Goats Won't Eat New Hay!

My goats have always been picky with their hay. They dive right into it as soon as I place it in the feeders and eat until all the "good" stuff is gone and then I have a lot of waste. I was getting a little low on hay so I puchased 20 bales of Timothy/Brome/Orchard grass mixed hay. They WON'T eat it! The hay looks and smells o.k. to me. They pick a little but are not at all interested. Do they know something I don't? I really don't know a lot about hay and relied on the fellow that I bought it from in saying it was good quality horse hay.

I would be able to see mould, right? I can't see any black spots or anything else that looks suspicious. I'm not sure whether to persist (it's only been a few days) in hoping they will start eating it when they get hungry enough or just try and re-sell it and find hay elsewhere?

Another old post (it is pouring out and I am stuck inside, can you tell?)

Just wanted to give my two cents on this because I have some of the most shamelessly spoiled goats on earth. And yes, they will absolutely go on hunger strike despite perfectly decent hay if they decide it isn't as "yummy" as the last batch. And here's a hint, if you ever let them taste alfalfa they will never eat anything else again.

Mine will ONLY eat orchard/alfalfa mix but not just any o&a will do! I just bought a perfectly beautiful bale of supposed to be o&a although I see no alfalfa in it and that happens alot down here. They all say it has alfalfa but many bales do not. At any rate, the last batch did have alfalfa and they will not deign to touch it.

People talk about goats eating tin cans, what a joke. Here is what happens at my farm: the goats pick through the hay just like you said for the choicest alfalfa buds and bits of grass. They they will not touch it again. Of course if it falls to the floor it is off limits. So then I pull out all the old hay and feed it to the ponies who think it's like chocolate. The way hay is advertised you would think that horses require the highest quality, greenest, softest hay but for us the ponies will eat almost anything I throw them and the goats are impossible!

Now that I've caved in and given them what they want on multiple ocassions I am "trained" and they can get me to do anything, including driving forty minutes to the next town to the only place that sells nice soft o&a regularly.

Replies

Juliana Goodwin June 8, 2012 at 12:39pm

Another old post (it is pouring out and I am stuck inside, can you tell?)

Just wanted to give my two cents on this because I have some of the most shamelessly spoiled goats on earth. And yes, they will absolutely go on hunger strike despite perfectly decent hay if they decide it isn't as "yummy" as the last batch. And here's a hint, if you ever let them taste alfalfa they will never eat anything else again.

Mine will ONLY eat orchard/alfalfa mix but not just any o&a will do! I just bought a perfectly beautiful bale of supposed to be o&a although I see no alfalfa in it and that happens alot down here. They all say it has alfalfa but many bales do not. At any rate, the last batch did have alfalfa and they will not deign to touch it.

People talk about goats eating tin cans, what a joke. Here is what happens at my farm: the goats pick through the hay just like you said for the choicest alfalfa buds and bits of grass. They they will not touch it again. Of course if it falls to the floor it is off limits. So then I pull out all the old hay and feed it to the ponies who think it's like chocolate. The way hay is advertised you would think that horses require the highest quality, greenest, softest hay but for us the ponies will eat almost anything I throw them and the goats are impossible!

Now that I've caved in and given them what they want on multiple ocassions I am "trained" and they can get me to do anything, including driving forty minutes to the next town to the only place that sells nice soft o&a regularly.

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