Hi all!
I've been feeding some of the same hay all late summer but of course the goats have had browse all this time. They all looked great! Since leaves have dropped and we are banned from walking fields due to hunting, they are stuck in a 3 acre area with mostly grasses.
My hay is organic grass hay. Because there was little else other than grass on the ground, I've added more hay. They have been enjoying the surplus hay all night and have access to it all day and have fat bellies . Only since I've been generous with the hay - (last 2 weeks). I recently wormed and they all have been bolused so don't think it is parasites.
Does this indicate my hay -while organic- is poor in nutrition because it is just grass? This is a serious hay guy who raises goats. Has some course stuff and that I use for bedding but of 2 large leaves- I only get 3 handfuls of leftover.
I can feed grain- I wasn't going to since everyone is dry this season- no breeding until next year. Love the peacefulness of no grain!
I love Chaffhaye and could do that but thought just hay would be ok except for treats.
Before I get more of this same hay- tell me what you think.
Judy
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Mostly green and light green. Smells good. More stems this year than last year but lots of soft stuff. But no clover or alfalfa- I might have option for clover in next batch or some stemmy alfalfa but I don't want to add clover to my fields- nasty stuff takes over- so I was thinking of adding Chaffhaye. Reason I didn't leap to that is that my queen- during pregnancy- would get dandruff if fed Chaffhaye and it dissapeared when I took her off. But she was also on grain and alfalfa in the hay.
Large bellies aren't necessarily a bad sign... can you tell us more about your hay? Is it stemy? How would you say it looks? Is it mostly green? Is it mostly brown?
Replies
Deborah, thank you so much for posting this! So helpful.... - Judy
Here you go ...
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/body-condition
Deborah, I'd like to read your PDF on body conditioning. Where is it posted? I was not able to find it.
Judy
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I say ... ask the goats. :) I just posted an excellent PDF on body condition. If their body condition is good, I wouldn't worry about it.
Why are you up so late- I had chocolate!
Large bellies aren't necessarily a bad sign... can you tell us more about your hay? Is it stemy? How would you say it looks? Is it mostly green? Is it mostly brown?