Good feeding practices can help farmers reduce feed wastage and ensure goats get the feed they need. This becomes particularly important when feeding sick animals, which have higher nutritional requirements despite often having a lower appetite.
By Maile Matsimela, digital editor at African Farming
- Farmers should buy the best quality feed they can afford and store it properly, protecting it from both sun and rain. Hay should also be collected and stored for times when food becomes scarce.
- Feed should always be offered in a trough rather than on the ground. This helps reduce spoilage and wastage. Feed and water troughs should be kept clean, and any leftovers should be removed.
- When changing an animal’s ration, the change should be introduced gradually over a week rather than made suddenly.
Also read: The goat farmer’s manual: How do I water and feed my goats?
- Cereals should be crushed or cracked before feeding to improve digestion and intake. If crushing is not possible, soaking can be used as an alternative. However, cereals should only be soaked for three to four hours before feeding.
- Cereal crop residues and grass forages should be chopped into short lengths before being placed in a feeding trough.
- Feed should also be mixed carefully and prepared only in quantities sufficient for one day’s feeding.
Also read: The goat farmer’s manual | From floor to roof – how to house your goats properly
Feeding sick animals
Sick animals require special attention when it comes to feeding. They have higher water, energy and protein requirements than healthy animals, but their appetite is usually lower.
- Instead of giving a sick animal a large amount of feed at once, provide small amounts of concentrate feed five to six times a day.
- Farmers can encourage the animal’s appetite by offering small meals, moistening the feed or adding molasses or salt.
- Freshly cut green forage can also help and provides a good source of vitamins.
- A sick animal should be fed away from other animals so that it is not disturbed while eating. Because sick animals may eat more slowly than they do when healthy, they should also be given more time to finish their feed.
The information in this article is sourced from the Goatkeepers’ Animal Health Care Manual published by ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs. For more information, contact your animal health technician, veterinarian or another appropriate animal health professional.
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