The short answer for a Boer
A Boer goat needs total dry feed each day roughly equal to three to four pounds for every hundred pounds of body weight, and the bulk of that should be forage. A mature doe near two hundred pounds works out to about six to eight pounds of hay and browse daily. A big buck at two hundred and fifty pounds or more needs closer to eight to ten pounds. Those totals describe everything the goat eats, not a grain allowance, and confusing the two is how meat goats get overfed and under-fibered in the same pen.
Why forage carries a meat breed
Boers were developed to convert brush, weeds, and pasture into growth, and their rumens still expect that long, fibrous material. Chewing hay and browse keeps rumen microbes working, produces steady heat and energy, and slows eating down in a way a bucket of pellets never does. Good grass hay, leafy browse, and sound pasture can maintain a dry doe or a mature buck in good flesh with no grain at all. Alfalfa is richer and suits nursing does and fast-growing kids, but feeding it heavily to idle wethers adds cost and excess protein they do not need.
Adding grain only where it earns its place
Grain is a tool for specific jobs in a Boer herd. Growing kids headed for market or the replacement pen benefit from a measured daily portion alongside free forage, because their frames and muscle are still being built. Does in the last weeks of pregnancy, and especially does nursing twins or triplets, draw on reserves quickly and usually need one to two pounds of concentrate split into two feedings. Introduce any increase gradually over a week or more, feed it at the same times each day, and step back down once kids are weaned or youngsters reach target condition. A handful scattered for friendliness is training, not feeding, and should stay a handful.
Reading condition instead of chasing the scale alone
Weighing feed matters, but weighing the goat's condition matters equally. Run a hand over the ribs, spine, and breastbone weekly: a Boer in good working condition feels smooth over the ribs with firm pressure and carries visible muscle over the back and hindquarters. If ribs feel sharp and hip bones stand out, raise forage quality first, then grain. If the neck thickens, the brisket feels soft and heavy, and goats leave hay behind, the pen is getting more energy than it uses. Parasite checks belong in the same conversation, because a Boer eating well yet losing condition may be losing ground internally rather than needing a bigger bucket.
Water, minerals, and the daily routine
None of the amounts above work without constant clean water, which a lactating Boer doe drinks in surprising volume, and a loose mineral formulated for goats, offered free choice in a dry feeder. Keep hay off the ground in racks where possible, since Boers waste and soil a large share of hay fed underfoot, which quietly shrinks the ration you think they ate. Check feeders at both ends of the day in cold weather, when intake climbs. With KinsLe Care Teams, the person feeding each Boer pen can mark the hay, grain, and mineral checks complete with a timestamp, so condition changes can be traced back to what was actually fed.