# Feeding urea to goats.



## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

I went to buy a protein bucket today armed with the advice of no chicken feathers, and no urea. TSC had one that complied, but it was out of stock. They had another labeled for goats, but it contained urea in the ingredient list- but not the amount/percentage. I passed untill I learn more.

I have investigated this a bit, reviewing a few posts here and reading this article Urea and NPN for Cattle and Sheep

I'm understanding a bit about the use and process of urea in the ruminant, but I'm still not understanding why goats shouldn't have urea? Or is it just that they can't have the amount in these buckets?

Thanks for your help!


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## finnsheep (May 23, 2012)

Goats are very efficient at using urea, too efficient in fact. So basically too much causes NH3 (ammonia) poisoning. The Merck Veterinary Manual has a very good discussion on this but my copy is at home right now.

It's safer for cattle but sheep and goats are far more prone to toxicity. I never feed anything with urea to my flock and herd because of this. 

TSC in my area does carry urea free protein tubs. I can't recall if they are labelled for goats, but they were for sheep, and they worked just fine for my animals.


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## JBarGFarmKeeper (Nov 1, 2011)

It's a cheap protein that cattle can metabolize and to goats it's poison. It will kill them. Ask me how I know...


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

It's not even protein. Its simply a nitrogen source that the rumen bugs can use to make protein (amino acid synthesis). Up to 50% of the protein that ruminants digest in the intestine is acually digestion of the rumen bugs that pass right along with the rumen contents through the small intestine. A lot of that high quality protein we feed goats does't actually get to the goat, but is instead digested by those rumen bugs. The rumen bugs themselves are VERY good sources of balenced amino acid proteins (unlike some plant proteins), so it is nice to be able to feed something that the bugs can use other than our nice expensive protein sources, to make an even higher quality protein source. 

Merck Veterinary Manual

Here's some info from Mercks. The idea is to to transition diets slowly to a urea diet just like with every thing else, and avoid variation of the urea as much as possible (IE, don't let them run out for any amount of time - the enzymes that digest urea start disappearing within 1-3 days after removal from the diet, requiring the transition period to start all over again). If you use it with knowledge, it is not a 'poison' and CAN be used safely. It is not often done in the goat world, however. Probably because we rarely feed Total Mixed Rations and very little quality nutritional information is available to most people. 

What is the reasoning behind needing to use a protein block? I personally have never used one and I've been raising goats for 11 years now. Most goats get more than adequate protein levels from their diets.


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

I lost track of this thread for a while, thanks for the information. Gena, so sorry for that. I was reading on another forum that some people offer these protein buckets to their pregnant does when their primary diet is hay. I thought I would give it a try and see how it works out. I'm still in the learning curve here.


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