are my goats just spoiled? Hay question

[Jubel]

If I don't put out fresh hay everyday, it seems like my goats won't eat it. It is such a waste. I'm not talking about the hay they actually waste on the ground.
I put it out in a basket and they will eat some of it. Only when I put fresh hay the next day will they eat again. How spoiled can the hay be if it has been out only one day. Are my goats spoiled? Do I need to just leave it in the basket until they get hungry enough to eat it? Just wanted to know if you had simililar experiences.

[Minelson]

Yes...I have the same thing. They have so much hay to eat and they STILL insist on fresh every day. Very spoiled...like all my critters...but none are overweight. Oh maybe Mickey, indoor cat...only fat one.

[Jubel]

So what do you do with ALLLLLL that left over hay.

[Minelson]

I feed most of it to the horses. I use it for bedding. I put some in the chicken coop. I kinda have a constant rotation going. They like to lay around outside the barn door in the sun...so I put it there last. That is the final stop for the hay before it goes in the manure pile. A lot of it blows away then in the wind

[momtoseven]

Our goats are the same way, and we use the wasted hay as bedding.

It's sort of aggravating to be bringing in fresh and get assaulted by goats for the new stuff when their racks are still half full of yesterday's hay, though.

[tmfinley]

My does are the same way, so when they are done with it I give it to the bucks. They eat most of it and what is left goes to the rabbits then to the garden.

Tiffany

[Alice In TX/MO]

Goats eat the leaves.

Horses get the stems.

[Jubel]

I went through a day or two thinking..... by golly ... they are going to eat that hay. I didn't put anymore out, but now talking to you I will start back. I have plenty of hay anyway, no use in being stingy. It's just the left over hay and getting rid of it.

Thanks for the information.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Have you tried to flip it over? or add a little fresh to the mix in the middle, etc. to try & fool them. Mine are pretty spoiled too & they waste alot like most goats, but that works a bit better for me. After awhile or if it has too much of what I call the crunchy stuff they don't like then I put it out for the deer.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

I mix the old hay with some fresh alfalfa and they eat it accidently.

[Goat Servant]

I do what Minelson does. And sometimes go out there and turn it...it fools them for maybe part of the day.
At other times I let them "starve" ...inotherwords wait till that feeder is pathetically low before it gets filled up again.
It all depends on the weather & their activity level. If its really cold the feeder is pretty much filled. If they are laying around doing nothing when its raining I tend to let them eat leftovers.

[Scrounger]

Goats will eat what ever they train you to feed them......

[LomahAcres]

Have you tried feeding them less? If they aren't eating it all in one day, they obviously have more then enough. I feed mine just enough so there is just a very little left the next day, less waste then trying to fill a whole feeder with it, and I know they're getting enough. If they start finishing up that little bit, then I increase. If they start leaving more, I decrease. They eat more in the winter, and now that spring grass is out, they're are down to about half.

[Wendy]

Ditto the above. Mine get just what they will clean up. Don't put enough out for them to waste it.