how much hay to buy?

Michelle98 · #1 07/20/12, 12:28 PM

I have a milking Saanen and a 4 month doeling. I found organic 2nd cutting alfalfa for $6 a bale. How much should I get to take us through the winter?? Thank you!

Strange Bear · #2 07/20/12, 12:59 PM

First of all lucky you.
Will you supplement with any grain or goat feed?
To be on the safe side I would get at least 20 if you have the room. That is what I am looking for for my 3 goats. One in milk. I do supplement.

Hollowdweller · #3 07/20/12, 01:43 PM

Depending on bale size I'd allot 1/3 bale per day.

Pony · #4 07/20/12, 02:05 PM

We have gone through about 50 a year with two does and a buck.

nzw tom · #5 07/20/12, 02:09 PM

I go through about 1/3 bale twice a day. I'm feeding 1 horse and 6 goats. I supp with grain. I buy 10-15 bales of grass-alfalfa mix hay ($3.00 a bale), but the farmer lives just down the road, so I can get it whenever I need it.

silverseeds · #6 07/20/12, 03:04 PM

What size bales are you guys buying? they are currently 17 bucks for a 90lb bale here.

Michelle98 · #7 07/20/12, 03:19 PM

Thank you! Those are good ways to calculate!

I believe they are 60-70lb bales.

nzw tom · #8 07/20/12, 03:28 PM

I think around 60 lbs. Just the regular square bales. If you hunt around (Michigan), you can find them for $2.50 a bale. The hay I buy is really nice. Not too rich, but a nice grass-alfalfa mix. I feel bad for you guys out west, with the cost of hay.

I can buy one of the hugh round bales for $40., but I don't have a good way to store that. I might have to figure something out because the farmer tells me thats a better value.

silverseeds · #9 07/20/12, 03:30 PM

Holy cow!! i thought it was very likely hay and alfalfa cost more here, i had no idea it was THIS much more.... ouch!

Backfourty,MI. · #10 07/20/12, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nzw tom

I think around 60 lbs. Just the regular square bales. If you hunt around (Michigan), you can find them for $2.50 a bale. The hay I buy is really nice. Not too rich, but a nice grass-alfalfa mix. I feel bad for you guys out west, with the cost of hay.

I can buy one of the hugh round bales for $40., but I don't have a good way to store that. I might have to figure something out because the farmer tells me thats a better value.

Be sure & get what you need for the winter now just to be on the safe side.
Up here a lot of farmers already sold out for this year & 1 guy I bought 125 bales from last year said he's worried he won't have enough for his horses so he's not selling anymore this year.
Because of the drought hay's not growing very fast or much at all so they aren't getting what they normally would from their fields. The prices are going up now to because of the shortage.
I'm storing what I can get just to be safe.

Ford Zoo · #11 07/20/12, 10:49 PM

The farmers keep telling me the big rounds will keep outside, especially the net wrapped ones, with only a few inches of the outside going bad from rain and snow. Put them on pallets with the bales laid on the side to keep them off the wet ground and to let the rain flow off of them.

I'm feeding horses too, so I keep mine inside, but I always buy the rounds as they are much cheaper overall. And a good farmer puts them up right, I've never opened a bale that was moldy inside.

Sorry I can't help you with amounts but don't be afraid of the big rounds if that's all you can find and if they are good quality.

Donna1982 · #12 07/20/12, 11:00 PM

I could cry. Right now we are lucky to pay 6.50 for brome hay and that's hard to get. I already told the bf I am growing my own hay next year.

LoneStrChic23 · #13 07/20/12, 11:40 PM

I need to move..... $12 for 55lb squares of so-so quality coastal here. I use alfalfa pellets, but I can get very stemmy 50-60lb alfalfa squares for $18.50... 950lb grass rounds are $100-$120.....

Yes, I'm in tears over it..... Ugh.

If you have room to store it, I'd get at least 20 bales to make sure you're covered...... And if you feel like it you can tote a trailer load down to Noodle Texas while you're at it

Ford Zoo · #14 07/21/12, 06:39 AM

Just a thought to those of you having a hard time finding decent hay that doesn't come with a mercedes price tag: What about checking on hauling in some hay from out of state and splitting the load with someone? I realize the crops are bad all over and this may not be feasible this year, but just a thought.

