pens that always has loose minerals in it. The goats take what they need when they need it without issues. We also provide baking soda to help them with digestion.

Feed Storage

Storing feed securely is important for any animal and often for the same reasons. To avoid spoilage, keep out pests and to keep animals from overindulging.

 To store grain and minerals, metal trash cans are a good solution. Plastic containers can work for the short term, but many pests can and will chew through plastic to get to the grain. Goats can break into plastic containers as well. The only downside to the metal trash can we have is the goats figured out that if they headbutt the lid a few times they can knock it off to get to the grain. Make sure to find a way to secure the lid if you use a similar style container.

We had plastic trash cans we were using for all of our feed. The goats liked to jump on top of them which resulted in the lids cracking and the cans being knocked over. We also had a couple squirrels chew through the lids. Of course, this left us with wet and moldy grain and wasted grain from the goats knocking them over. Other options for grain and mineral storage are a variety of DIY options. Most being a wood frame with metal siding or other metal material to make the walls of the container.

Hay can be stored in a separate shed, barn or a hay loft. Our goat barn is tall enough that we were able to add a hay loft in one of the stalls and in the milk room. Just like grain, hay needs to be kept dry. Unlike grain, goats are safe to have access to hay all the time. Many of the goat owners we know offer their goats free-choice hay.

Care Essentials & Supplies

Bedding can be a variety of things as with most livestock. Straw is inexpensive and usually easy to find. Wood chips, shavings or pellet bedding are other options and typically readily available as well. Goats need a dry place to go, absorbency and keeping any smells at bay until the next cleaning are also important factors.

There are several types of feeders available, but a bucket will work for both grain and water. It is handy to have a few buckets on hand. When the goats’ water freezes in the winter, we will bring it into the house to thaw and fill up another bucket with fresh water. They are easy to clean as well. This is the most inexpensive method, instead of buying heated bowls or other heating implements. Other than using buckets or feed troughs, you can also find many options for DIY feeders.

We recommend hanging the grain and water buckets as goats literally do their business wherever they are standing and sometimes that means it lands in the grain and water buckets. They may knock the buckets over more often if it isn’t hanging or secured to a wall or fence. Carabiner clips come in handy for hanging buckets on fences, rope or chain will do the trick as well. Just make sure the rope or chain is short so the goats don’t get tangled in it.

Hay feeders come in a variety of styles, and there are several DIY options for these too. A bucket will work for the short term, but you will likely end up with a lot of wasted hay. The main thing you’ll want is something a goat won’t get stuck in, won’t tear up in five seconds and prevents excessive waste. Our buck will pull out a bunch of hay from his feeder just to get to his favorite parts and the rest falls to the ground.

Collars are not required but are helpful when needing to lead the goats to different areas, such as the milking stand or into a stock trailer. Hoof maintenance is important and only requires a pair of hoof trimmers. Goat hooves have growth similar to our fingernails and need trimmed every couple months. If this care is ignored it can cause major problems for your goats.

We keep syringes and needles on hand for administering vaccines and medicine or to draw blood from the goats for testing. Testing your herd for common goat diseases is important. We have also sent blood in for pregnancy checks. A bottle of CD&T to vaccinate your goats and a bottle of dewormer are good to keep on hand as well. Farm stores, vet supply stores or even Amazon have these products.

A few other items that will come in handy along your journey are bottles for kids. The kids don’t have to be bottle fed but things may happen to make it necessary. Colostrum and milk replacer (we used whole milk from the store) should also be handy during kidding times. Grooming tools such as clippers are good to have on hand if you are planning to show goats. Many goat breeders have disbudding tools as well.

Choose what works best for your farming style and budget. It may take some trial and error until you find the best setup. Just remember that simple usually works and the goats only care if you feed them on time.