What type of hay is best for goats?

[VA Susan]

I've been looking at ads for hay in our area. What kind of hay is best for goats? Our goats are 6 wks old and two are 9 wks old.
Thanks,
Susan

[GoldenWood Farm]

Well I guess that depends on the area you are from . In Oregon I buy Eastern Oregon Orchard grass hay for my herd, it has a higher protein content and it works well for my herd. My milking does and bucks maintain better weight and my kids grow better so overall for my herd this works best.

I have also used our local grass hay when I can find a really good batch but that is hit or miss so I prefer sticking with what I know works.

I haven't experimented with other types of grass hay beyond our local, some Eastern Oregon and the Eastern Oregon Orchard so I am afraid I am not much help . What types of grass hay sells in your area?

Justine

[Carolinablue]

Here in NC I feed mine orchard grass and clover mix. They leave their feed to eat the hay. I'm fortunate enough I can raise it myself. I've read that orchard grass falls right under alfalfa in food value.

[harvestmoonfarm]

Susan - always look for horse hay. We feed OG,Timothy, Fescue or a mix of any of them, and always tell people we need hay for horses. If you tell them you're looking for goat hay, you'll end up with molded, nasty hay that's been kept outside, because many people believe goats can eat 'anything.' We also buy round bales because they're far more economical than square bales.

[VA Susan]

Originally Posted by GoldenWood Farm

What types of grass hay sells in your area?

Justine

One ad offers orchard grass and timothy mix hay for sale. It says it is horse quality.
Another ad in NC says alfalfa hay for sale also fescue, mantua bromegrass and clover mixes.

Thanks so much for your input. It is very helpful. Now I have a better idea what to look for.

[GoldenWood Farm]

I personally would take a look at the Orchard/Timothy mix and also the Alfalfa hay. The growing kids need some alfalfa .

Justine

[Doug Hodges]

Alfalfa

[BethW]

Susan, we're in central VA, and use an orchard grass/timothy mix. I also tell people I'm looking for horse hay. It's the only way to get the nice stuff.

We had a fantastic hay supplier, but he's getting out of the business. Finding a new hay guy is so traumatic.

[mrs whodunit]

I prefer alfalfa. So do the goats

[VA Susan]

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone!

[SeaGoat]

My goats like Bermuda


I got them some Timothy and they hated it.
It looked more like straw than anything.. but I also think it was a bad cut.

[V-NH]

I feed them grass hay. I have absolutely no idea what it is, but the guy who sells it is the only hay farmer in the town I live in that actually has a reliable supply. He has it tested and it routinely comes back 20%+ protein. I get it for $5 per square bale as long as I take it out of the field myself. Absolutely no complaints about that.

Every time I go to pick up hay from his farm, I wish I was a hay farmer! It seems very relaxing as long as you like hard work.

[mygoat]

I buy just grass too. Alfalfa is pricy and is rarely 'good' - moist enough to not drop off the stalk, but dry enough to not mould. A lot of wasted alfalfa, with alfalfa hay. Instead, I supplement with alfalfa pellets which do not waste like the hay.

What cutting depends on the goats. Usually higher digestibility is had with young plants. A 2nd or 3rd cutting of green, SOFT hay that smells good and was properly baled and stored is great for young stock. Through early pregnancy you can feed cheaper, lower quality hay as their demands for nutrition is fairly low at maintenance. Late pregnancy they need higher quality hay as the kids take up space in the gut and they need to take in as much high quality hay as possible to make the best of the space available around the kids. Lactation requires calcium sources of high quality - alfalfa is ideal.

Essentially, one kind of hay is not better than others necessarily - it depends on what stage of life you're in. Because I'm not a huge herd and buying several kinds of hay for goats that are all at different life stages usually but living together, I just try to supplement the ones that need supplementing and feed a 'base' of a good grass hay.

[dozedotz]

We feed alfalfa hay to our Nubians...boys and girls...year round. So far we have not had a problem. I would love to experiment with a good quality grass hay for the off milking season, but we have not been able to locate any. The alfalfa is pricey, we love the stuff from KA and have had good luck with one producer in MO. Each time we have tried to introduce a mix of alfalfa/orchard grass the girls turn up their noses and refuse to eat it. Maybe we just haven't found the right hay or maybe they are just used to alfalfa and prefer it to anything else.

[Dusky Beauty]

Alfalfa. I can get my girls that eat because they are bored to chew on grass hay (and sometimes I toss an extra serving of it out in the middle of the day for my growers and mamas) but I've had even goats I knew that were hungry refuse grass hay.