Feeding the Herd

Here at Sunrising, I believe management and feed is key to everything. I do my best year-round to offer as good of hay as I can afford, especially leafy alfalfa. Soft, high quality orchard grass is also an option that I give my does but usually in the off season. I feed the same grain to my milkers, kids, and bucks as it is completely balanced, and they all seem to do very well on it. The recipe will be listed below at the bottom of this page.

So I don't have to repeat this in every list... Hay & Mineral is available 24/7 ALWAYS around here. I currently use Duraferm Concept-Aid and have had good results so far. Hardiness and easy keeping are big factors here for me to keep an animal. If they can't thrive off of simple, minimalistic care, then they aren't a match for me. My Little Nix's SLD Tangerine kids seem to do excellently on my style of management, and I always recommend him to Alpine breeders wanting easier animals.

Raising Kids:

I have had many breeders, and even a few judges, come to me and ask how I get my animals, especially young kids, so growthy. I tell them all the same thing!

• HARDY GENETICS! The most important thing. I will say though, I have had adult does that were not raised on my methods end up not doing super well here but their kids do phenomenally. So... take this one with a grain of salt.

• Feeding milk until 6+ Months old. Kids here stay on a 24/7 lambar that gets refilled with fresh milk 2x daily. I don't use my milk for anything other than feeding babies, so this is a much easier choice than just dumping or wasting it. My coccidia prevention choice is Calf-Pro, which I dose at 1cc/10lbs inside their lambar. I do however keep Di-Methox 12.5 % Concentration (Sulfadimethoxine) as a backup for any kids that show signs of coccidia or maybe not as quick of a growth rate.

• 24/7 Grain access. I try to make sure my kids have access to grain at all times, but when I have so many kids, it often turns into giving it twice a day. I have a barn camera, so I check in periodically and try to time it that they run out just a couple hours before chores, that way they think the grain is brand new and eat a bunch of it down. I typically take my kids off of grain around 8-9 months old when they merge in with the adult herd.

Dry Yearlings:

• Dry yearlings are the easiest to feed. Mine do not get any grain, just access to hay and mineral.

Senior Does:

• Nothing special is given to these does either. They get as much grain as they want while being milked on the stand. I milk 2 at a time currently with a 3 headed stand so they have plenty of time to eat. If a doe is lacking as much weight as I'd like to see on her, I will leave her on the stand for an extra round and give extra feed.

  

  This is my grain recipe, ingredients listed are Cracked Corn, Oats, Steam Rolled Barley, Beet Pulp, Kalmbach 38% All Natural protein pellet, Yeast, Liquid Molasses, Calf Mana, and Sunflower Seeds.