Pygmy goats, known for their playful nature and manageable size, make excellent backyard pets or additions to a small farmyard. While their care requirements are relatively straightforward, understanding their dietary and nutritional needs is crucial for ensuring their health and well-being. Proper nutrition leads to better growth, increased offspring production, and fewer health issues.
Understanding Goat Nutritional Needs
If management of a herd could be distilled down to a primary principle, it would be nutrition. Goats that are properly and adequately fed grow better, produce more offspring, and suffer fewer health issues, including internal parasites. Feed is often the largest expenditure for any producer, particularly for herds that are confined during part of the year, so decisions regarding nutrition have important financial repercussions. In resource-limited countries, lack of adequate nutrition is a common management challenge. In resource-rich countries, overfeeding more often contributes to disease and production loss.
Nutrition is influenced heavily by local conditions. Therefore, the specifics of any feeding plan should be tailored to the environment immediate to the herd. In general, all goats should have daily access to water, good-quality forage, and supplemental vitamins and minerals.
The Importance of a Regular Feeding Routine
Goats thrive on routine. Establishing a regular and predictable feeding schedule helps maintain their digestive health and reduces stress.
Essential Components of a Pygmy Goat Diet
The cornerstone of a pygmy goat's diet should be long, fibrous food, which is essential for proper rumen function. This can be achieved through:
Read also: Pygmy Corydoras Care and Diet
High-Quality Hay and Long Grass
Long, fibrous food, such as high-quality hay and long grass - they need this so their rumen (one of their four stomach chambers) can digest food efficiently. Forage is the best substrate for the microorganisms that live in the rumen and that provide a majority of the protein required by a goat for energy. Forage should be clean, free of mold, and moderately mature. Maturity influences the amount of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in the forage. Forage NDF can be an intake-limiting factor. Studies show that most goats ingest approximately 1.2% of their body weight per day in NDF. Therefore, the higher the amount of NDF in forage, the less of it a goat will consume.
Browsing vs. Grazing
Goats are naturally browsing animals, meaning they prefer to eat from elevated sources rather than grazing on the ground. They prefer not to eat anything that's been on the floor. To accommodate this, use hayracks with a lid, positioned at a height where the goats can’t foul the hay.
Concentrates
Concentrates - for growing or milking goats, or when additional forage is in short supply. These are ‘goat mixes’ which include additional vitamins and minerals. Only give them small amounts. At these times, fermentable fiber supplements (eg, beet pulp or soy hulls) or starches (cereal grains or pelleted concentrates) should be fed. The amount and frequency depend on the quality of the overall forage and the production state of the goat. For example, a doe in the final weeks of pregnancy or the early stages of lactation, on a good-quality forage, preferably alfalfa, may need 1-2 pounds of cereal grains per day to meet her energy requirements. A pet doe on moderate-quality forage will likely need no cereal grains at all. Sugars and starches should never be fed to replace poor-quality forage. Overfeeding or improper feeding of starches is common in small hobby or pet farms and is a frequent cause of disease.
Pasture and Land Requirements
Goats can eat grass, brush, and forbs, though they will eat the last 2 over grasses. Forbs are weeds such as dandelions and clovers. You will need about 1/4 of an acre (1101.7 sq. If you have a herd of goats, you will need several pastures to keep up with your goats' demand. Each goat will need about a pound or 2 (0.5-0.9 kg) of feed per day. In the winter, goats will need more feed.
The Dangers of Poisonous Plants
Goats love eating wild plants and hedgerow cuttings. Unfortunately, many plants - including common garden plants - are poisonous to them and could even kill them. The golden rule is ‘when in doubt, don’t feed’. Check any pasture to make sure the plants aren’t growing there. Plants to avoid include: alder, yew, rhododendron, laurel, privet, laburnum, honeysuckle, walnut, evergreen shrubs, green stuff from flowers including delphiniums, hellebores or any bulbous plants such as tulips and daffodils, hemlock, buttercup, bryony, ‘dog’s mercury’, ragwort, mayweed, foxglove, celandine, the nightshade plants, and ‘old man’s beard’.
