Question: I’m about to add a couple of pet pygmy goats to my smallholding. What should I feed them?
We’ve enlisted the help of Joanna Palmer BSc (Hons), a nutritionist for the Smallholder Range. Joanna brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to answer your questions.
Joanna says: Small breeds such as pygmy goats do not require many calories to maintain good condition. In fact, they can very quickly become obese if overfed. Allen & Page Smallholder Range Pygmy Goat Mix has been specially formulated to be balanced with vitamins and minerals, but lower in energy and protein and higher in fibre than other goat mixes, making it ideal for all pet goats (not just Pygmies).
Feeding an appropriately balanced, low calorie mix with access to forage and plenty of space and opportunity to exercise will help to prevent unwanted weight gain! Goats do not cope well with sudden dietary changes and the bacterial population of the rumen can be easily upset by poor quality or unsuitable feed, which can have serious health implications. Always introduce a new feed or alter feeding amounts slowly over the course of 7 to 10 days to allow the goat’s digestive system time to adapt to the new feed.
As ruminants, pygmy goats need a high fibre diet to keep their digestive systems healthy. When kept indoors or when grazing and browsing material is scarce, goats should be provided with free access to hay to meet their fibre requirements.
This article extract was taken from the April 2024 edition of The Country Smallholder. To read the article in full, you can buy the issue here.
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