Decided on Sprouting Grain for Goats

 This is a picture I dug up from last spring, Xanadu and her first doeling, Avalon

I have been wanting to break away from our COB (rolled corn, rolled oats and rolled barley) dependence for sometime now. However, I have not wanted to be hasty, impulsive or drastic in the changes we make to our goats diet. Nor did I want to make any changes without thoroughly researching first. During these slow February days I've had some time to think about our goats diet, assess their conditions, come to the conclusion that I should be doing better, and finally get around to finding some reliable sources and examples of studies and individuals sprouting grains for goats or other livestock. I am sharing this post now before I've even changed my current practices because I am this exited about the concept of feeding living sprouts to our goats in place of their dried rolled grains - especially this time of year when all is dark and dead or dormant around us.

First let me back up and explain why we are feeding COB in the first place. When we first got our goats we fed goat chow, because that is what everyone we know and read about fed their goats. Goat Chow is a processed pelleted goat feed with a few crushed or rolled grains and added vitamins and minerals. On the ingredient list for Purina goat chow which is what was available to us through the local feed store, the first ingredient is processed grain by products. The list does not even say which grains are used. The main reason I could think of to feed Chow over COB was:

1. Higher protein content 
2. "Scientifically" formulated for goats.
3. Everybody does it - not a good reason but it must work right?

The main drawback for me was:

1. A long list of ingredients I didn't understand.
2. The grains were ground up then compressed into pellets, during which process lots of significant nutrients are lost. 

Well, after our first year of raising goats, I felt comfortable enough to try feeding something else. I picked cob because at least there were just three ingredients, corn, oats and barley which provide energy, some fat and a protein level around 13%, which is less than chow by 2-3% if I remember correctly. My concern was that while these grains are not ground up with preservatives added, they are rolled and thus will still have lost a lot of their nutritive value, which they are not high in to begin with. Corn, oats and barley don't provide much goodies compared to wheat berries, lesser known but high protein grains like quinuoa and millet, seeds and legumes. So why are they fed as staple animal feeds? I suspect it has something to do with what crops are easy to grown on large scale, and cheap to grow? Before the twentieth century livestock was fed various legumes and root crops in addition to a wider range of grains. Why has this practice died off? Marketing? Cost? Ignorance?

When it comes to feeding whole vs. crushed or rolled grains to livestock. The opinions are completely contradictory:

1. One side holds the position that goats, chickens and other livestock can not digest whole grains, that whole grains will pass through intact and therefor not be used by the animal. Crushing and rolling grains makes them more digestible.
2. The other side says that once grains are crushed, ground, rolled etc. that valuable and significant nutrients are lost, that the seeds rapidly go stale and rancid and the result is a significantly reduced source of vitamins and minerals. This side argues that whole grains are intact and nutritionally superior to processed grain feeds.

In the wild, chickens and goats might eat some grains on their own, but no where near the amount we try to feed them. As healthy as whole grains are, even humans don't process them very well and can have a difficult time digesting large amounts of whole grains. Once grains are soaked and sprouted they are easier to digest. I often add whey to our whole grain flours when making breads and crackers so that they will be easier to digest. The other alternative is sprouting and then grinding grains before baking with them. So, while goats digestive systems are very different then our own, they were not meant to consume such high levels of whole or crushed grains either. Feeding whole grains to goats and chickens and then looking at their stools is one way to see if they are digesting their grains. Our chickens have done fine on their whole grain diet, better when their grain is sprouted.

So for the last couple years as I've fed COB to the goats, I've felt like it was a stepping stone, something to hold me over till we moved on to better things, but I've felt guilty about it as corn, oats and barley are not that nutritious. Last summer I had a farm helper that milked goats and did farm chores a couple days a week. He said that the last couple winters he has milked goats for a farm in Colorado that sprouts their grains. This farm has similar husbandry practices as I do, feeding similar herbal supplements, herbal wormers and when needed, herbal remedies and tinctures. I can say that a seed of inspiration was planted in my mind at hearing about this healthy herd of goats eating sprouted grains. Since then I've been intending to research sprouted grains for goats. Just thinking of the amount of work involved in the idea of sprouted grains in large quantities was such that research on the subject has been on the back burner.

