Hay, Jack!

[Moonshine]

Ok, I feel like this is a pretty dumb question, but what kind of hay to I buy? I live in southeast Texas with 3 dwarf/mini goats and I have a couple of different options. I have read on here that Alfalfa is wonderful stuff but we don't have that in our area. Here are my options:

Tifton, Jigs, and Coastal - Fertilized, irrigated, and stacked off the ground
Alecia
Fertilized Jigs Bermuda Square Hay Bales out of the field
Fertilized Bermuda and Bahia grass
Heavily fertilized argentina bahia
Fertilized Jiggs, fertilized Bahia, fertilized Tifton 9
Mixed bahia/bermuda
Coastal/Bermuda/bahai mix
Rye grass hay
Hay from last year, Hay that was cut today, Hay that has been rained on, Hay that has been rained on once, Barn kept hay, Fertilized, Non-fertilized, Cow Hay, Horse Hay

I am at a loss with all the options and I have no clue what is the best, mediocre, or no way Jose Hay!! I don't know what questions to ask and I don't know what answers to look for! Can someone please give me a course on HAY?!?!

 

[Catahoula]

Chaffhaye...alfalfa hay in a bag. http://www.chaffhaye.com/

 

[Rocco]

Good fertilized fine-bladed coastal bermuda. Emphasize Fine-Bladed...meaning not first cut.

You'll find goats will eat it sometime and sometimes they despise bermuda. But the fine bladed stuff usually goes over best. And make sure it still has some good color and smell to it. Lots of folks advertise "goat hay"...and they have obviously never owned goats and how particular they can be about hay.

Also, if you can find some, get bermuda mixed with other grasses and weeds. A guy I buy from has areas he cuts that has maybe 10% Dallis grass and 10% Johnson grass along with a few other odds and end weeds in the bermuda. The goats eat it way more consistently than straight bermuda hay.

And the Chaffhaye is a good addition to "salt" the bermuda with if you get a bunch the goats aren't eating well.

 

[AshleyFishy]

Anything fertilized and barn kept is a plus. Don't buy rained on.

Tifton is good stuff but buy from someone who knows how and when it was fertilized. In Texas I would steer clear of weeds in the hay. I wouldn't waste my money on bahia or coastal hay. Mine hate alecia hay. Aim for wide leaf, soft stem, sweet smelling (but not like fermentation sweet) and green tinted. Protein tested is a plus.

Get some alfalfa pellets from the feed store! Your goats will love ya for it.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Mine eat coastal Bermuda just fine. Throw in a few weeds and they like it even better.

Rocco is right, first cut isn't best. But, sometimes you can't get anything else. First cut is usually in the front of the barn now, you'll be getting that in March.

But you are probably not correct about one thing in your OP. Somebody has alfalfa hay there, they truck that stuff everywhere. But, it will cost you. That's why we feed grass hay free choice and give alfalfa to lactating does and animasl that need conditioning.

 

[meme]

We use plain old alfalfa.

 

[AshleyFishy]

We use plain old alfalfa.

Well alfalfa is darn hard to find round these parts.

 

[madcow]

We feed alfalfa. It's been really expensive from the feed store, but it has been really good stuff and the goats eat it like nothing else. Just found a source for alfalfa hay 2 miles away, and it's a lot cheaper. It didn't look as good as the stuff we got from the feed store as it was browner, but the goats eat it just fine. If they cut back a bit on eating this batch of alfalfa it won't matter much because they are getting a bit fat anyway and wouldn't hurt them to cut down. Tried coastal for them when I first got them, but they wouldn't touch it and I left it for 2 weeks and they never gave it a second look. Mine won't touch alfalfa pellets either. Picky, picky, picky, spoiled goats....... Love them though, as they are my babies, and they know it.....

 

[Renegade]

We feed either bahia or bermuda to everyone but the show goats. Most of mine actually prefer bahia.

Donna

 

[Rocco]

I have never fed Bahia to goats though my last place had Bahia pastures. All we had there were the neighbors cattle on it. It gets seedy in a hurry...I guess goats would like that.

Another possibility on the alfalfa is to buy the bagged alfalfa cubes. It costs about the same as square bales in my area and is usually 100% eaten by the goats - no waste. I can find it sometimes for as "low" as $12 per 50# bag. Small squares of alfalfa are running $12-15 a bale. 3-string bales are $18 and up.