Goats not eating the coastal hay

[OneFineAcre]

Goats are funny. I have 20 ND and mostly what I feed mine is coastal, especially in the fall.

Here in N.C. it is the most abundant hay around and mine love it.

I couldn't afford alfalfa, it costs $15 per square bale here, and I can get 4x5 round bales of Coastal for $35.

In the spring we get this beautiful oat/rye mix because the farmers plant oats as a cover crop. Don't harvest the oats, but cut it into this most wondeful hay. The goats really love that, but it usually doesn't last very long.


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[madcow]

OMG, Trixie and Ginger were begging for the alfalfa this morning. Filled the hay bag to overflowing and tried to hang it on the fence and Trixie was eating out of the top of the bag before I got it up there! They love this stuff! Hope they don't upset their tummies eating so much of it today. Should I limit how much I give them for now? I need to get my grooming/stanchion built here today so I can make sure Ginger gets her feed everyday and get used to being on the stanchion for milking in a couple of weeks when she kids. I want to make sure she gets her share of feed during her last weeks of pregnancy. I feel better knowing they are getting what their bodies require now. Whew! I'm learning......

 

[OneFineAcre]

OMG, Trixie and Ginger were begging for the alfalfa this morning. Filled the hay bag to overflowing and tried to hang it on the fence and Trixie was eating out of the top of the bag before I got it up there! They love this stuff! Hope they don't upset their tummies eating so much of it today. Should I limit how much I give them for now? I need to get my grooming/stanchion built here today so I can make sure Ginger gets her feed everyday and get used to being on the stanchion for milking in a couple of weeks when she kids. I want to make sure she gets her share of feed during her last weeks of pregnancy. I feel better knowing they are getting what their bodies require now. Whew! I'm learning......

Definitely limit it.

Alfalfa is very rich.

Personally, I would have tried a little longer with a grass hay.

We keep a bag of alfalfa pellets for horses to give ours as a treat. One time I bought a couple of bales of alfalfa before the state fair because someone told me it would make their coats shiny (not sure I buy that). It did upset some of ours stomachs.

 

[madcow]

OMG, Trixie and Ginger were begging for the alfalfa this morning. Filled the hay bag to overflowing and tried to hang it on the fence and Trixie was eating out of the top of the bag before I got it up there! They love this stuff! Hope they don't upset their tummies eating so much of it today. Should I limit how much I give them for now? I need to get my grooming/stanchion built here today so I can make sure Ginger gets her feed everyday and get used to being on the stanchion for milking in a couple of weeks when she kids. I want to make sure she gets her share of feed during her last weeks of pregnancy. I feel better knowing they are getting what their bodies require now. Whew! I'm learning......

Definitely limit it.

Alfalfa is very rich.

Personally, I would have tried a little longer with a grass hay.

We keep a bag of alfalfa pellets for horses to give ours as a treat. One time I bought a couple of bales of alfalfa before the state fair because someone told me it would make their coats shiny (not sure I buy that). It did upset some of ours stomachs.

Well, I had had the coastal out there for 2 weeks and they never touched it. I think they would have eaten it by then if they were going to ever. I needed something for bedding anyway, so the coastal won't go completely to waste. I wonder if I mixed the 2 if they would eat some of it. That's a thought, hummmmmm.......

 

[that's*satyrical]

Mine didn't have any problems when I gave them alfalfa hay, but I did mix or rotate it with a grass hay. Now they get the coastal (square bales) and they love it and they get alfalfa chaffhaye once a day before their pellets. I am hoping the probiotics in the chaffhaye help them absorb more of the nutrients in their pellet mix which consists of Resaca goat pellets 16%, Standlee alfalfa pellets, and Black oil sunflower seeds topped with some Manna Pro goat minerals. They all seem to be pretty healthy and happy with this feeding schedule. Are you sure the coastal hay was of good quality? Goats are picky about the quality of their hay more than the type I think.

 

[madcow]

Mine didn't have any problems when I gave them alfalfa hay, but I did mix or rotate it with a grass hay. Now they get the coastal (square bales) and they love it and they get alfalfa chaffhaye once a day before their pellets. I am hoping the probiotics in the chaffhaye help them absorb more of the nutrients in their pellet mix which consists of Resaca goat pellets 16%, Standlee alfalfa pellets, and Black oil sunflower seeds topped with some Manna Pro goat minerals. They all seem to be pretty healthy and happy with this feeding schedule. Are you sure the coastal hay was of good quality? Goats are picky about the quality of their hay more than the type I think.

Not sure if it was the very best hay, since I'm really new to all of this "hay business." I think it might have been old, but past that it seemed like it was pretty good-looking hay. Not dusty, or moldly, but not as green as the alfalfa hay. The alfalfa was a new shipment, so I'm sure it was pretty fresh, compared to the coastal. I just know I won't buy that hay again. The "girls" are just too picky about their hay to chance it again. Just have to find another source. I think I will put a small amount of the coastal in with the alfalfa every day just to make sure it all gets used up. You guys have been a great help! I really appreciate all of the information and advice you have given me. You will have a difficult time getting rid of me now!LOL!

 

[OneFineAcre]

Mine didn't have any problems when I gave them alfalfa hay, but I did mix or rotate it with a grass hay. Now they get the coastal (square bales) and they love it and they get alfalfa chaffhaye once a day before their pellets. I am hoping the probiotics in the chaffhaye help them absorb more of the nutrients in their pellet mix which consists of Resaca goat pellets 16%, Standlee alfalfa pellets, and Black oil sunflower seeds topped with some Manna Pro goat minerals. They all seem to be pretty healthy and happy with this feeding schedule. Are you sure the coastal hay was of good quality? Goats are picky about the quality of their hay more than the type I think.

Not sure if it was the very best hay, since I'm really new to all of this "hay business." I think it might have been old, but past that it seemed like it was pretty good-looking hay. Not dusty, or moldly, but not as green as the alfalfa hay. The alfalfa was a new shipment, so I'm sure it was pretty fresh, compared to the coastal. I just know I won't buy that hay again. The "girls" are just too picky about their hay to chance it again. Just have to find another source. I think I will put a small amount of the coastal in with the alfalfa every day just to make sure it all gets used up. You guys have been a great help! I really appreciate all of the information and advice you have given me. You will have a difficult time getting rid of me now!LOL!

Coastal will never be as green as alfalfa.

Coastal is a grass and alfalfa is a legume.

Goats can be picky, but I don't think I've ever heard of any that wouldn't eat grass hay at all.

The age of the hay shouldn't make a difference either. I buy from a local farmer. First cuttings go in the barn first, later cuttings afterward.

So, at the end of the winter, you are getting the earliest cuttings from the previous spring.

Maybe there was just something wrong with it.

 

[mdavenport0121]

They will eat coastal, they aren't hungry enough to eat it. I had alfalfa out for mine and they seem hungry when I bring them pellets. Mine seem to want pellets more than anything else. You may try feeding them less pellets and see if they eat they hay. I have a TSC, but don't buy my hay from them.

 

[kstaven]

Alfalfa is too rich? Our dairy herds live on it and always have.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Maybe too rich to give straight up free choice to goats that aren't quite used to it yet? Goats can have sensitive tummies to changes in diet.