alfalfa and its stems

[J.T.M.]

My elite flock of sheep turn there nose up at alfalfa stems.Tell me goatsies,do goats eat them?

[J.T.M.]

So Janine ,do your goats eat the stems?That is the question I'm asking.

[Eunice]

My dairy goats get the good hay. If the hay is good they clean it up. If it is stemmy, they leave some of the stems - which I in turn feet to my black faced sheep. My sheep eat anything. I clean my goat feeders into the sheep feeder.

[Nancy_in_GA]

If the stems break cleanly when they chew them, our goats will eat the stems. But if the stems are more like plastic, they usually won't. I'm not sure what makes the difference, but I've seen both kinds of stems in several types of hay. Could it be how the hay is dried?

[J.T.M.]

I think on page 15 there is people dicussing feeding alfalfa and its high cost.Someone had mentioned $14.00 a square.For that kind of cash those stems had better be eaten.

[J.T.M.]

Is there feed value in stems?

[J.T.M.]

Originally Posted by Eunice

My sheep eat anything. I clean my goat feeders into the sheep feeder.

don't push me Eunice

[Cloverbud]

Originally Posted by J.T.M.

Is there feed value in stems?

Yes, there is. If not directly to the goat, then at least to the rumen's bacteria, who then turn it into good stuff for the goat.

[Starsmom]

My does won't eat the stems, but the bucks will. My ram will eat them AFTER he has eaten everything else and asked for more. If we don't oblige him, then he'll eat the stems. I guess he figures its worth a try. Our larger stems come from the 1st cutting and by the 3rd cutting, the stems are much finer, but the alfalfa is much richer. We give the 2nd cutting to non lactating & 1st stages pregnant goats & boys and the 3rd cutting to the later stage pregnant & lactating goats. We give the horses the 1st cutting & bucks & ram if we run out of 2nd. Does that make any sense???

[Janine]

My goats do not eat the stems. I use the stems as bedding, then when it gets dirty I put it in the garden or composting pile.

[Scrounger]

Currently, I don't feed my goats alfalfa, but I have worked with others who did/do. If you let them train YOU to replace it after they've eaten just the leaves, then that's all they will eat. You train THEM to eat what's given them and they will eat it.

[Alice In TX/MO]

The stemmy leftovers go to the horses.

[Freeholder]

Mine prefer not to eat the stems -- if I get out there and there are still some left, I put them in the pen for bedding. But, if I'm careful not to give them too much hay, they do eat most of the stems. Yes, the stems do have nutritional value -- maybe not as much as the leaves, but they balance the leaves out (add fiber, if nothing else).

Kathleen

[Cygnet]

My stems go to my chickens, which parade in and out of the pens. They eat them. The goats really don't.

They also make great mulch.

-- Leva

[fcnubian]

My goats don't eat much of the stems. I give them their hay and any stems left over at night are removed and fed to either the horses or calf.