How does this sound for hay?

[GoddessKristie]

We are getting a couple of goats and have long been considering what to do with our overly large yard that we hate mowing. I was thinking it would be wise to make hay from it, but I wanted to see what you experts thought about the contents. The area in consideration is mainly fescue with crab grass and dandelions. Maybe 30% dandelions. There are also some other small flowering things interspersed, but I don't even know what they are. I read online that fescue is 12% protein and that dandelion greens are 18.7% protein. Has anyone else read any figures? These were the only ones I could find.
As an aside, we're feeding alfalfa until the fall with a 14.4% concentrate. In the fall we plan to switch to a 20.5% concentrate and hoped the grass hay we make from our property would be sufficient to cover the hay (of course it's not likely to be enough at about 1/5ac of grass, but should help).
These are Nigerian Dwarf goats for dairy production (though we're backyard shephards and not interested in a commercial level of production).

[Up North Louie]

I raise horses, not goats. But I used to dairy, and if that's what you're doing, protein is key. Just remember that milk is flavored by what the milking animal eats to some extent.

Goats have a reputation for being able to thrive on just about anything. I don't know this first-hand, but what have you got to lose? I am sure that those with goat experience can correct me if I'm way off base on this.

I think I might go to the trouble of identifying the rest of what's out there first, though. You never know...

With hay prices doing what they are, best of luck to you.

Don

[sammyd]

You will be looking at probably less than 800 pounds of hay of questionable value if you cut it 3 or 4 times.
Put it in bags as silage and use it as a treat. It will be hard to dry down dandelions without a crimper I think they are pretty succulent.
Alfalfa is high in protein but only when cut at the proper time, do you know the proper time to cut dandelions?

[uncle Will in In.]

Cutting time is very important. Any grass that has gone to seed is not palatable to livestock. Even when it was put up right and smells good, they don't like it.