# how much do you spend on hay each year?



## RockyPhoenix (Apr 13, 2011)

say how many goats, what kind of goats, what kind of hay, how much hay, and the price! I havent gotten my goats yet and im just wondering!!


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## ksalvagno (Apr 13, 2011)

Between my alpacas and my goats, I buy 600 bales of hay per year. Last year I paid $4.50 per bale. I get grass hay for the alpacas and grass/alfalfa for the goats.


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## 20kidsonhill (Apr 13, 2011)

25 adult boer cross, plus around 40 kids a year sold at the average of 4 months of age.

Grass mixed 2nd cutting 45-50lbs bales $5 a bale x 250 bales

Straw 40lb bales $3 x 60 bales

Alfalfa 45 lb bales $5 a bale x 70bales

Loose goat minerals at $14 a 25lb bag x 14 bags

plus goat grain at  10.45 a 50lb bag.  3 to 5 bags a week when my does are nursing for 8 weeks and then once kids are weaned does stop getting grain, but kids keep getting grain so another 3 bags a week for 2 months, or until all kids are sold.

I also used, 3 bags of beet pulp(40lbs) this winter at $15 a bag
around 10 bags of rolled corn(50lbs) at $10 a bag


2 bottles of Bo-Se x $16
2 bottles of Vaccinex $15
a gallon of Corid $100.00
Probably $150.00 in wormers for the year.
and a few other things.


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## AlaskanShepherdess (Apr 14, 2011)

60 bales of brome hay here for 5 Nigerian Dwarfs at $10 a bale for brome. I supplement with alfalfa pellets which is $19 for a 40lb bag, 1 bag lasts me around a month.


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## julieq (Apr 20, 2011)

Currently with two horses (who eat the left over goat hay stems plus their normal hay), fourteen ND/mini goats (due to increase with June/July kidding), we're looking at needing to purchase 12 to 15 ton of alfalfa this coming July.  Prices are currently 200.00 a ton with some local areas getting up to 300.00 per ton.  

Hay for next year =$ 3,000.00, possibly more.


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## PattySh (Apr 20, 2011)

We use about 3 bales a day (sometimes more) x 365 days.  Locally we get hay for $3.50 bale. Right now we are feeding roundbales to the horse,pony and cows. Harder for us to get roundbales into our pastures. Had a delivery of square bales and 3 round bales yesterday. We stored enough hay from June til now, just ran out. I hate this time of year. Luckily my supplier still has hay.


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## Ariel301 (Apr 20, 2011)

About 5 tons of hay per year, at an average of $200/ton for alfalfa. The price per bale varies from $7.50 to $16 depending on time of year. All our hay has to be trucked in from out of state. That's for 10-ish LaManchas. 

Grain...my grain mix costs me 14 cents per pound X 5 pounds per day for the goats


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## TwoGoats (Apr 21, 2011)

About 1 bale of Alfalfa-Grass hay / week or so for 2 Alpine Nubian goats.  I give them a few handfuls of goat grain each day as well.  20 bales gets me through the Winter and they have a 1 acre pen of field grass to graze during the non Winter months.   We also have a salt block and mineral block always available.


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## Ariel301 (Apr 22, 2011)

TwoGoats said:
			
		

> About 1 bale of Alfalfa-Grass hay / week or so for 2 Alpine Nubian goats.  I give them a few handfuls of goat grain each day as well.  20 bales gets me through the Winter and they have a 1 acre pen of field grass to graze during the non Winter months.   We also have a salt block and mineral block always available.


Lucky. 20 bales doesn't go far at all around here. I'm thinking about starting to turn mine out into the vacant land behind my property in the afternoons and let them browse.


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## TwoGoats (Apr 22, 2011)

Here in Indiana,  Hay is plentiful and cheap.   We are on 23 acres of prairie grass and alfalfa.   Local farmers are knocking on our doors to cut it for us.  We get free hay and nice cut pastures.   The goats give us a tax break with AG zoning so they for sure give us good value along with fun of owning.


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## Livinwright Farm (Apr 22, 2011)

on average, my family has spent $7 per bale per week... working out to a grand total of $364/year for 52 bales. We only have the 5 goats right now(still waiting on the does to kid). Will have at least 3 maybe 4 babies in a few days to a couple of weeks, so obviously this amount will pretty much double.  Also, the price is rumored to be going up to roughly $9/bale which would bring the yearly total up to $936 per year for 104 bales.


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## shadewolf (Apr 26, 2011)

I use large bales, and my first winter found they ate about 5 lbs per day of hay each on average. For my lactating does I supplement with either grain or dairy goat ration, about 1.5-2lbs per day. I had started with 4 goats, now I have 9 goats and am waiting on one last doe to kid next month. I feed hay from October thru till the first of June depending on how long our pasture lasts in the fall and because it get darn cold here in Alberta. So I calculate for 240 days on bales. This means each goat will eat a 1200lb round bale, and I usually try to get ones about 1400 lbs to allow for some wastage.

This year I will be feeding:

14 round bales to my goats and 23 to my other animals for a total of 37 large round bales. If the year is good like this past year for growing hay and prices are the same I could see $50/bale Cdn funds delivered to my farm for a total of about $1850. 

My first year, bales were $90 delivered so it was a good thing I needed far less of them. If that price is the same this year it could cost me upwards of $3300 for the year.


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## crazyland (Apr 27, 2011)

A bale lasts almost a month because mine are always browsing. Depending on the type it is 7.50-14.00 a bale. Not sure of the size. They don't like BOSS but I am working on them about it. They love bread so that is their treat. And they get one scoop of goat pellets a day. Fruits and veggies are a hit or miss. Over all cost is very low due to all the browsing. My 3 goats range over about 2-3 acres. To bad it has been raining or I would be raking some wheat that was just cut in the field over.


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## oxdrover14 (May 1, 2011)

The price of diesel for us is what we pay we put up 2-3000 bales per year our team of horses eat 3-3 1/2 bales in the spring summer and fall an about 4 in the winter the team of working steers eat  a little more than a bale a day but they are still only two  the 4 does eat a bale every 8-10 days but they just had two sets of twins so will be keeping the does we use about 4 bales for bedding for my lionheads rabbits I  am breeding plus 4 bales for the dog houses in the winter


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## 20kidsonhill (May 2, 2011)

Yah,  our goats are now off of hay and on full pasture.  I didn't think spring would ever get here-bring on the rain.

32  kids are now getting  1 to 1 1/2 pounds of goat grain a day per goat at $10.50 for a 50lb bag.  Can't wait until the new owners start coming and taking them home.


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