A Nubian goat eats roughly five to eight pounds of food a day in total, and forage — hay, pasture, and browse — should make up the bulk of it. Nubians are among the largest dairy goats, with does carrying a long, deep frame and bucks considerably heavier, so the total sits above what smaller dairy breeds need. As with every dairy goat, though, the total is only half the story: a dry Nubian doe maintains herself almost entirely on forage, while a doe in milk, producing this breed's notably rich, high-butterfat yield, needs a substantial grain portion on top to avoid milking herself thin.
Forage for a Big, Vocal Dairy Breed
A milking Nubian should essentially never face an empty hay rack. She will work through several pounds of hay a day — leafy, good-quality forage she can convert into milk — and she will tell you loudly if the rack runs out, because Nubians are famously expressive about meals. Coarse, stemmy hay that a dry goat picks through is a false economy for a doe in milk, since she cannot physically eat enough of it to cover production. On pasture, Nubians prefer browse to grazing and will work hedgerows, saplings, and brush with enthusiasm, which counts genuinely toward their intake. Keep loose goat mineral constantly available in a dry feeder, and protect it from the weather, since a caked, rain-ruined mineral supply is one a goat simply stops using.
Setting Grain by the Pail
Feed a milking Nubian's grain on the stand, split across milkings, and scale it to what she is actually giving: a doe in early, heavy lactation needs the generous end of the range and may still lose a little condition, while a doe late in lactation with falling yield should have grain trimmed before she starts laying on fat. Increase any ration in small steps across several days, because sudden grain jumps can upset the rumen and crash the very milk you were chasing. Dry does need little to none, growing doelings a modest growth ration, and bucks mostly forage — a buck fed heavily on grain risks urinary trouble and becomes too fat to work well in the breeding season. Kids do best with a creep feeder of starter ration they can reach and their mothers cannot, since Nubian does are attentive mothers whose offspring learn stand-stealing early.
A Feeding Day That Suits Nubians
Lay fresh hay down before morning milking, grain on the stand during milking, and turnout to browse afterwards, then repeat the hay and grain pattern in the evening; this rhythm also channels the breed's enthusiasm, because a Nubian who knows the routine waits — noisily, but in the right place. Use feeders with enough space that lower-ranking does get genuine access, since a large herd of big goats can monopolise a trough in a way that leaves the shyest doe short every single day. Water intake drives milk, so keep troughs clean and full; a milking Nubian drinks a remarkable amount, and any dip in water quality or availability lands in the pail within a day or two.
Watching Condition Through Lactation
Condition-score Nubians by hand monthly, feeling over the ribs and along the spine, and adjust grain before condition swings become visible under that long, loose-skinned frame. A doe whose appetite falters, whose milk falls sharply, or whose udder feels hot or uneven needs prompt veterinary attention rather than a ration change, and any goat straining to urinate is an emergency. KinsLe's Care Teams keep a Nubian herd's individual rations straight by assigning hay, stand grain, and water checks as separate duties, each logged complete with a timestamp, whoever is milking that day.