QUALITY  FORAGE, BROWSE,  AND  HAY  ARE   ESSENTIAL  FOR  GOATS

One of the main reasons that  many people have such a difficult time raising goats is the widespread but wrong  belief that goats can eat just about  anything and thrive.   Goats  must have  high quality forage, browse, and hay.

Rumen passage rates directly affect what goats   can digest to obtain nutrition. Goats, like deer,  have very fast rumen passage rates, which determines  what goats can and cannot digest.

Goat rumen passage rate  is 11 to 14 hours, giving their rumens   little  time to break down complex compounds. They need to consume plant materials that can be processed  more rapidly by  rumen micro-organisms.

Cattle take  up to three (3)  days to digest their food. Cattle have a very  slow rumen passage rate that allows  them to consume and   digest   nutrients from  coarse and dormant plant materials.  Cattle  take much longer to process plant materials, so their rumens have extra time  to break down the complex plant compounds into useable nutrition.   It is more accurate to say that cattle can eat almost anything.

Goat raisers tend to focus on percentage of protein, but energy and especially fiber  are important.   Goats instinctively know  to focus on  the fiber content of forages that they select to eat. The  more easily digestible plants require less energy from the micro-organisms to break down the complex compounds, leaving more energy    for the goat  to use for its body's requirements for maintenance and growth.

Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) is a measurement used in analyzing forages. The ADF number represents an estimate  of the digestibility  of plant materials. Goat raisers are primarily concerned with Acid Detergent Fiber's measurement of an indigestible fiber called lignin.   Lignin is the material that gives plants the structural ability to stand upright to receive sunlight for growth. We refer to these plants and grasses as stemmy and coarse.

Taller and older plants are less digestible because they are stemmy, plus they are  lower in energy. This is why you should mow your pastures to a height that will stimulate new growth.

A high ADF measurement means that the plant material has a lot of indigestible material in it. For goats, an Acid Detergent Fiber measurement of 39 or higher is too high for them to digest. Because of the goat's fast rumen passage rate, there isn't enough time to process nutrients from coarse, fibrous, and  dormant plant materials.

An additional benefit of a low Acid Detergent Fiber measurement is that the plant material is usually higher in energy (calories).

TALL MATURE GRASSES ARE NOT    QUALITY FORAGE FOR GOATS.

Another nutritional measurement that is critical to goats is NON-FIBROUS CARBOHYDRATES (NFC).     A high Non-Fibrous Carbohydrate  value means that the plant materials have good levels of starch, simple sugars, and soluble fiber. High NFC numbers also indicate that the plants have higher amounts of cell contents which are more readily digestible than the fibrous cell walls, plus they  provide many vital nutrients and energy (calories).

Low Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) and high Non-Fibrous Carbohydrates (NFC) plant materials are most desirable for goats.

Hay testing is critical and  inexpensive. I use Dairy One Forage Lab in New York. Call 1-800-344-2697 or go online to www.dairyone.com to their website shop and order their pre-paid mailers, each of which includes a quart ziplock bag for hay   sample and the needed paperwork to accompany your order.  Cost   is  $4.50 each.   Follow the instructions and mail it.    Current cost of "Package 325 testing" is $20.00 (November 2023).   If you are testing native or improved pastures (which by definition have multiple species of plants), then call and ask if a different test is more appropriate to provide the information you need. Turnaround is about one week. They will  call you with the results.

My thanks to Kent Mills, goat nutritionist, Hi Pro Feeds, Texas, for his assistance.   Kent Mills has been my goat nutritionist for over 25 years and teaches Goat Nutrition at GoatCamp™ every year.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, ONION CREEK RANCH, Texas        11.1.23

The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)

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