Using Hay Stretcher For Goats

[shellyr44]

We will be getting goats soon and I have a question about a hay stretcher feeding product I found at Tractor Supply. Has any one ever used this and if I feed the goats this will I still need to buy hay. I have been reading a lot about what to feed goats and have never seen this product mentioned.

[RandB]

I don't know the answer to this, but just wanted to suggest that you might want to post this question in the goat forum here, if you didn't already. It is a very active one, I'm sure someone there could answer you.

[Jena]

That really sounds like torture.

Poor goats....having that hay stretcher used on them

Jena

[jill.costello]

I want to say this in the kindest way possible....from experience and from the heart. But, I'm blunt, so forgive me....

If you can't afford to feed a basic like hay (hay stretcher is a low-grade fiber product for when hay is scarce & expensive), why do you think you can support goats?

If it's not a question of money, then I apologize, but I learned quickly with just FOUR goats that they do cost a bit to keep! And with grain prices going up, you might want to weigh the advantages vs. costs. Will you eat them? Will you use their milk? Sell their offspring? If they save you from buying 2 gallons of milk for your family per week, that's about $6.50 per week saved......BUT, if it cost you $8.00 per week to feed them, then you didn't help yourself at all! I TRIED to convince my husband that fresh organic cream for his coffee was WORTH $8.00 per week, but he wasn't buying it!!

Sorry if I'm totally out of line, but please don't get animals if you can only afford to feed them if you use the hay-stretcher product.

[smwon]

I think her question is valid. Having goats and milk and milk by-products and even eating the offspring from breeding the goats is a good thing. Cutting costs to do so is also a good thing. I don't see a problem with her question at all. As a matter of fact I wouldn't mind knowing the answer myself.

Now if the goats are just pets... that is a whole nother story. That isn't to say that cutting cost to keep a beloved pet is wrong either.

[sammyd]

You'd have to compare the nutrients contained in the haystretcher to what is commonly found in hay.
It seems popular with horse folks but requirements are different for lactating or weight gaining goats.

I found this on Blue Seal Haystretcher-

Hay Stretcher is a large pellet with a nutritional profile similar to grass hay, but slightly lower in fiber and higher in energy. It may be used to replace up to half the hay in an animal's diet on a pound-for-pound basis. It is suitable for horses, cattle, sheep and goats. Hay Stretcher is not fortified with vitamins or trace minerals and should not be used to replace grain in an animal's diet.

Crude Protein, Min. ......................................... 11.5 %
Crude Fat, Min. ................................................. 2.0 %
Crude Fiber, Max. ........................................... 20.0 %
Calcium, Min. .............. 0.80 % Max. ......... 1.30 %
Phosphorus, Min. ............................................ 0.45 %

Not too high on the protein, you'd have to up your grain % a bit to compensate if you want any sort of production.

[billooo2]

I would be very, very careful about substituting a pellet for a long fiber (hay) in a ruminant animal. Horses have an entirely different type of digestive system from goats. If I am not mistaken, the rumen of goats need that "long fiber," and if you try using pellets, they can end up as "mush" in the rumen.......the rumen may not function properly................and you end up with malnourished goats (even though the package labels may say that you are feeding them very well)....and potentially very large vet bills.........and you spent more money than you hoped to save.

IMO.......feeding quality hay, grain, and minerals saves you money in the long rain. Trying to raise healthy animals on cheap feed is an oxymoron.