# Alfalfa



## genuck (Aug 4, 2011)

I've been feeding compressed alfalfa bales to my goats. Of course they waste half of it. I saw the 'mini' cubes at TSC the other day and was wondering if I can feed these to the goats? Do you need to soak them like you do with horses? The cost is about the same, I would hope just less waste. They get regular hay and pasture also. These are 5-6 month old pygmy and pygmy crosses.


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## DonnaBelle (Aug 4, 2011)

I have finally gotten some decent Alfalfa hay.

I bought one of those compressed bales and it fell apart and went to powder.....eeeek.

I don't know much about the pellets.  Someone else will have to answer that one..

DonnaBelle


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## elevan (Aug 4, 2011)

You can feed the cubes or pellets if you're also feeding regular hay / browse as they need the long, stemy stuff.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Aug 5, 2011)

The cubes have to either be soaked or smashed (dry) into manageable pieces.  We've fed them soaked in the past and it took some time for the goats to get used to it, but then they loved it.  I won't feed soaked/moist feed in the summer because of the heat (don't want it to sour) and the pellets are a heck of a lot more convenient.  Smashing them dry is a whole lot more work than it sounds like.


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## Pearce Pastures (Aug 5, 2011)

Mine wouldn't touch the cubed stuff but really like the pelleted kind, so long as I put it into a separate feeder and not their regular one-fussy little things!


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## jmsim93 (Aug 12, 2011)

I tried the cubes, too, but they never really ate much of them.  I would have to break it up with my fingers (which is hard on the hands!).  I finally started buying bales and they like it much better but they waste A LOT of it.  :-(


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## fortheloveofgoats (Sep 5, 2011)

I bought the cubes, and I had to break them up as well. My thumbs hurt every time that I had to do it. It took me a long time to get through one bag. I only have two goats, so happy that they are almost done. I am going to try the pellets next. They do love the cubes though, as long as I break it down for them.


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## rascal (Sep 5, 2011)

I feed pellets.. much more cost effective in TX.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Sep 5, 2011)

mine wouldnt eat the cubes...and since we run the poultry with the goats, they eat a lot o the waste. then i rake up everything and its makes for a great compost pile.


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## kstaven (Sep 5, 2011)

I wonder if the cubes from my supplier are different from what many of you get. No need to break them and the goats eat them without issue.


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## Georgiamainers (Sep 8, 2011)

I throw a handful of pellets on my doe's sweet feed twice a day.  She loves it and tries to get a mouthful when she walks by the can.
I have some cubes and they are hard as a ROCK.  If you soak a few they really expand into a good amount of alfalfa...and it smells really fresh and it's rich!!  My other goat likes it.  But, I don't do much of it.  
I find the pellets (and the cubes) are inexpensive and slows my doe down to chew a little because she's a really fast eater-then she gets kicky while I'm milking if she's out of food.


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