Nutritional Value of Feed Grains for Meat Goats

When it comes to deciding what feed grain to give your meat goats, you may find yourself scratching your head in confusion as you try to make sense of the ingredient lists. Knowing common grain ingredients and being aware of the role grain or concentrate can play in your goat nutrition program helps you determine which grain mix will best meet your meat goats' nutritional needs.

  1. The Facts

    • Feed grains or concentrates give meat goats an alternate source of energy and nutrients to supplement what they get from forages, such as pasture and hay. Like other ruminants, meat goats can exist solely on forages, provided they have constant access to a ready supply of high-quality hay or pastureland. However, many goat owners also opt to include feed grains in their meat goats' diets for various reasons, including maximizing daily weight gain, increasing milk production and improving overall body condition for shows or market sales.

    Features

    • The exact nutritional value of meat goat feed concentrates vary, depending upon the raw ingredients in the grain. All commercially produced goat concentrates include energy and protein sources. Ingredients commonly used for energy in goat grains include oats, corn, barley and rye, while ingredients that provide protein may include soybean, peanut and cottonseed meal. A key nutritional difference between various types of meat goat feed grains is the protein level, which typically varies between 12 percent and 20 percent. Many feed grains also include additional ingredients, such as beet pulp and molasses, to improve the taste and increase the fiber content of the concentrate.

    Selection

    • Proper selection of feed grains for meat goats relies upon a thorough understanding of your goats' individual nutrition needs, which is based on their age and reproductive status. Rapidly growing goat kids, pregnant does and lactating does typically require a concentrate that has higher protein levels, preferably between 16 and 20 percent. Pet meat goats, bucks and wethers (castrated male goats) often don't need supplemental grain at all, and those that do should typically get a lower protein grain, such as one with 12-percent protein.

    Considerations

    • Never attempt to use feed grains as a complete nutritional substitute for forage in your meat goats' diet, as doing so could lead to digestive problems, such as acidosis and enterotoxemia. Always use a grain concentrate mixed specifically for goats, since these include the proper levels of vitamins and minerals, such as selenium and copper, that are necessary for proper goat health. If you plan to feed grain to meat goat kids, make sure it contains a coccidiostat, a supplemental ingredient that helps prevent the development of coccidiosis, a potentially life-threatening health condition common in young goat kids.