Peanut Hay?

PurpleMartineer · #1 12/13/08, 10:53 PM

Congratulations to ME! I just brought home my two new saanens--one pregnant doe (Violet) and one wether (Pan) for her company.

Question about peanut hay: Should I be excited that I live in a major peanut production area? Peanut hay is pretty plentiful around here. I would like to know if it is comparable or even preferable (?) to alfalfa as far as nutrition goes for pregnant and lactating does. Peanut hay around here is cheap (cheaper than your average bermuda) and I would like to buy local rather than having to invest in big bags of alfalfa pellets if I dont need to. I do have a bale of it now and the goats are going nuts for it although I am introducing it to them slowly (they want nothing to do with the bermuda I also give them).

IF I feed peanut hay can I feed it free choice to the wether AND the doe? Will it cause problems for the wether?

If I feed peanut hay, can I feed oats, corn and barley on the stand while milking, or should I continue with the pelleted grain mix she is getting now? I am feeding what the breeder fed, but plan to transition either to a new pellet mix or COB.

(They have free choice right now onyx minerals, baking soda and all the browse and pasture they can stand--although now that winter set in everything is mostly brown except for the honeysuckle which they are gobbling up).

I have never had a pregnant doe before (both of us are first timers) so I am trying to get this right. Thanks for any help!

betsy h. · #2 12/14/08, 01:27 AM

There are two kinds of peanut hay-

Perinnial Peanut, which is grown specifically for forage- it is leafy, and does not have any peanuts in it. It is sometimes called 'the alfalfa of the South'. This is what you want to feed.

And peanut hay that is baled after the peanuts are harvested. It is mostly the stemmy tops of the production peanut plant and may have some peanuts in the mix. It does not have much nutrition in it and *could* have a bit of dirt.

So, if you can find perinnial peanut hay, feed as much as you like, but if all you can find are the bales of the other stuff, make sure you also have some good grass hay to use as your main source of nutrition.

Bearfootfarm · #3 12/14/08, 12:29 PM

Perennial Peanut doesnt grow in NC, so what youre seeing is regular peanut vines.
You'd be better off to feed them alfalfa or a good grass hay.
Most hay grown in my part of the state is Coastal Bermuda.
Where are you located?

PurpleMartineer · #4 12/14/08, 09:03 PM

Yep--I was figuring something was up with the peanut hay--seemed too good to be true--although the goats do seem to LOVE it. They are going kookoo for it. I have also got a thick flake of coastal bermuda in the feeder and they dont want anything to do with it. They arent browsing much, so I dont know what they are eating....? I have been giving the doe a coffee can sized amount of pellet goat ration each day, and the wether gets a handful as a treat. When I cant stand it anymore (watching them lay around doing nothing!--no eating--just lounging) I go ahead and give them a small flake of peanut hay between the two of them and sort of mix it in with the coastal. Woo hoo they eat it right up picking it out of the coastal, leaving it behind.....The coastal is fine--nice and green, no mold or anything. They seem to love the stems and the leaves are dark green, and there are some peanuts in there still attached to the vines....

Maybe I need to get some timothy or something....

Bearfootfarm, I am about an hour west of the Outer Banks.

Thanks for your help!

Bearfootfarm · #5 12/14/08, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Maybe I need to get some timothy or something....
Bearfootfarm, I am about an hour west of the Outer Banks.

As long as they like it , it wont hurt them. If it's good quality there's no real need to switch. A lot of times they dont take many pains with it since most only feed it to cattle, and they will eat pretty much anything at all.

I figured you must be in the eastern third of the state, since that's where most of the peanuts are grown. I'm guessing you're a little Northeast of me.
I'm in Southern Pitt County, about halfway between Greenville and New Bern.

LaManchaPaul · #6 12/15/08, 02:31 PM

Last winter I used peanut hay "roll" as their main food. The down side was that they picked out the peanuts and leaves making it look like a lot of waste with stems and stalks. The roll also had lots of dirt in it.

This year I use perennial peanut hay and I'm much more pleased. The same farmer sells both and the price is reasonable. (he also delivers with no charge!)

All animals seems much happier and less picky about the food. They have free choice pp hay.

Paul