# Is hay a must?



## alba (Jul 8, 2009)

Some  folk say you don't have to let your goats forage/ browse green stuff, weeds, branches, grass, leaves. But you absolutely must give them hay. 

That doesnt seem right to me. What do you think?


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## wynedot55 (Jul 8, 2009)

if theres nothing for them to graze an browse on then you need to give them hay.i wintered my goats on feed.an gave them very little if any hay.


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## alba (Jul 8, 2009)

No they were saying you had to feed hay _instead of_ browse.  Doesn't make any sense to me.


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## zatsenoughcritters4me (Jul 8, 2009)

we give our goats hay in the winter, they need the roughage. also goat feed all the time, not as much in the summer if they have good pasture with a good mix of grasses just because they have grass to eat in the pasture doesn't mean its all good pasture grasses. they need a variety, ours tend to eat the weeds too! they love that! we give them sticks, branches also. 
hay a definate in the winter. they need the roughage to keep their systems working good. check http://www.fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm
they have the best info about how to raise goats.


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## helmstead (Jul 8, 2009)

Even when they have ample browse, you should leave hay available.  Helps with gut motility and offers peace of mind that they can always have a full belly.


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## lilhill (Jul 8, 2009)

We also have hay available as well as browse and grass mixture pasture, plus grain and alfalfa pellets year round.


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## alba (Jul 8, 2009)

I have had a bale of hay in their barn for a few months and they are not eating it.  They prefer to browse.


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## freemotion (Jul 8, 2009)

Hmmm, if my goats didn't touch a bale for that long, I'd take a very close look at the bale.  Even with wonderful browse available, they will come in and eat hay, especially if it is too hot, rainy, buggy, cold, etc.  Or if they are just being lazy!

Is the bale off the ground?  Is it dust and mold free?  Have birds or dogs pooped or pee'd on it?  Don't mean to insult you, just covering the bases here, as I don't know your situation.   Also giving lurkers some info if they have the same situation. 

When I managed a horse farm, there would be an occasional bale or part of a bale that no one would touch.  I might offer it to the piggiest horse just to test it, if that horse refused, into the compost it went.  It can look wonderful to us, but their good noses can tell if the farmer's dog lifted a leg on the bale before it made it to your place.

Just some thoughts.


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## username taken (Jul 8, 2009)

No, if you have adequate pasture and/or browse they do not need hay. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that even when you have pasture and browse, goats need to have hay and grain. Now that doesnt make any sense to me whatsoever, these creatures were designed to eat pasture and browse. When we have adequate growth, my animals (goats and sheep and cattle) live off pasture and browse ONLY, and do very very well on it. The exception would be high producing dairy does in milk - to sustain high production (and I'm talking 2.5 gallons a day) they need the grain and hay alongside pasture/browse. 

There are only two times I provide hay alongside adequate pasture/browse:

1) Before I turn the goats out onto fresh, lush pasture/browse, I let them fill their bellies first on good dry hay, and have that available for the first 3 days or so, to buffer the stomach, because a lot of the time the lush feed will go straight through them until they get used to it

2) If it is going to be bitterly cold and/or wet, and they dont have a shed to get into, only natural shelter trees etc, I again give them a bale of good dry hay, which will keep them warm by the fermentation process in the rumen.


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## lilhill (Jul 8, 2009)

There again, folks have lots of ways to manage and maintain their herds health, and you do whatever works best for you.


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## helmstead (Jul 8, 2009)

username taken said:
			
		

> When we have adequate growth, my animals (goats and sheep and cattle) live off pasture and browse ONLY, and do very very well on it.


I think this might be a regional issue.  Here in the US so many breeds are so domesticated that they do not thrive in 'natural' conditions.  This is an ongoing debate here, even more so in the meat goat circles (who have tried importing Kikos for their natural resistances without a single thought to the fact that those resistances were developed in a completely different climate).

So, yeah, whatever works for you.

One rule of thumb - NEVER expect any goat to eat old hay.  If it's over 24 hrs old, toss it to compost or the neighbor's cows.  Only put out enough at one time for one day...goats are too picky for that.  I liked Freemotion's notes to this nature.


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## username taken (Jul 8, 2009)

but Kate, are there not herds of cattle in the US that are grass fed? I dont mean over the winder, obviously in those situations when you dont have feed available, you need to hand feed, but when you have good pasture available, and the key word there is GOOD pasture, they usually can obtain everything they need from that pasture. I guess maybe the problem is that most people dont have the real good pasture, that we can grow in a decent year?

oh, I have to laugh at the way the US folks love the Kikos ... the Kiko is nothing more than a feral goat ... ours here have now been given the name 'Australian Rangeland'. Your Spanish goats are exactly the same as a Kiko, but adapted to a different country/environment.


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## alba (Jul 9, 2009)

A lot of horses eat only from the field too except during winter.


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## mully (Jul 9, 2009)

While having hay available while the goats are able to browse may not be a "necessity" I think that having something for them to  chew on give them peace of mind. Goats are always looking to eat something.  I keep hay in a hay rack for them to snack on and they will come in from pasture just to munch some hay.


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## haviris (Jul 9, 2009)

I'm with Username Taken on this one, they get hay in the winter and pasture in the summer, I have hay set aside for certain circumstances (like an animal that needs to be put up for any reason). That goes for my goats, horses, and cows.


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## cmjust0 (Jul 10, 2009)

We keep our goats' haybunk full pretty much all the time...there's never a time when they don't have hay available.

That said, we can tell when the grass and browse are coming on by the number of bales we go through in a given period of time..  Very quickly, with our nine, we go from throwing three or four flakes a day in winter to a fresh flake every few days to keep it full in spring and summer.  If they can eat the real stuff, they won't bother with hay -- unless it rains!  

If it rains -- even just a little -- they stand in the barn and eat hay all day.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Jul 10, 2009)

generally we tell 'em all to get out there and free range b/c its FREE!

however,

one of my spoiled former-show-diary gals will NOT walk the 20 feet to the most lovely pasture with plenty of delectable browse. now if *** I *** go and cut it and bring it to her she pushes everyone else away to hog it all. 

darn goats! makin' me nuts!

in generally is pasture is best (provided you have it) but in bad weather they want hay inside. we feed best quality hay for the dairy gals and, as above, try to get them to get off their haunches and browse!

what is best for you may depend on your region, your pasture, and your herd.


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