I have known for a while the health benefits of sprouting grains for human consumption. When we buy bread we choose sprouted grain products. I go through phases of sprouted beans and seeds for our own salads and sandwiches.  I sprout grains for the chickens from time to time in the winter. They love them, and we notice an immediate effect on the color of the egg yolks, they get brighter orange within just a few days of eating sprouts. This week I finally got around to doing some research. I was looking for sources that have goats and have been sprouting for a while with successful results. I also wanted to find some more scientific studies dealing with feeding sprouts to livestock. I found both, and while I am obviously inspired and excited about these few sources, I would still like to delve deeper into the subject.

Here is the most scientific or scholarly article I found:
http://www.foddersolutions.org/pdf_files/Benefits_of_Sprouted_Grain.pdf

This article focuses on feeding barley sprouts to cattle and horses and the health benefits derived from the sprouts. The article points to a study where barley sprouts were experimentally fed to cattle with impressive results in energy levels and weight gain. The main health benefits of feeding sprouts as opposed to whole grains are such:

1. Sprouting increases enzyme activity which tends to enhance the levels of beneficial nutrients while decreasing the negative aspects of dry grains such as phytic acids which are high in cereal grains and prevent the absorption of vital minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
2. Sprouting makes whole grains easier to digest and more palatable.
3. Sprouting increases protein, fiber and essential fatty acid levels in grains.
4. Sprouting increases vitamin levels of grains, some of the most significant vitamins that are increased are B, C, A and E vitamins. It also helps with the absorption of the vitamins that may be present.
5. Sprouting increases Antioxidants, Chlorophyll and has an alkalizing effect on body cells.

 Here are a few examples of individuals who are sprouting grains for their goats. I've included the original source that first inspired me to begin sprouting for chickens as well:

1. http://landofhavilahfarm.com/loh-feed-regimen.htm
2. http://lindercroft2.blogspot.com/2010/05/sprouting-buckets.html
3. http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Sprouting.html
4. http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2808&p=4 

The above sources provide examples of various methods used to sprout whole grains. The first link contains recipes for whole grain and seed sprout mixes, in addition to the quantity she feeds her goats and the protein content of the initial product. So her protein content given is that of the whole grains before sprouting, so that would be the minimum protein content, we can probably assume that the final protein content will be at least a little higher.

So, I'm feeling pretty confident that at least sprouting grains can only be much healthier for the goats than their present grain rations. But what about cost and labor involved? Here is a little math. Last I checked I'm paying $15.99 for a fifty pound bag of dry COB. Here is one of the basic recipes, tweaked just a bit to make use of ingredients that I'm already ordering in bulk for the chickens. I've broken it down to what I'm paying a pound for each grain or seed. Ten pounds is more dry grain than what I'm feeding currently. However, once the goats are in milk, I'll be feeding that much or more.

1. 5 # Whole Barley,  9.99 per 50lb. (.19 lb)          .95
2. 1# Austrian Winter Peas  39.99 50lb. (.79 lb.)    .79
3. 1# Winter Wheat Berries 38.00 50lb.  (.76 lb.)   .76
4. 2# Whole Oats  9.99 50lb.  (.19lb)                     .38
5. 1# Black Oil Sunflower Seeds 24.99 50lb. (.49) .49

         10# of dry grains costs 3.37, so 50lb. costs 16.85, less than a dollar more than COB
          $23.59 in grain per week, not including alfalfa pellets or other supplements, but not bad

As far as local or organic ingredients, the whole oats and barley are from Delta, I don't know if the seed is treated? The Wheat berries are organic and from far away via Azure Standard. I don't know anything about the whole peas or sunflower seeds.

My conclusion, without yet venturing into the world of sprouting grains for goats, is that this practice is going to be much healthier for the goats, surprisingly not much more expensive, but undoubtedly much more work.

I've been waiting till our milking and grain area is heated, to begin sprouting for the chickens and goats. However, as that may be a while yet, I'm going to start sprouting on a small scale and see how it goes. I already purchase all of these ingredients, so no special trips to the feed store are required yet, although I'll be buying more whole grains in the place of rolled COB. Of course rule number one in feeding goats is make all diet changes gradually. So I'll begin by just adding a handful of sprouts to everyone's existing grain rations and we will increase the amount of sprouts and decrease the COB over the space of a couple weeks. I think that despite having several very pregnant goats, now is not a bad time for a feed switch. I'm sure their bodies have got to be craving some green living food. Soon we will be too busy with kid care and milking to experiment.  Once we are milking, the does will be eating two to three times as much grain as they are now, so we'll start the transition now and work our way forward. I'll keep you posted.

