Totally confused about.. HAY

QoTL · #1 06/27/08, 04:14 PM

We are very new goat owners, and hadn't found a hay seller, so were going with the feed store. Someone suggested to me to request Brome hay. I asked the feed store what they had.. no idea. I asked them if it was edible for my goats, and they shrugged and said lots of people feed their cows with it. It was running nearly $6 a bale. The first 2 were fine- looked yummy, smelled good and was tinted green. But I don't really know hay. My goats loved it.

The last bale looks like it's only a step away from straw. It is decidedly yellow/brown, and just doesn't look as appetizing to me. And my goats clearly agree, since they kept pulling it out. The only advantage is that the bedding is now very deep and soft

. Today I told dh to contact the farmer he had told me about, and he did. He brought home 8 bales of nice green tinted stuff, and it cost us $30. My girls eat about 1 bale every 2 weeks (also have browse, a little grain, and minerals).

Just wondering if you guys can give me some pointers on determining good hay/bad hay? I can't tell really, other than that good hay has that delicious aroma.. I think. And it's greenish colored.. I think. I really have NO IDEA. Is this something we should contact the seller of the hay about? Can someone post a picture of good hay for me?

Any help would be appreciated. I want to give my girls the best I can, but I'm completely lost in this area.

Meghan

Ernie · #2 06/27/08, 04:53 PM

You're going to have to learn about hay. There's more to it than you can cover in an easy forum post. Here's a website to get you started:

http://www.c-r-alpacas.com/Alpaca%20...pes_of_hay.htm

For my goats, I try to get first-cut timothy if I can. Alfalfa is good, but very rich and I always worry about the bloat with it, plus the price is insane in my part of the country. In my part of the country I pay anywhere from $2.50 a bale, to $4.00 a bale (for regular, not alfalfa) depending on the time of year versus demand. The later you wait in the year to start fishing around for hay means the more you'll pay for less quality.

You want it to have a lot of leafy material in it, as little straw as possible. It should be green and never yellow-brown. Turn it over and make sure it isn't moldy or rotted on the bottom. If it is, don't be afraid to tell them to put it back on the truck. It's been stored on the bottom of some pile, most likely in a leaky barn. Your goats won't eat it and it wouldn't be good for them if they did.

I only feed hay in the winter. The rest of the time it's browse or pasture foraging.

QoTL · #3 06/27/08, 05:35 PM

Terrific Ernie, Thanks!

Looks like we now have 1st cut Timothy.

I'll use the other bale just for the bedding

GoatNamedDunn · #4 06/27/08, 05:45 PM

I use orchard grass hay. My goats love it and around here it is always really nice quality and smells so gooooood! To bad im alergic haha or I would stick my nose in it and take a good wiff LOL

Alice In TX/MO · #5 06/27/08, 06:06 PM

What kind of goats?

QoTL · #6 06/27/08, 06:10 PM

I have an Alpine mix and a elderly Nigerian Dwarf.

RiverPines · #7 06/27/08, 06:16 PM

I have goats for meat.
Bucks and non-breeding get orchard grass and grassy mixes.
Breeding, nursing, pg, get orchard grass/alfalfa mix and grassy mix.

The smell becomes a good indicator of hay. Sweet, fresh yes. Stale, moldy, or straw like odors not good.

As for green, that can be deceiving sometimes. We buy large rounds and large squares. After a winter of storing, it often is not so green, but still sweet and fresh smelling. Also sun dried will be more yellow.

Some hay is chemically dried. That I watch out for. I would rather have field dried even if its sun bleached. I dont like chemicals in my food even if they are suppose to be harmless.

Lada · #8 06/27/08, 10:27 PM

We feed alfalfa/orchard grass or timothy. It's mostly what's grown here. "Weedy" hay is fine for goats. Stuff that got a little too far gone before it was cut. Horses won't eat weedy hay, but the goats will. Just make sure it's not moldy or wet in the middle, or on the bottom. It should smell...good...not mildewy or wet. I don't know about green. I've seen plenty of really good hay that's yellowish...just depends on the drying condition and how old it is.

BethW · #9 06/28/08, 09:30 PM

We are currently feeding a 70% orchard grass/30% timothy mix to our goats. In my experience, there are lots of people who will try to convince you that goats will eat anything and sell you inferior hay or "cow hay." Yah, right. I look for for folks selling horse hay who also test. So far, it's steered me right. Good luck!

Scrounger · #10 06/28/08, 09:44 PM

I am able to grow my own hay. It is a Native Prairie Grass mix, complete with wild flowers, some wild herbs, and a couple of weeds. It is not "seeded" it is truely NATIVE Prairie. They thrive on it.
I feed what the goats are used to eating in the pasture all summer. I do not feed alfalfa - they don't need it. I baled a patch of grass/ragweed mix last fall, and they try to kill each other for it.

Remember: Goats, cows, horses, chickens, etc, - like children - are good at training YOU as to what they will eat.

Ernie · #11 06/28/08, 11:48 PM

A lot of folks will try to pass off their inferior hay to goat people. I don't believe this is due to an erroneous belief that goats will actually eat it, but rather a belief that goat people are less skilled at grading hay and will buy it. I don't tell the people I buy hay from what I want it for. I just tell them what I want. I also dig deep inside a bale and look at it before they pull it off the truck. When people see you inspecting their wares, they don't tend to show up with second rate stuff a second time.

I'd like to be able to do what Scrounger is doing. I have more land than my goats can keep grazed, so I could conceivably turn a lot of it into hay. However I don't want the expense of haying equipment. I could buy hay for the next 10 years and still not equal the costs for purchase and maintenance of a tractor and associated equipment. I'm looking into scythe harvesting now, but I can see I won't get that mastered by the end of this year.

Scrounger · #12 06/29/08, 07:34 AM

Ernie -
It doesn't cost as much as people will tell you! I have less then $1000 TOTAL in my baler, mower, rake and wagons. My tractor and loader was only $4000.
I'm "down" this year, so my neighbor is doing it for me, so it makes it easier.......

Of course, I'm in prime hay country - other parts of the country would be different. Point being, though - you don't need high dollar equipment to do hay.

Here is a story about a cheap "Tedder System":

http://scroungeman.blogspot.com/

Lada · #13 06/29/08, 08:11 AM

Ernie - do you have farmers nearby? We have a separate tract of land that we "hay share" with a local farmer. It's our land, he harvests with his own equipment, and we split it. We get WAY more than we need this way.

Ernie · #14 06/29/08, 09:34 AM

I have quite a few, but I only have 2-3 acres that I'm willing to put into hay. The ones I've talked to say it isn't worth hauling the equpiment over to my place for that little.

I'd prefer to learn to do it myself. I hate having to rely on others.

Scrounger · #15 06/29/08, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernie

I have quite a few, but I only have 2-3 acres that I'm willing to put into hay. The ones I've talked to say it isn't worth hauling the equpiment over to my place for that little.

Hmmmmmm.....

LOTS of 2-3-4 acre fields around here.......
The one were are fixing to bale this afternoon is just over 3.