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Grass hay for goat

1K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Virtual_Guy 
#1 ·
Looking for recommendations on a grass hay mix that would be good for goats. The guy my fiance buys bales from raised his price stupid high and doesn't like to tell what's in his. I have the tools and ground to raise a couple acres.
 
#2 · (Edited)
#3 ·
i do small square bales as a retired hobby farmer......last year there was a hay shortage and we were getting 8-10$ a bale for very good grass hay and people begging for more.....point is this year may be a glut year on hay and prices much lower...i will say it is pretty expensive to to make hay on a small scale ....especially if you have to plant and establish your own field...


We do horse hay.....i always thought Goats would eat anything?

I would suggest you see what your locals grow....soil...and CLIMATE have a lot to do with what you can produce successfully ....a soil test might be a good start to just to see what your fertilizer/'lime requirements need to be just to start

we make a Brome/Timothy mix for horses (no legumes) ......if Goats can tolerate legumes (alfalfa/clovers etc) you need to plan on putting in a Legume in the mix as it will cut down your fertilizer requirements substantially
 
#6 ·
:laugh: Are they rare show goats? That might be the stuff. Seems like some serious dollars for goat hay.
 
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#5 ·
We have a lot of areas that are not plantable to our normal crops. That's where I would be putting this in, more for erosion control and to keep ugly weeds out. What doesn't go to a grass hay will go to wildflowers.

Haha, some goats can't (won't) eat everything. Alfalfa is a no no, so we've been told, it causes bloat. I think it's essentially the same for horses. I'm not sure though because I'm just the plant guy. And egg laying chickens. I try to stay in my lane.
 
#8 · (Edited)
FWIW..........timothy seed is tiny(hard to control in seeder)...and in my area is the cheapest seed per #.....

for example for me

timothy seed costs $1.12 per pound and recommended at 4-5# per acre
orchard grass cost 2.75-3.25 per pound and recommend at 15-20# per acre

no matter what you do put in a legume your mix above had white clover in it for a legume...legume will add nitrogen to the soil and save you tons on fertilizer costs (clover makes horses slobber but its by far the easiest legume to grow)

looking at the mix above its a PASTURE mix .......not a HAY mix .......while they can interchange they have different purposes ...pasture is durable made to be grazed constantly and survive animal pressure through several seasons.....HAY is for bulk production to be grown, cut , baled, at optimal times of year, and left alone otherwise.

all this being said....talk to your seed company i am sure they can recommend something for your area....also around here we have State Extension Offices that help with soil testing and can educate you and recommend ag stuff for you...i bet your state also has the same

any planting project is a crap shoot without soil testing

ALSO to prep for a field we...sprayed the proposed field with Roundup last year in june ...disked it up...sprayed it again in august.....preped the field in september...and applyed lime to a previous soil test...waited for a predicted rain and planted the day before in october....in march we put on fertilizer......april we sprayed for weeds......(we were converting old pasture to new hay field)...will probably do one cutting on the new field this year...previous fields we waited a whole year and a half before harvesting to get it well established
 
#9 ·
Drive around, find that area with the most weeds possible and ask the owner if you can bale it!

It's amazing what they will eat and how well they clean up a weed infested area.
There was a pasture that had been dormant for years and was over run by leafy spurge and various other weeds. They put goats in it and by the 3rd years it was just clean grass.
Funny thing is, goats had grass up to their eyeballs but were searching around for weeds to eat instead! :laugh:
 
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#10 ·
Funny thing is, goats had grass up to their eyeballs but were searching around for weeds to eat instead! :laugh:
This is pretty common. Goats prefer woody plants over grass. Anything type of vine is gourmet food for them. :laugh:
 
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#15 ·
How do they do with Kudzu?
 
#16 ·
Yes they will eat kudzu. It may not be their first choice given a mix but they eat it.

My goats love leaves from oak and hickory trees. They seem to choose sumac tree leaves over most (staghorn sumac, not poison sumac). Yes they'll eat up some poison ivy and thorny vines.

And yeah I see the same thing with them leaving grass behind. It's not that they won't eat it, just not a first choice.
 
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