Kidding Season and Prenatal Doe Care

Kidding season is on the horizon. We have five does bred -(I hope). Four of which are due in March. It has been a while since we've had first timers kidding. This will be the fourth kidding season for our original three does. We have two does, Zinnia and Zuri, who will be two this spring and this will be their first kidding. Zinnia and her dam Rose are due in four to five weeks. Zinnia's udder is just starting to take shape - very exciting! She is looking great. Much better than her dam, who is probably carrying two and maybe three kids. We got the does out for a walk today, and while Zinnia is still running around and quite frisky, Rose was lagging behind everyone, slowly trudging up the hill. She had three bucklings last spring!

As far as prenatal care goes, I suppose the most important thing is to know when your doe was bred and when she is due. Or, I suppose diet tops that. Diet is extremely important for bred milking does. Building kids and making milk puts enormous strain on their bodies. I'm not going to go into great detail on the different kidding related "diseases" in this post, other than to say that the big ones that are diet related are Pregnancy toxemia and Ketosis. The first happens during pregnancy and is caused by inadequate feeding or an excess of grain. Ketosis occurs shortly after kidding, due to the demands of producing milk and most likely not enough grain or feed. Here is a link to a reliable source on signs of these diseases and how to treat them.

So far we have been fortunate to have healthy does and healthy strong kids through all of our doe pregnancies so far. We did have one disaster two seasons ago where we lost two kids, but I see it as operator error rather than a component lacking in prenatal care. We had a doe that had three kids that were not presenting themselves in the correct position and we waited too long before going in and pulling them out. You can read about it here.

Our does get as much brome hay as they can eat, twice a day. They like leafy green hay. They do not like fine hay, stemmy hay or brown hay. Contrary to the myth that goats eat anything, goats are in fact extremely picky. The goats have constant access to a loose mineral supplement which is specifically for goats. As far as grain goes, I'm feeding the pregnant does between a half of a pound and a pound (depending on the goat's body condition) of COB, rolled corn, rolled oats and rolled barley. Other options would be to feed goat chow, a pelleted feed containing various grain by products and other supplements which increase the protein content of the feed. I feed a large handful of alfalfa pellets and one of black oil sunflower seeds to the bred does, and a light sprinkling to the dry does. The alfalfa pellets provide a source of protein and most importantly calcium. Sunflower seeds provide vitamin E, and a healthy source of fat and protein. Feeding hay, grain and supplying a loose mineral supplement to pregnant goats may not meet all of their calcium needs. When does don't get enough calcium during pregnancy a condition called Hypocalcemia occurs. I've thought that feeding some alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets throughout pregnancy should solve this problem. I've been told not to feed calcium during the last few weeks of pregnancy. I've also read to do the opposite. Here is the most recent article I've read on Hypocalcemia, according to this article, I'm not feeding anywhere near enough calcium. Hm.

I've always purchased Molly's herbal pregnancy tonic to feed the goats during their last five or so weeks of pregnancy. In it are the same herbs you'd find in any pregnancy tea for women; fennel, raspberry leaves, alfalfa, cinnamon and nettles. I've also purchased and fed her herbal dietary supplement year round to everyone which has spirulina, alfalfa, dandelion, nettles and flax seed in it. I've been meaning to feed flax seed and kelp, both of which we buy in fifty pound bags for the chickens, but I've been slacking. We did harvest and dry our own wild raspberry leaves, nettles and dandelion this year. I've just one gallon of each dried. I've been saving them for this time of year. So the pregnant does are getting a small handful of each on top of their grain each morning. This isn't as much as I'd like to have, but it is something. Hopefully next year we can harvest two to three times as much of each of these herbs.

The only other supplement I'm giving the goats is selenium. Some soil in the interior is deficient in selenium. So there is a good chance our hay is low in selenium. I guess the mineral supplement may not have enough selenium, so it is recommended that goats in low selenium soil areas be given additional selenium. So I buy the selenium/vitamin E gel. About seven weeks before kidding I give the does a dose, then every couple weeks till kidding.

Other care ideas for pregnant goats is trimming their hooves 5-7 weeks before kidding. The does may have a hard time balancing for hoof trimming closer to their kidding date. If their hooves are too long it will make walking around that much more difficult. And of course exercise is also important for all of us, including pregnant goats. It makes sense that pregnant goats will have healthier kids, less complicated labors and suffer less from the stresses of pregnancy if they get regular exercise.

