# What does "goat quailty hay" mean?



## Holachicka (Jul 21, 2010)

I keep seeing ads for hay, and lots of them say Goat quality... they are less expensive that "regular" hay... What does this mean, and is it actually safe to feed?


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## ksalvagno (Jul 21, 2010)

It means whatever the person who put the ad in it means. You would want to take a look at it. I buy second or third cutting hay and usually grass hay. A grass alfalfa mix is good too. Some people feed pure alfalfa. The hay should be green and should smell really good, almost like tea. If you break open a bale, there should be no mold and it should be dry. I know my goats like the softer hay and don't eat the stemy stuff. You could always buy one or two bales and see if the goats will eat it before buying a whole bunch of it.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Jul 21, 2010)

I think it means that there is brush, thorns, etc. in it.....I get it for my chickens and the thorns prick me all the time. I would think goats would enjoy it because of the thorns, brush, etc.....


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## cmjust0 (Jul 21, 2010)

Holachicka said:
			
		

> I keep seeing ads for hay, and lots of them say Goat quality... they are less expensive that "regular" hay... What does this mean, and is it actually safe to feed?


If I had to speculate, I'd say it means it's weedy grass hay.  To a lot of people, poor quality = "goat quality."

I don't mind weedy hay, necessarily, but my favorite cheapy bales are "grass hay" that are actually a good blend of clover and timothy.  Both have very favorable Calcium to Phosphorus ratios, and clover is fairly high in protein..  I've never tested it, but I wouldn't doubt that a bale of mostly that with mixed grasses comes out >2:1 and somewhere around 12% protein.  Supplement that with a little bit of bagged feed and...well, it works well for us.

Plus, clover/timothy is a really nice hay for the dead of winter...very "crunchy" and stemmy, and course hay like that makes a lot of heat.  They'll often kick the stems out of the feeder or make 'tumbleweeds' out of them when it's hot, but when it's wintertime...crunch crunch crunch...they gobble it right down!



I never thought I'd end up being any kind of judge of hay, but....well, ya kinda have to be.  :/


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Jul 21, 2010)

I LOVE where we buy our hay from, though.....it's a big old red barn that used to have cows in the basement, but now holds a whole lot of hay from the fields that surround it....


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## glenolam (Jul 21, 2010)

ksalvagno's right - it's whatever the person wants it to mean or what _you_ want it to mean.

I once bought 50 bales of hay because it was "goat" hay at $2.80/bale.  A family was haying their grandmother's (well, OK, mother's to the parents and grandmother's to the kids) fields and just needed to get rid of it.  I thought I was doing a good job....

Until my husband showed up to help me get the 2nd load home.  

He said "What the he** is that?!?" 

Goats ate it, though.  It was very, very dry (now I know the difference and what to look for), all weeds and must have been the first cutting which was done IN LATE JULY/EARLY AUG.  Yes, I will admit that I had no idea was I was looking for or doing, I just thought it was a good price and said "goat" hay, so, why not? 

The 50 bales ended up lasting us through winter because we would split the bales with "real" hay every few weeks.

But the hay we get now, which so far is only 1st cutting is very green, smells awesome, soft to the touch (don't get me started on how cut up I got from those other 50 bales!) and also light to pick up (heavy bales most likely equal moldy or wet bales).

Go check out what they're offering.  If you would eat it, buy it!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 22, 2010)

It really depends on the area, but around here "goat" and "cattle" hay means either poor quality (stemmy, too mature) or musty/moldy.  Around here, horses get the "good" hay.    I just buy the best quality hay I can find, not matter what the animal.  The only time I'd want to buy stemmy/too mature hay is for dry off or *maybe* for winter feeding (but that's not the sole source of hay b/c they're usually gestating and I want them to have decent quality stuff).  

When I lived on the dairy in Vermont, the "dairy" hay in the area was the BEST hay and the "horse" hay was the poor quality stuff.


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## greenfamilyfarms (Jul 22, 2010)

Just use common sense. The last goat hay that we went to buy was moldy and was nothing but thorny grasses.


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## Mea (Jul 22, 2010)

Years back it meant cr*p quality hay... cuz Yanno "goats will eat Anything" ! 

   Even now when i ask about Dairy hay, and the oldtimers ask what we're milking, and i reply "Goats".. they cannot understand why we want "Good hay"  !  

       *harumph !!!*


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## Beekissed (Jul 22, 2010)

I found that my gals don't necessarily like the good quality hay in the late winter/early spring but appreciate it very much in the colder months.  So, this year, I am giving first cut, stemmier hay in the early spring to balance out the richer grasses and the good, second cut hay all winter.  

Around here, goat quality or cattle quality, usually means first cut and stemmy.  Horse and sheep owners generally snap up the second cut harvest.


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## freemotion (Jul 22, 2010)

If it is cheap and not moldy or dusty but still not suitable as food....you could consider it as bedding.  I'd sure buy late-cut first cutting useless hay for $2.80 a bale instead of the $6 per bale we pay for straw around here.


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## cmjust0 (Jul 22, 2010)

I get straw for $3 and they try to eat that, too.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 22, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> I get straw for $3 and they try to eat that, too.


I bought a rye/rye grass hay mix one year because hay was scarce.  I went to pick it up and it looked like straw. I was very skeptical, but I bought it anyways. I think it was $3/bale.  The animals LOVED it.  They ate it like it was candy!!


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