Read also: Feeding Boer Goats
The Critical Role of Water
Water is a critical nutrient but is often overlooked. You'll need to give your goats a constant supply of clean, fresh drinking water. A 50-kg goat can be expected to consume 2-4 gallons of water per day under maintenance conditions. Intake fluctuates with changes in the environment (eg, heat and cold), activity level, and physiologic state (eg, growth, pregnancy, and lactation). Goats can withstand prolonged water deprivation and survive heat stress better than sheep and cattle. However, production is improved when water is not limited. Clean, fresh water must be easily accessible at all times. Water can contain high concentrations of minerals and this should be evaluated as part of a complete feeding program. Remember to clean and refill their drinkers or bowls regularly and remove ice during the winter (but don’t use chemicals to do this). They often prefer water that’s a little warm or at least has had the chill taken off.
Vitamins and Minerals: The Building Blocks of Health
Macrominerals
Minerals are classified in two categories: macrominerals and trace minerals. Macrominerals are derived primarily from forages and water, all of which should be evaluated when a feeding program is being formulated. Such evaluation can be challenging for producers with smaller herds who purchase small amounts of forages frequently from multiple sources. Concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium should all be assessed, and macromineral supplements should be adjusted to try to achieve a 2:1 calcium-to-phosphorus ratio and a 4:1 potassium-to-magnesium ratio.
Trace Minerals
Trace minerals, including copper, selenium, zinc, molybdenum, and cobalt, are highly influenced by local geography. Trace minerals compete with each other for absorption, so ratios of one to another are often as important as absolute concentrations. Trace minerals are often fed as a commercial supplement. The aim in selecting such supplements is to pick the one best suited for the local needs of the herd. Trace minerals can be mixed into a concentrate; in many small herds, however, they are offered as a free-choice product. Loose minerals and salt are preferred over blocks. Free-choice mineral salts are mixed with sodium chloride to regulate consumption. If additional sources of salt are placed near the minerals, consumption of the mineral mix may be decreased.
Essential Vitamins
- Vitamin A: Pygmy goats need vitamin A in their diets to keep up their health. Mostly, they can get this vitamin from green hay or from grazing.
- Vitamin D: Just like in humans, vitamin D helps goats absorb calcium, which maintains bone health. If your goats are outside most of the time, they will absorb vitamin D from the sun.
- Selenium: Selenium is an essential nutrient, but it is especially important if white muscle disease is prevalent in your area, as selenium protects against this disease. You can usually buy these at local feed stores and give them yourself.
Shelter and Environment
To make this determination, consider the weather in your area. If you live in a mostly temperate climate, your goats may not need as substantial a shelter as other places. At bare minimum, you should provide a 3-sided structure that offers shelter from the sun and wind. However, if you're in an area that has severe winters, you'll need a full-on barn to protect your animals, though it can be a small one. The size of your shelter is determined by the size of your herd. So if you only have one goat, your shelter should be 15 to 20 square feet (1.4-1.9 sq. m). In practice, that's a 3-by-5-foot (0.9-by-1.5 m) shelter or a 4-by-5-foot (1.2-by-1.5 m) shelter. If you have 5 goats, you'll need 75 square feet (7 sq. m) to 100 square feet (9.3 sq. If you have multiple animals, create multiple stalls so each goat has his or her own space. The ideal floor for goats is gravel with clay on top of it. The best fencing for pygmy goats is wire fence.
Enrichment
Goats love to climb, so you'll need to include some places for them to do so. For instance, any kind of picnic table is ideal for this pastime. You can even just create hills out of dirt, as goats will find that just as enjoyable.
Read also: Metabolic health and goat milk
Social Needs
Goats are meant to be in a herd, so you should keep more than one.
General care
Use a sturdier brush to get rid of the more obvious dirt on your goat. Next, use a soft brush (curry comb) to comb through your goat's hair. Most of the time, brushing will be sufficient for your goat. To bathe the goat, slightly warm up the water so it's not cold. Lather the goat up with a shampoo meant for animals or specifically for goats. Use a washing mitt to help along the process.
Additional Considerations
Consulting a Veterinary Technician
Ryan Corrigan is a Licensed Veterinary Technician in California. She received her Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology from Purdue University in 2010. To keep your goat in good health, it's best to schedule a yearly checkup.
Male vs. Female Goats
In general, females tend to not smell as bad and be easier to manage than males.
Disbudding
When you raise baby goats, you may decide you need to disbud them, which means remove their horns when they are young. Otherwise, you may get headbutted with horns when they are older.