Nutrient Requirements for Goats

Submitted by Eve H. Honeycutt

Extension Livestock Agent, Lenoir and Greene Counties

Compiled from the publication, ““Forage Needs and Grazing Management

for Meat Goats in the Humid Southeast” by Luginbuhl, Poore, Mueller, and Green.

The goat is not able to digest the cell walls of plants as well as the cow

because feed stays in their gastrointestinal tract for a shorter time period. A distinction as to what is meant by "poor quality roughage" is necessary in order to make decisions concerning which animal can best utilize a particular forage. Trees and shrubs, which represent poor quality roughage sources for cattle, because of their highly lignified stems and bitter taste, may be adequate in quality for goats. Goats will avoid eating the stems, but don't mind the taste and will benefit from the relatively high levels of protein and cell solubles in the leaves of these plants. On the other hand, straw, which is of poor quality due to high cell wall and low protein, can be used by cattle but will not provide maintenance needs for goats because goats utilize the cell wall even less than cattle.

Goats must consume a more concentrated diet than cattle because their digestive tract size is smaller relative to their maintenance energy needs. When the density of high quality forage is low and the stocking rate is low, goats will still perform well because of their grazing behavior, even though their nutrient requirements exceed those of most domesticated ruminant species. 

High quality forage and/or browse should be available to does during the last month of gestation and to lactating does, to developing/breeding bucks, and to weanlings and yearlings. Female kids needed for reproduction should be grazed with their mothers during as much of the milk feeding period as possible and not weaned early. When the quantity of available forage and/or browse is limited or is of low quality, a concentrate supplement may be considered to maintain desired body condition, depending on cost: benefit. Whole cottonseed makes an excellent supplement for goats when fed at no more than 0.5 lb/head/day. Dry does and non-breeding mature bucks will meet their nutritional requirements on low to medium quality forage (10-12% protein and 50-60% TDN).

Providing free choice a complete goat mineral or a 50:50 mix of trace mineralized salt and dicalcium phosphate is advisable under most situations. Selenium is marginal to deficient in all areas of North Carolina. Therefore, trace mineralized salt or a complete mineral mix containing selenium should always be provided to the goat herd year around. It is sometimes advisable to provide a mineral mix that contains 20-25% magnesium oxide to reduce the risk of grass tetany when heavy milking goats are grazing lush small grain or grass/legume pastures in early lactation. Copper requirements for goats have not been definitively established. Growing and adult goats are less susceptible to copper toxicity than sheep, however, but their tolerance level is not well known. Young, nursing kids are generally more sensitive to copper toxicity than mature goats, and cattle milk replacers should not be fed to nursing kids. Mineral mixes and sweet feed should contain copper carbonate or copper sulfate because these forms of copper are better utilized by the goat than copper oxide.

Suggested Supplemental Feeding Program For Goats

When goats are raised on browse, abundant forage should be made available to allow goats to be very selective and to ingest a high quality diet that will meet their nutritional requirements. When forage or browse is limited or low in protein« 10%), lactating does (and does in the last 30 days of gestation) and developing/breeding bucks should be fed 1.0 Ib/day of a 16% protein mixture (77:20:2.5:0.5 ground corn : soybean meal :goat mineral: limestone). Alternatively, ground corn and soybean meal can be substituted by whole cottonseed for lactating does. Low to medium concentration of protein (> 10%) will meet requirements of dry does and non-breeding bucks. When forage or browse is limited or low in protein ( < 10%), weanlings and yearlings should be fed .5 to 1.0 lb/day of the 16% protein mixture. Goats can be forced to eat very low quality feed including twigs, tree bark, etc., but producers should be aware that this practice will hurt the productivity of superior meat and fiber goats.