In Raising Healthy Goats
For so long, I thought and believed that feeding my goats with a variety of forage would make them grow faster and healthier.
So, I planted in my farm Rensonii, Trichantera, Flamengia, Mulberry and other high-protein plants and also fed my goats with Napier and other forage varieties.
Among us goat raisers, we call this “Salad Feeding.”
In fact, a departed friend and goat raising advocate, Rene Almeda, established his “Salad Garden” where he allowed his goats to feast on a variety of forage.
All along, I was wondering why the goats of my American friends fed only with Hay and Alfalfa looked stouter while mine had lean bodies.
It was not until I attended the farm-site lecture of veteran cattle nutrition expert Arnel Corpuz did I get enlightened on the secrets.
Hindi pala puede ang pabago-bago ng pagkain para sa baka at kambing because it will disturb the microbial population in the rumen of the animals.
Inside the intestines of our ruminants (Carabao, Cattle, Goats, Sheep) are billions of microbes which process the food intake of our animals and convert this to energy and nutrients, according to Arnel Corpuz, a native of General Santos City who spent 11 years managing a 50,000-head Wagyu feedlot in Australia as an Overseas Filipino worker.
Arnel, who now operates a 600-head cattle fattening feed lot in Polomok in partnership with his friends, said that every time a new feed is introduced, the microbes are affected and the population will decrease stunting animal growth.
The common manifestation of this, he said, ay kung mag-purorot ang mga hayop or when the animals show signs of diarrhea.
The secret in proper feeding, he said, is to give the animals consistent feeds or silage.
It could be Napier, Sorghum, Corn, Legumes or whatever. The key is to feed the animals with one kind of feeds consistently.
In my case, I am using Sorghum Silage because I believe that Sorghum is the most practical and usable crop that I could plant.
I could use the Sorghum grains for my chicken and the stalks and leaves which remain green even after harvest as my silage materials. In addition to that,
I do not have to replant frequently because the Sorghum grows ratoons allowing me to harvest three times with just one planting.
Arnel said I could switch to other varieties of forage provided I observe the 9-day feed transition process which means I must not change the feeds of my goats abruptly.
He said in the first three days, the new silage should only be 25% of the feeds then on the second 3-days 50-50 and on the last three days, the new silage should be 75% of the feeds.
On the 10th day onwards, the new feeds could be given as a regular silage.
Learning from the expert, I have started doing this in my farm and I hope to see positive results in the days to come.
(Video taken by John Pagaduan)
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