In Goat farming, most of the total expenditure is spent on feed. Since the health and production of goats directly depend on feed, feed management is the most important aspect of goat farming. However, most farmers are not found to be feeding balanced feed to goats due to ignorance or negligence.
Moreover, in goat farming, the practice of feeding feed is much less like in other livestock. Rather than nutrition, it is customary to feed only what is available or suitable at home, such as rice bran or corn. Since all the nutrients required for goats cannot be supplied in a balanced manner, it is not possible to obtain the expected production from goats. Because every living creature needs all kinds of nutrients to stay healthy, survive, grow, reproduce, and produce.
The nutrients in the diet are divided into 6 groups: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water, and a balanced diet requires all these 6 elements to be present in the right amounts. In particular, the feed fed by our farmers seems to be deficient in proteins, minerals, and vitamins for cattle and buffalo. Generally, the feed fed to goats also needs to have 2600 kilocalories of energy per kg of feed and 14 to 16 percent protein content, just like that of cattle and buffaloes, which can be clearly seen from the sample feed given below.
In fact, if you want to achieve fast physical growth by raising cross-breeds and want to raise goats profitably, then it is necessary to feed goats some balanced feed. When feeding in this way, it is generally best to feed 5 kg of green grass and 150 grams of balanced feed to goats and common goats daily, while ewes, ewes, and goats that are in heat should be fed 300 grams, 300 to 400 grams, and 200 to 300 grams, respectively, as mentioned in the care and management section above.
goat feed sample (100 kg)
| Raw material | Quantity (kg) |
| Wheat bran | 25 |
| Rice bran | 25 |
| corn | 25 |
| Mustard Cake fry | 20 |
| Limestone or chalk powder | 1 |
| Mineral vitamin blend | 1 |
| Wonmil means pulverized | 1/2 |
| salt | 1 |
| Molasses, chopped or molasses | 2 |
Things to consider when feeding goats
This is just a sample feed. The amount of bran, corn, and other ingredients can be adjusted depending on what is available and affordable in the market. Since all these substances serve as energy sources, bran, corn, or bran cannot be used as a substitute for rice because they do not contain as much protein as rice or legumes.
When making the feed, after grinding all these into powder, the largest part of the rice bran, bran, etc. should be poured onto a clean cemented floor or plastic sheet so that the largest part of the rice, bran, etc. falls at the bottom and the part with vitamins and minerals falls on the top of the pile so that it all falls to the sides. Then, move everything up, down, and left and right until you feel that the vitamins, minerals, salt, etc., have reached each grain.
If a large number of goats are reared and a feed mixer is used to make the feed, it is better to use 2 percent rice in the above-mentioned feed. But you should not put the hay in a position where you have to use a hand rake because it can rot and not mix well.
Thus, you should make the feed according to the number of your animals. You should not make a lot of food at once and store it so that it rots. If the feed once made is consumed in 15-20 days, it is considered good. If you want to feed hay to an adult goat, you can feed it half a kilo of hay, 3 kilos of green grass, and 150 grams of feed daily.
Jeevan Shrestha is a fitness trainer and agricultural expert. For over five years, I have been running a goat and poultry farm, committed to growing both the agribusiness and a healthy lifestyle. The name of my poultry farm is Dharan Poultry Farm.