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09/19/07, 10:05 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Cannon Falls Minnesota
Posts: 63
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Feeding green (wet) hay?
Need some help,
My neighbor who rents our land thought he'd be nice and bale us up some extra alfalfa hay. Only problem is. He did'nt let it dry long enough. Rain was on the way. Thinking about feeding it now. I know it will turn moldy. Should I use this hay. Goats currently on pasture. Mostly browse.
Thanks Paul
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09/19/07, 10:51 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: North of Houston TX
Posts: 4,817
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I am a huge believer in consistancy. Goats thrive on it. Changing my feeding program to include something like this, especially if it's only going to be used for a few weeks, before it would become questionable in quality, than no I wouldn't do it. I can drive 2 hours one way to a mill and buy cheap products, put it in trash cans...does it save me money when because of the rain I can not drive up next month? Or it's moldy before I get to the bottom of that last barrell because of our humidty?
I would pass on this huge diet change for your goats because it will be temporary. Vicki
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Vicki McGaugh
Nubian Soaps
North of Houston TX
www.etsy.com/shop/nubiansoaps
A 3 decade dairy goat farm homestead that is now a retail/wholesale soap company and construction business.
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09/19/07, 11:36 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: a little farm in Oklahoma, I love it!
Posts: 429
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moldy hay
you shouldn't feed moldy hay to goats it will make them sick
Misty
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09/20/07, 06:06 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: northcentral MN
Posts: 14,340
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Could you spread it out and let it dry? I wouldn't want to feed moldy hay regardless of the price.
__________________
"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin
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09/20/07, 06:50 AM
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Namaste
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,528
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Could you sell those bales to a cattle farmer who could then treat it as a form of silage? Besides the temporary change in diet, I would also worry about listeriosis. Maybe it might be do-able if you spread out a bale in their pasture so they couldn't get too much of it at any one time?
Fishhead's idea of spreading it out to dry might be a good option if you really need to keep the hay to take you thru the winter, we raked our hay into stacks, let it dry that way, then stored it loose in the hay mow. I realize these are bales, and it'll be a real PIA.
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09/20/07, 08:30 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 2,963
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If is is freshly baled, feed it.
If it was baled with high moisture but has not yet molded, feed it.
The only thing hurt by high moisture baling, if the bales do not mold, is the TDN/protein. Because of that, I'd mix that hay with good hay, if I had it to do that.
I'm assuming it is freshly baled. You are wise to feed it now.
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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates
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09/20/07, 11:30 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Colorado
Posts: 67
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If you cut the strings it should open up enough to dry some but still keep the shape (sorta).
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www.tiergartenacres.com
boer goat breeder in Colorado
also selling fun shirts for the goat lover and clothes to show of your pride in the show ring
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09/20/07, 12:29 PM
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Green Woman
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Indiana - North Central
Posts: 1,955
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How MANY bales?
***listeriosis***
)o:
be really careful... If it's a lot? Maybe not.
If just 10-15 bales? Break into it and see what it looks like. Can you trade it?
Otherwise? *sigh* Prolly not a good idea, sorry...
Goats are a LOT touchier (stomach/system wise) than cattle or horses...
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09/20/07, 12:40 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 2,963
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gailann Schrader
Goats are a LOT touchier (stomach/system wise) than cattle or horses...
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That's what I find so strange about my herd. I have fed them a whole laundry list of DON'TS, and especially back in the day before the Net was around to tell me don't: rolls of hay that were stored outside, squares that had some mold, squares put up with high moisture and stored 5 months that way (with adequate ventillation), hay that was as old as 7 years, 2-year old pellets and range cubes ... they eat it all, no worries. I am careful not to lurch from one thing to another in their diet, and if I can blend it with good stuff I will, but I can't always do that. They ought to be sick as sick can be. I reckon it's because pasture grass and browse are the backbone of their diets that they aren't sick. But it blows me away how they'll eat and do fine. The only thing I've found they don't do well on is sweet feed, and that's mainly the bucks due to calculi if they don't get the right minerals.
__________________
Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates
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09/20/07, 01:22 PM
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Green Woman
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Indiana - North Central
Posts: 1,955
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I agree. Sweet feed seems to be the most awful thing ever. And it's made to satisfy US (just like colored dog food)...
I've also found once a problems arises, it tends to make other things show up...
AND as I learn more about my goats? They seem to get touchier. I know the old Nubian? Can't have sweet feed. SCOURING diarhea almost immediately.
The OLDER Nubian? ALWAYS has loose poop. She's had a tough life. Evidence of 4 sale barns in her ears...
The little Kinder doe that got sick? The best bred.
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09/20/07, 01:59 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 2,963
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You know, Gailann, the other thing is that the worst of my goats get eaten, sold or die... :1pig: ...so maybe it's the Darwin Awards!
__________________
Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates
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