Soon-to-be-weaned dairy goat kids are ideal yeast culture candidates.
Feeding yeast culture to dairy goats provides an inexpensive way to aid in increasing your goats' appetites and boosting milk production. Typically sold in bags at livestock or goat supply centers, yeast culture is a powdered blend of dried yeast and the medium on which it was grown, such as corn meal or malted barley. When given to goats orally, yeast culture may encourage the growth of helpful bacteria that aid in the digestive process, says Dr. David Pugh, veterinarian and author of "Sheep and Goat Medicine." Most goats enjoy the taste of yeast culture, so the process of feeding yeast powder to your goats shouldn't be extremely difficult.
Instructions
1. Select dairy goats in your herd that you feel will benefit from dietary yeast culture supplementation. Choose goats experiencing dietary changes and potential physical stress, such as young kids who are about to be weaned, does that are close to giving birth and does that are lactating or giving milk.
2. Measure out each selected goat's grain ration into a separate feed bucket or bin. Minimize potential goat shoving and pushing by keeping the grain out of reach of the goats during the measuring process.
3. Scoop the desired amount of yeast culture powder into a small plastic or paper sandwich bag, and weigh the bag using a handheld or digital scale to determine the proper dosage. The exact amount of yeast needed varies by goat, depending upon your goat's age, as well as the type of yeast culture you purchased; typically you'll need to use 1/4 oz. of yeast culture for goat kids and 1/2 oz. of the yeast culture for adult goats.
4. Pour the first dose of yeast culture on top of the grain in the first bucket. Mix the grain slightly with your fingers to ensure that the yeast powder blends thoroughly with the top layer of the grain. Repeat the measuring and pouring process with each additional bucket of goat grain.
5. Give the grain-yeast blend to the proper goats. Ensure that each goat consumes all of the yeast culture and grain by feeding them one at a time in a separate pen or milking stand. Check each bucket to ensure that each goat has completely consumed all of the grain and yeast powder before releasing them into the main pen again.
6. Feed your dairy goats the yeast culture once each day as long as they're going through feeding changes. Be prepared to keep lactating dairy goats on the yeast supplement throughout the duration of their lactation period, which typically lasts for nine to 10 months in most dairy does.
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