How to Feed Goats Kelp

Kelp -- dried, powdered seaweed -- provides goats with a supplemental dietary source of iodine and selenium, as well as multiple other vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Although goats meet most of their nutritional needs through a well-balanced diet of grass pasture and hay, forages grown in certain parts of the country -- particularly many northern and Midwestern states west of the Great Lakes -- often don't contain adequate levels of some nutrients, including iodine and selenium. Feeding kelp gives goats an alternative dietary source of these important nutrients. Potential benefits of feeding kelp to your goats include decreased risk of iodine deficiency and mastitis, as well as improved milk production, says Cheryl Smith, author of "Raising Goats for Dummies."

Things You'll Need

Powdered animal-grade kelp
Small paper envelope
Hand-held scale
Goat grain
Feed bucket

Instructions

- 1
  Top-dress your goats' daily grain ration with kelp. Pour the first goat's grain into a feed bucket or feed trough. Measure out 1/2 oz. of powdered kelp into a small paper envelope. Weigh the powdered kelp with a hand-held scale to verify the exact weight, adding or removing some of the kelp if necessary to obtain the proper weight.
- 2
  Sprinkle the kelp across the top of the grain in the bucket. Stir the kelp into the grain with your fingertips to blend it slightly, which helps keep your goat from refusing to eat it the first few times.
- 3
  Feed the kelp-topped grain to the first goat, being careful to first move the goat to a separate pen or milking area so the other goats in your herd don't fight over the grain. Watch the goat closely to ensure that it eats all of the grain and kelp powder; this process shouldn't take long since powdered kelp has a slightly salty taste that most goats savor. Repeat this entire feeding process once each day for each adult goat in your goat herd.