Thread by @ZazoBoergoats

Goat nutrition thread… Goat Nutrition is the science of feed preparation and feeding goats to produce either milk, meat or wool. I will cover the main principles in this thread and share another thread with more practical nutrition tips.

The way I think of goat nutrition is that as a meat goat farmer, I am in the business of converting feed in its raw state into meat. It is thus important to understand goat nutrition as it significantly affects both quality and quantity of meat. It also affects quality of ..

..breeding stock I produce as a stud breeder. Good nutrition increases reproductive efficiency: higher cyclicity, lower age at first calving, lower inter-calving interval, higher productive life and higher profitability to farmers (FAO/IAEA, 2002).

Nutrition, singularly, is the most important factor affecting livestock productivity and profitability. Because of this, I spend a considerable amount of time and resources on ensuring that my goats are receiving adequate nutrition.

Animal nutrition focuses on studying the dietary needs of the animals. These dietary needs consist of nutrients, which are the components present in the feed that animals can digest and utilise. Hence, when feeding a diet, it is important to first evaluate its nutrient content.

For me its not necessarily about filling up the animal. It is about providing the correct nutrients to the animal. This is why it’s extremely important to read the nutrition content of commercial feed and to send samples of home made feed to the lab for nutrition analysis

Goat nutrients are mainly carbohydrates (or energy sources), protein, minerals and vitamins. It is important to understand that a goat needs a certain minimum amount of these nutrients in its diet to flourish. Shortage of one nutrient can cause productivity losses.

One of the key principles to understand in animal nutrition is the principle of the primary limiting nutrient. Deficiency of a primary limiting nutrient will result in decreased production, reproductive failure, increased mortality and generally sick animals.

Energy is the most common primary limiting nutrient for goats. Energy sources include pastures, hay and grains such as maize, sorghum, millet etc. Total digestible nutrients (TDN) is used to express the energy value in feeds. Generally the greater the TDN of feed, the better.

Protein is mainly from legumes, vegetative plants and urea. It is also from soyacake, sunflower cake, chicken litter and cotton seed cake. In the dry season, protein becomes the primary limiting nutrient in most animals that rely on the veld. In goats, protein quantity is more..

important than quality. Protein deficiency results in stunted growth. On the other hand excessive feeding protein is expensive and hurts the pocket of the farmer. Ensuring a balanced diet with adequate protein is thus key.

The other important constituent of a goat’s diet are minerals although in smaller quantities. Macro elements such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are key. Copper, selenium, sodium and cobalt also play important roles. Mineral deficiencies can affect reproduction and health.

Generally goats get most of the nutrients they need from the veld. However, it is worth noting that the primary limiting nutrient in summer is normally phosphorus. This is why it’s important to supplement with phosphate blocks in summer.

Lastly on nutrients, vitamins are also key. The vitamins include fat soluble (A, D, E, K) and water soluble (all B vitamins and C). Vitamins are rarely deficient under grazing conditions. Both Vitamin A and Vitamin E deficiencies can occur in drought.