About 5 years back we were having a time finding any hay due to a drought. A friend found a guy in Canada that was willing to haul down a semi load for a reasonable price so we were going to split the load. I don't remember the price, but it wasn't even double of what we would have paid for local hay in a good year. I'm also not sure how far the guy was going to be traveling to get to us. We ended up not having to use him as we found a local 'hay jockey' that started hauling hay into the area and bought from him for the same price as the Canadian hay, we felt more comfortable being able to see his hay before committing to purchase it.

PaulNKS · #15 07/21/12, 07:44 AM

Before you can decide how many bales you need, you have to know what they weigh. A goat should eat 4.5% of their body weight per day in feed (feed, hay,e tc.).

Round bales are typically stored outside. They are wrapped tightly enough that you get almost no spoilage from the time they are baled until winter feeding. If you hold them over another year, then yes, you will have several inches of spoilage.

MaddieLynn · #16 07/21/12, 10:02 AM

We're paying $20-$25 for 3 string alfalfa right now. O.O

"SPIKE" · #17 07/22/12, 05:23 PM

I was told 5 pounds of good hay per day for each grown nubian goat. And in west TN that is for a minimum of 150 days.
I called yesterday to check on the serecia hay I bought last year. They said due to the drought conditions, they would not have hay to sell to me this year. I have some mixed grass hay also, but these spoiled goats will not eat it! I'm not sure what I will do for hay this winter.
I have a scythe and have started thinking about cutting by hand, but I already have too much to do and do not have enough pasture to cut. I have been watering part of the pasture so some of it will survive.

SPIKE

Michelle98 · #18 07/22/12, 06:21 PM

Wow. I didn't realize how bad the hay market is! Scary! Thank you all for your imput. I will get as much as we can afford to hold us until next spring/summer. hopefully next year will be better everywhere.

noeskimo · #19 07/22/12, 09:57 PM

Not fair, not fair!! We felt very lucky to find a young man, starting a hay bussiness-in Roby LSChic, that has nice wheat hay for $8/bale and was cutting some good looking coastal last week. All his alfalfa burned up, but he's gonna try it again. I have decided this year,as many of you have done, to try to stick with one guy.Hopefully I'll get trustworthy hay that way. I had a birth defect in a newborn:Monkey-faced Syndrome, that is due to eating of a certain riparian plant at just the right stage of fetal development. With the drought, there was nothing riparian within 500 miles, so it had to be the hay, which I bought from anyone with a bale.

LoneStrChic23 · #20 07/22/12, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noeskimo

Not fair, not fair!! We felt very lucky to find a young man, starting a hay bussiness-in Roby LSChic, that has nice wheat hay for $8/bale and was cutting some good looking coastal last week. All his alfalfa burned up, but he's gonna try it again. I have decided this year,as many of you have done, to try to stick with one guy.Hopefully I'll get trustworthy hay that way. I had a birth defect in a newborn:Monkey-faced Syndrome, that is due to eating of a certain riparian plant at just the right stage of fetal development. With the drought, there was nothing riparian within 500 miles, so it had to be the hay, which I bought from anyone with a bale.

Roby eh? That's about an hour from me.... I haven't had much luck with the wheat hay locally, it's all been huge stems, yellow & hardly any leaf.... Feed store is selling it at $10 a square.... Dunno if you have seen the ads for the hay in Ovala? Friend of ours bought some coastal mix.... Most of the bales were molded in the center, but the haygrazer they bought was good....

Just found a guy in Tuscola who baled some haygrazer on the 5th..... Bought 12 squares (what I could fit on the truck bed with the welder on it) for $8 a bale..... Pretty leafy, green, but it does have quite a bit of seeds heads though.... All in all, good hay. Only complaint is the bales vary quite a bit..... A few are around 75lbs.... Some barely 50lbs & the bales aren't real tight so it kind of makes a mess..... But at $8 a bale, I can't complain too much.... Hay in east Texas is WAY cheaper...... My father in law has weedy bales of mix grass hay he's selling for $40 a round. It's not horse hay, but I got some last year & the goats loved it..... But he's by Corsicana & we just can't get up there anytime soon