Forum

How much hay?

Posted by Juliana Goodwin on May 16, 2011 at 1:50pm in Goats 101

Hi...

 

If our goats are turned out all day on pretty thick grazing, foraging, do they really still need hay when they come in for the night?  We won't leave them out due to lots of predators here.

 

Just exclude lactating does, late pregnancy does... let's just talk about a buck not breeding, a wether, and a doe.

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Replies

  • Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres May 16, 2011 at 5:42pm
    I think goats can (and do) live without browse... but it's not ideal... and if you're planning to plant with goats in mind, your goats will be happy campers!! Until then, use what you have!! I have given "old" cuttings from some trees that I know the goats love, and they munched the dry leaves just as fast as the fresh ones!! They also love to eat the bark of this tree, and so I make sure to leave it long enough for them to do that too.
  • Juliana Goodwin May 16, 2011 at 4:35pm

    Maybe I could leave them out, that is.  

     

    No "maybe I could afford to lose a few" lol.

    Juliana Goodwin said:

    LOL I'm all about environmental enrichment.  My next project is to build dog agility obstacles, which I thought I would leave in the goat pasture so that they could also enjoy them.  I have two very smart and special German Shepherd dogs who take up an enormous amount of my day keeping their minds out of trouble :)

     

    I really want the goats to live as "natural" of a life as possible....although I am limited until I can afford portable fencing.  Also I am in the process of getting my soil tested and figuring out what I can plant here, but I had thought to plant about 2.5 acres in high quality browse and forage for the goats.

     

    No matter what I don't think I dare leave them out at night, though...we only plan to keep about 4, all of whom will be very needed.  I can't afford to lose a couple to our local bobcats, coyotes, or gators.  Maybe I could if they were in electric net fencing...

  • Juliana Goodwin May 16, 2011 at 4:34pm

    LOL I'm all about environmental enrichment.  My next project is to build dog agility obstacles, which I thought I would leave in the goat pasture so that they could also enjoy them.  I have two very smart and special German Shepherd dogs who take up an enormous amount of my day keeping their minds out of trouble :)

     

    I really want the goats to live as "natural" of a life as possible....although I am limited until I can afford portable fencing.  Also I am in the process of getting my soil tested and figuring out what I can plant here, but I had thought to plant about 2.5 acres in high quality browse and forage for the goats.

     

    No matter what I don't think I dare leave them out at night, though...we only plan to keep about 4, all of whom will be very needed.  I can't afford to lose a couple to our local bobcats, coyotes, or gators.  Maybe I could if they were in electric net fencing...

  • Juliana Goodwin May 16, 2011 at 4:30pm

    Ah which brings up another thing I wanted to ask about.  We have a few brush piles around the farm where my husband has been pruning back pepper trees and other bushes and trees to mow.  I told him to stop all trimming until the goats arrive so we can throw it in their pasture to eat it.

     

    How old is too old for the brush piles?  Can I still give it to them if it's been on the ground a month?

     

    So goats can and do live without browse?  I have tons of bushes/shrubs/trees for munching on but most of them are around the perimeter of my farm and my perimeter fence is in disrepair and is not goat proof.  I had thought I might trim them and bring them to the goats since I can't let them out there yet.

     

    Come summer there will be a trench of water inside the perimeter fence.  I thought maybe I could let them loose then, because they are supposed to hate water.  The fence IS standing, but it's sagging quite low in places etc...


    Rachel Whetzel said:

    My goats won't eat their hay unless I put it up like it's a "bush" so I hang it around the yard to mimic what they would do naturally, going around and eating from bushes and trees. Their yard is also full of poison oak and weeds, which they spend a lot of time on over the grass that IS growing there. I also take all pruning branches into their yard and prop them into a tire (again to mimic trees and bushes) and the goats LOVE picking every last BIT off of those. When I worked at the zoo, we called food placement like that, environment enrichment. lol I like trying to keep my goats healthy and happy in body AND mind. I also like to move their climbing toys around their yard to keep them new and exciting.
  • Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres May 16, 2011 at 2:58pm
    My goats won't eat their hay unless I put it up like it's a "bush" so I hang it around the yard to mimic what they would do naturally, going around and eating from bushes and trees. Their yard is also full of poison oak and weeds, which they spend a lot of time on over the grass that IS growing there. I also take all pruning branches into their yard and prop them into a tire (again to mimic trees and bushes) and the goats LOVE picking every last BIT off of those. When I worked at the zoo, we called food placement like that, environment enrichment. lol I like trying to keep my goats healthy and happy in body AND mind. I also like to move their climbing toys around their yard to keep them new and exciting.
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle May 16, 2011 at 2:50pm
    Alfalfa hay is high in calcium, which is why it's fed to milkers. It improves production supposedly. During winter, in Illinois, we have to feed hay because there is no grass or leaves or anything. Other than a cedar tree here and there, we have no evergreens that grow naturally in our area. So, we feed hay out of necessity. This time of year, we do actually feed scythed grass to our milkers when they come into the barn at night. But it's not really "just" grass. It's mostly grass, but there are also lots of weeds and other vegetation in there. Yes, goats need browse, which most people are unable or  unwilling to feed their goats unless they have a couple hundred acres, which is why they need minerals -- and sometimes even other supplements like COWP and BoSe and kelp and ... all the other things we talk about feeding.

    Juliana Goodwin said:

    And on this topic:  I keep getting confused about goat nutrition.  They are not "grazers".... so why is hay such an important part of their diet?  

     

    Goats cannot live on grass pasture alone, right?  Because they need trees etc to browse on?

     

    Just newbie questions...thanks.  Also I have to be ready to explain to the hubby why we have to buy hay lol.  He's like, just feed them the lawn clippings.

  • Juliana Goodwin May 16, 2011 at 2:36pm

    More about hay...my breeder said she likes peanut hay but it is hard to find.  second to that I was considering Tifton 44 (haven't yet found peanut hay in my area).

     

    Thoughts?

  • Juliana Goodwin May 16, 2011 at 2:35pm

    And on this topic:  I keep getting confused about goat nutrition.  They are not "grazers".... so why is hay such an important part of their diet?  

     

    Goats cannot live on grass pasture alone, right?  Because they need trees etc to browse on?

     

    Just newbie questions...thanks.  Also I have to be ready to explain to the hubby why we have to buy hay lol.  He's like, just feed them the lawn clippings.

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle May 16, 2011 at 2:33pm
    Our bucks and wethers get no hay at all from April through November, because they are on pasture 24/7. And they are usually in their best condition.
  • Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres May 16, 2011 at 2:10pm
    From what I understand, the really DO need it. It's better on their rumen to have the roughage to balance the greens of fresh grass.
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