Winter Strategies for Feeding Goats

Goats require proper care and nutrition year round. However, because grazing might not be a possibility in the winter months, and because added supplements lead to a healthier goat, planned strategies for feeding goats in winter are essential. The goat's feeding plan will depend on the current health of your goats or goats, as well as the goat sex and age. Yet, some elements of your plan should remain consistent throughout the winter.

  1. Nutrition

    • Hay, grasses and silage provide the basic common food for goats throughout the year, including in winter. However, goats also require supplements in the form of protein, minerals, vitamins, water and energy supplements. Energy supplements include carbohydrates, fiber and starches. A common feeding on a winter day for a mature buck at 222 lbs., for example, should include a combination of 5.3 lbs. of hay, 9 percent protein, 55 percent energy supplement, 0.29 percent calcium and 0.33 percent protein.

    Maintenance

    • Body temperature, physical activity and vital functions are supported by good maintenance for goats in winter. However, good maintenance strategies are determined by several factors. These include whether or not the goat is lactating, the weight of the goat, pregnancy and the growth rate of a goat. When a goat is pregnant, for example, the female goat, or doe will require more protein in its diet than energy supplement. Goats that are underweight will require less protein and more energy supplements, while goats that are lactating will require protein and energy for proper maintenance. You must determine what the goat needs in relation to feed and supplements in order to determine the proper maintenance during the winter months.

    Feed Quality

    • A normal goat will consume between 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent of its body weight daily. However, if the goat is fed low quality feeds and supplements, the goat will likely attempt to consume more feed than normal in order to digest enough feed and nutrients to sustain his or her health. Regardless of the higher intake rate, the goat may nevertheless remain consistently unhealthy due to the fact that the feed is a lower quality and does not contain the proper dietary components for proper health. Therefore, goat owners must strive to provide high quality feed and supplements. This is especially so during the cold winter months for the goat to be capable of withstanding the elements successfully.

    Multiple Goats

    • When you own multiple goats with a variety of nutritional needs it can seem impossible to feed each of them adequately during the winter when they cannot graze. However, if you divide the goats into nutritional need groups for feeding the chances of each goat getting its proper nutritional intake will be greater. For example, divide the goats into groups of lactating goats, pregnant goats, mature bucks and young goats. Provide troughs containing the proper nutrients for each group, as well as hay.