Shortly before kidding I give the does a hair trimming around their tail and udder area so that they clean up easier after kidding. About a week before the goat is due, I start putting the doe in her own stall at night and feeling for her tail ligaments. I'll write more about kidding as we get closer. 

If feeding pregnant does sounds complicated, it kind of is. When you start reading about mineral deficiencies in goats, it does get kind of scary. We would like to think that feeding quality green leafy hay, the right amount of grain, providing fresh water and a constant mineral supplement should be enough to keep goats in healthy condition. However, the reality is that goats were not meant to be confined in small pens and fed dried hay and grain. They are browsers. If you let goats out to pasture in a field of hay, they will look for the weeds, or the browse on the side of the field. They prefer the bark, leaves and branches of trees, the tender tips and buds of shrubs. If you think about the root systems of trees and shrubs, they extend deeper into the ground than hay and grasses, therefor are absorbing higher amounts of nutrients. The standard diet for feeding goats is not their natural diet, and therefor extra measures are needed to make it work.

If you are new to goats, getting into goats, and especially if this is your first kidding season, I strongly recommend Molly's Fiasco Farm site. I consider her the online goat care bible. She has a comprehensive section on goats kidding and what to expect.

This year is the letter B for goat names with the American Dairy Goat Association. My favorites so far are Bella, Blue, Bernadette (Bernie), Bridget and Bridie. I've got a disbudding iron and instructions for building a kid box ordered. Other than that I suppose we are ready for kids. I'm enjoying sleeping through the night and not looking forward to waking up for midnight doe checks. Our farm helper will be helping with goat kidding this year as she has been working with the goats regularly since last spring. I'm looking forward to having fresh milk. I don't know why I do this to myself, breed all of our goats and not leave someone in milk to get us through. I figured it was only seven weeks without milk and I had some milk frozen - but it is not the same. I'm looking forward to making pudding and having cream for my tea.

Bucks and wethers

I forgot to mention a few things in my previous post about bucklings and wethers. I wanted to point out the obvious but often overlooked fact that the does love their kids very much. They love their sons just as much as their daughters. I am sure that they are heartbroken when their sons are taken away from them forever. We decided early on that we would allow each doe to keep her first daughter, so that at least she would always have one of her offspring to keep her company. Xoe has had her first daughter Yin, and this year we are keeping Asia as well. Rose has her daughter Zinnia. She will lose all three of her sons this year, so hopefully Zinnia will be a comfort to her. Xanadu had her first doeling this year, one of the main reasons we decided to keep the two doelings this year.

The doelings do much better if they have one other companion their age. We've decided to keep either two doelings a year, or none, but never one. Of course keeping eight does is getting close to maxing out on numbers. If we want to keep doelings next year, we may be selling a couple does. We will try to sell a doe with her daughter, or a couple does that are close to eachother. We are trying to keep a couple does out of each buck, so that as they are bred we can see the differences between half sisters. We have three does out of Lew that are all ready to be bred this year. This years doelings are the first out of Xavier. This coming breeding season we have two bucks that we've never bred yet, Zanzibar and Zoro. We will have six does we can breed, although I think we will chose one to milk through and not re-breed so as to have a constant yearsupply of milk. My girlfriend has four Lamancha does to breed to our bucks this year. So we'll be having fun deciding who to breed to who. Zanzibar, pictured below, is getting much attention with his striking markings.

 

Xavier is three years old and full size. Zoro and Zanzibar are a little over a year and about half the size as Xavier. The bucks are very friendly and lovable. They are also large and don't realize their size or strength. I am cautious around them, but not afraid. We tie the bucks up every morning to eat their grain. This is to make sure we handle them and they are use to being guided by their colars. They also get use to waiting patiently while chained to a tree, so we can clean up their coral, fill waters etc. 

The bucklings are just as cute as the doelings. They run and play. They are curious and enjoy attention. Unlike the doelings we do not name them. I tend to handle them less in an attempt not to grow too attached. We find that the doelings tend to be more suspicious and aloof than their brothers. This year I have been working harder at handling the doelings from the beginning. In past years, I thought that they would come around to trusting me as they got use to my presence. This spring I've been picking the girls up and petting them daily, since they were born, and as a result they relax into my arms as soon as I pick them up. It's not easy selling the boys and not knowing for sure if they will be well cared for. We can give them a good start with their families and then look for responsible owners and hope for the best.