Dairy goat ration: feed for milk and daily activity

A dairy goat ration needs to match milk yield, pregnancy and daily walking. With HerdMobile, you can plan feeding around your own hay and concentrate. Enter body weight, dry matter intake, milk in kilograms per day and walking distance to calculate energy and protein needs, then check minerals across the full ration.

Adult dairy goats eating hay beside a milk can. AI-generated topic scene.

Edited by Ender Soyuince · About our content

2026-10-21

Compiled from open-access scientific sources.

What determines a milking goat’s energy and protein needs?

Body weight, goat type, milk yield, pregnancy and walking all affect energy and protein needs. HerdMobile uses the Small Ruminant Nutrition System to account for maintenance, milk production and pregnancy from day 63 to day 150. Enter daily walking distance in kilometres and uphill climb in metres to include activity. For example, a 60 kg Saanen eating 2.5 kg of dry matter, walking 3 km and climbing 100 m daily needs 77.3 g of metabolizable protein for maintenance and 0.296 Mcal of energy for activity. Include her recorded milk yield in kilograms per day when calculating the ration.

Read the related guide

Which minerals does a milking goat need?

A milking goat’s daily ration is checked on a dry matter basis: at least 0.65% calcium, 0.35% phosphorus and 0.12% magnesium. Per kilogram of dry matter, zinc starts at 40 mg, selenium at 0.20 mg and copper ranges from 15 to 40 mg. The calcium to phosphorus ratio stays between 1.5 to 1 and 2 to 1. Goats tolerate more copper than sheep, so choose minerals labelled for goats and keep sheep products for sheep. Include the actual amounts of forage, concentrate and mineral mix in HerdMobile to check what the goat eats each day.

How do you put the ration into practice?

Weigh a few goats and measure their milk yield on the test day, then use those figures to plan the group’s feeding. Choose your hay, concentrate and mineral mix in HerdMobile to calculate the daily ration and cost per goat. Divide concentrate between milkings, keep good hay available throughout the day and provide fresh water within easy reach. Recalculate when milk yield changes as lactation progresses, when kidding approaches or when you start a new batch of hay. Following milk yield alongside feed costs helps you see how spending changes through the season.

Questions from the farm

What do I need to calculate a dairy goat ration?

You need body weight, dry matter intake, recorded milk yield in kilograms per day, pregnancy day, walking distance and uphill climb. Add your own feeds to calculate daily feeding amounts.

What copper range is used for goat rations?

HerdMobile calculates goat rations with 15 to 40 mg of copper per kilogram of dry matter, including the copper supplied by forage, concentrate and mineral mix.

When should I update the milking goat ration?

Update the ration when milk yield, pregnancy stage or the batch of hay changes. Use the start date saved with each ration to compare feeding periods.

How HerdMobile helps

Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.

See how many kilos of each feed to give — Keep the day’s work in view: open your animal records, plan feeding, follow farm accounts and manage your backup in HerdMobile.