Anyone else having problems getting hay?

[mamato3]

Were new to goat only had them for about 8 months. I figured i would start to buy hay in June. I figured that would be a ideal time to start to hunt for hay. Well Hubby wanted me to wait tell July which i thought would be ok. Well apparently that was a big no no. I know i can buy hay from my local feed store but he is charging $5 for last yr cut and the goats acted like they did not like it much. So i was hoping to find some brome mix or clover mix. Know im just hoping i can find hay period. Every person i called told me a semi truck was coming to pick up there last bales err. I even asked dad if i could buy a round bale from him. He is worried he will be 100 bales short so he told me if i need to feed them just turn them lose with the cattle. Which right know looks like the only possibility to keep them from staving. I know i can buy the feed stores hay but i would perfer to only buy from him as i need it since its old. If your in SW mo and will have extra sq bales let me know as long as your somewhat close to Joplin im willing to buy just a few i can only buy around 10 right know anyway. I will only need around 30 if im figuring right. Ive got 5 mini goats and figured a bale a week dont know if thats to much or not.

[Oat Bucket Farm]

I am having trouble finding hay too. The drought has really made it hard to find.

[Donna1982]

You can find it here if you want to pay a pretty penny for it. We bought some from Atwoods and the goat wont touch it.

[noeskimo]

I bet everyone with hay there is bringing it down to West Texas to sell it to us at PREMIUM prices. Hay is up 100% since early this spring.There is only irrigated Texas hay this year,everything is brown,so everyone is still feeding hay, to all their livestock.We're getting ready to go get some more hay-168 miles away, the closest we could find.3 bales- $405.We need a tropical storm!This should be the hardest year we'll ever have-everything should be downhill from here on.We CAN do this.

[olivehill]

Unfortunately, it's just a bad year for hay. If you won't want to turn them out with the cattle I would encourage you to buy whatever hay you can find now for whatever price it's going for. That price will likely only go up come fall/winter. Otherwise, it is what it is. If you don't have enough to feed you may have to think about thinning your herd.

[KOHL HAWKE]

We are paying almost 3x normal costs, the pasture is dried up, goats wont eat hay if there is anything green around, and my girls are eating hay, along with the cow and horse!! We are also feeding alfalfa pellets!! The prices are going up and up...I am looking into splitting a semi load from up north with someone

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by mamato3

Were new to goat only had them for about 8 months. I figured i would start to buy hay in June. I figured that would be a ideal time to start to hunt for hay. Well Hubby wanted me to wait tell July which i thought would be ok. Well apparently that was a big no no. I know i can buy hay from my local feed store but he is charging $5 for last yr cut and the goats acted like they did not like it much. So i was hoping to find some brome mix or clover mix. Know im just hoping i can find hay period. Every person i called told me a semi truck was coming to pick up there last bales err. I even asked dad if i could buy a round bale from him. He is worried he will be 100 bales short so he told me if i need to feed them just turn them lose with the cattle. Which right know looks like the only possibility to keep them from staving. I know i can buy the feed stores hay but i would perfer to only buy from him as i need it since its old. If your in SW mo and will have extra sq bales let me know as long as your somewhat close to Joplin im willing to buy just a few i can only buy around 10 right know anyway. I will only need around 30 if im figuring right. Ive got 5 mini goats and figured a bale a week dont know if thats to much or not.

Anywhere near Springfield?? I *might* have a couple numbers to call if you are. I haven't called them this year yet but.....

[mamato3]

I think i finally got in contact with someone that might have some he is doing a field of prairie hay know will be baling tomorrow so he will call me if he has any extras that i can go out into the field and pickup. if not he will keep my number and will call me when he has extras. I do have a mini lamancha buckling im trying to sell or trade off. Already sold Dolly and her baby doe. And i might even sell 2 of my nigerian does if times get to tough. Which would leave me with 1 doe 1 buck.
Im an hour west of Springfield. As long as there on the west side of Springfield i might be able to go. Or if delivery is ok i might look into that option but most people i talked to want to much to deliver.

[noeskimo]

Originally Posted by KOHL HAWKE

We are paying almost 3x normal costs, the pasture is dried up, goats wont eat hay if there is anything green around, and my girls are eating hay, along with the cow and horse!! We are also feeding alfalfa pellets!! The prices are going up and up...I am looking into splitting a semi load from up north with someone

Are you anywhere near Midland/San Angelo?If so, I'm interested.

[Kshobbit]

I live in Southeast Kansas and my hay man told me last week, he did NOT have any hay for me this year. We are on the edge of the "severe" drought that starts in Texas. I was not even thinking about the drought or needing hay until I got my wake up call! Big bales are $80 and small squares are $7 to $8!!!! Goat prices have tumbled here too as well. I will put any I can't feed into the freezer.

[eclipchic]

anyone in Indiana can contact me about hay, we are swimming in it. We have more hay than animals and places to store it and we have still more cuttings to come

[Reed77]

I think this is one of the hardest years to find hay I've had since needing to buy it (7-years). There is no 100% alfalfa within 40 miles of me, and I settled with alfalfa(40)/grass(60)

[houndlover]

Feed alfalfa pellets if you can't find hay. It's cheaper in the long run because there's no waste. I feed about a pound per 50 lbs of goat per day. My goats do have forage though.

[TroutRiver]

I've had an awful time finding any decent hay this year, it's been a bad year. It was so wet earlier in the summer that no one did first cut until the end of June, and the quality is just terrible. I am paying $5 per small square bale for crap hay. Not happy about it but I'm supplementing with alfalfa pellets and moving the goats this afternoon to the farm that I work at, where they will have much more forage and will be eating little, if any hay.

[Cheryl aka JM]

I panicked and bought too much earlier this year. I bought 50 big round bales at $22.50 each delivered. Cost me more than I wanted to spend but my pasture was dry and my animals were looking hungry. Then the rains finally came the pasture is green and beautiful and I have too much hay. Too much is better than too little~ and as I understand it if I don't use it all this year the cows will still eat it next year~ I'll have to buy fresh for the goats and the horses though.

[coso]

It is scarce here too because of the drought in Texas. The guy I usually buy from, could not get any from his suppliers in Kansas and Nebraska(I should reword that he could get it but it was too high) I got four bales of the 3x3x8 bales that he had baled locally that was about 75% alfalfa 25%timothy for $75.00 a piece and thought that was a pretty good deal.

[Reed77]

Originally Posted by houndlover

Feed alfalfa pellets if you can't find hay. It's cheaper in the long run because there's no waste. I feed about a pound per 50 lbs of goat per day. My goats do have forage though.

Thats per feeding or day? would that amount work well for boers? Could this substitute bales all together?

[natty threads]

Originally Posted by Reed77

Thats per feeding or day? would that amount work well for boers? Could this substitute bales all together?

Per day.

Should.

Yes.

;-)

[julieq]

Hay has been tough to find and expensive here in Southern Idaho for the last couple of years, which is strange as we grow a lot of it for the dairy cattle. Years back we could locate it fairly cheaply any time of the year. We contacted our usual source earlier in the year and ordered a year's supply. We had a small load delivered a couple of days ago, but are waiting to move in September before having the rest delivered. You guys are making me glad we ordered early!

[houndlover]

What natty said.

I supplement my lactating and growing goats with grain - I'm currently feeding them Equis complete.

My goats have pasture year round, and grass hay if they want it. I supposed they'd survive on pellets alone, but optimally, you want some long stem roughage in their gut.