What Happens When You Feed Too Much

The most difficult part of raising meat goats in any managed herd is getting nutrition right. Unless you put your goats on pasture in the winter and the next spring you round up those that survived without any supplemental nutrition or health care, then you have a "managed" herd. Most of us have managed herds.

People either overfeed or underfeed; not many folks get the amounts correct and it can take them years to learn.

Show goat producers and pet goat raisers tend to overfeed. Slaughter-goat raisers try to feed as little as possible and oftentimes border on trying to starve the profit out of goat. This doesn't work in a species that has a fast metabolism and requires highly-digestible nutrients.

Most goat ranchers understand that feeding too high level of protein can result in serious illnesses like ruminal acidosis and laminitis-founder. I have articles on each of these topics on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. Too much protein can also result in a reduction in weight gain. When a goat is fed a protein level higher than its body requires, then energy that is used to produce muscle instead must be utilized to remove excess protein. The result can be a reduced rate of gain along with higher-than-necessary feed costs.

The process of removing excess protein from the body via urine is this: Micro-organisms reduce protein to ammonia molecules and then remake them into amino acids that make up protein chains. Ammonia molecules that are not utilized by the micro-organisms are absorbed through the wall of the rumen and circulate in the blood stream. Because ammonia build-up in the kidneys can be toxic, these molecules must be converted from ammonia to urea. Urea is then excreted from the kidneys in the form of urine. The process of changing from ammonia to urea to urine is the energy cost of having excess protein in the goat's diet. A little excess protein can be tolerated. A high level of excess protein has both an energy cost and a monetary cost because protein is usually the most expensive nutrient in livestock feed.

How much is too much protein? That is a question specific to your individual herd, location, and operation. I can tell you what I feed and what I would not feed. I feed a 16% protein pelleted goat feed that has a 2-1/2 to 1 calcium-to-phosphorus ratio that was formulated specifically for my goats. There are many other things in this ration that are equally important; protein isn't the only consideration when buying a feed ration. I see no reason ever to feed more than 16% protein to a meat goat, and I think you are treading on dangerous nutritional grounds if you do. I feed this ration only one time per day. There are many goat raisers feeding sacked feed twice a day and I disagree with that approach, unless the goat is nursing three or more kids.

I recommend contacting a goat nutritionist at the company that makes your feed and get his advice. Many times this advice comes without cost if you are buying his company's feed.

SUMMARY : A feed that is higher in protein than the goat needs results in an expenditure of ENERGY by the goat's body to eliminate excess protein that would otherwise have been used to produce muscles and an expenditure of MONEY that may not be necessary.

My thanks to Kent Mills, Livestock Nutritionist with HiPro Feeds, for his assistance in producing this article.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas 5/1/21

Most goat ranchers understand that overfeeding can result in serious illnesses like ruminal acidosis and laminitis-founder. I have articles on each of these topics on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.

Too much protein can also result in a reduction in weight gain. When a goat is fed a protein level higher than its body requires, then energy that is used to produce muscle instead must be utilized to remove excess protein. The result can be a reduced rate of gain and higher feed costs to the producer.

The process of removing excess protein from the body via urine is this: Micro-organisms reduce protein to ammonia molecules and then remake them into amino acids that make up protein chains. Ammonia molecules that are not utilized by the micro-organisms are absorbed through the wall of the rumen and circulate in the blood stream. Because ammonia build-up in the kidneys can be toxic, these molecules must be converted from ammonia to urea. Urea is then execreted from the kidneys in the form of urine. The process of changing from ammonia to urea to urine is the energy cost of having excess protein in the goat's diet. A little excess protein can be tolerated. A high level of excess protein has both an energy cost and a monetary cost because protein is usually the most expensive nutrient in livestock feed.

How much is too much protein? That's a difficult question. All I can do is tell you what I feed (and what I would not feed). I feed a 16% protein pelleted goat feed that has a 2-1/2 to 1 calcium-to-phosphorus ratio that was formulated specifically for my goats. There are many other things in this ration that are equally important; protein isn't the only consideration when buying a feed ration. Personally I see no reason ever to feed more than 16% protein to a meat goat, and I think you are treading on dangerous nutritional grounds if you do. I also feed this ration only one time per day; there are many of you feeding sacked feed twice a day and I disagree with that approach, unless the goat is nursing three or more kids.

SUMMARY : A feed that is higher in protein than the goat needs results in an expenditure of ENERGY by the goat's body to eliminate excess protein that would otherwise have been used to produce muscles.

My thanks to Kent Mills, Livestock Nutritionist with HiPro Feeds, for his assistance in producing this article.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas 12/16/14

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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