Hay prices Ehhh Gad

[alsea1]

With the price of hay sky rocketing I am wondering if there are any strategies on reducing hay use that work out well.

Anyone have ideas to toss out to me.
I just got some sticker shock from local feed store 235.00 per ton for plain old grass hay.
Sheesh

 

[SA Farm]

That's a lot. Off the top of my head you could take your goats for walks to browse as you go. When you mow your lawn (if you have one) you could dry, rake, and bag the grass clippings. Every little bit helps
Can't think of anything else at the moment.

 

[HoneyDreameMomma]

We walk our goats out around the yard each evening and most mornings. They are wonderful weed eaters, it cuts down on the hay they eat, and they love it. Lol - we just have to watch and make sure they don't eat the garden and fruit trees.

 

[jodief100]

WOW! I was just talking to someone Friday who said with hay prices in her area, it is cheaper to feed commercial pellets.

We don't feed hay in the summer unless a goat has to be in the isolation pen for some reason. I use electronets to rotate them around and get the most use out of our land. I will cut down smaller trees and let them go to town on them. On occasion I will let the goats out so they can get in the creek where I can't net. The fields closest to the barn do not have goats on them from August until winter so they can grow up as much as possible for stockpiled pasture for winter.

If you have neighbors with cows or horses, talk to them about using their fields. Goats will eat the broadleaf plants leaving the pastures in better shape for animals that eat primarily grasses. Some cattle people will pay to have goats clean out the weeds.

In addition, it may be a good idea to do a calculation on bagged feed to find a good balance price wise. Test your hay and see what you need to do to balance it out. I found I could replace about 20% of my winter hay with commercial feed and be ahead financially.

Finally, invest on good hay feeders. It is worth it to buy or make good solid feeders to reduce waste. Previously we have vertical slats from 4"-6" apart. Our hay losses were halved when we replaced them with the 4 x 4 goat panels. The 2 panels cost about $90 but we saved at least 100 bales of hay from being wasted the first year.

 

[jodief100]

And check Craigslist for hay. The feedstore here charges double what most people haying their own fields do. If you have concerns about quality, get it tested.

 

[alsea1]

Right now our area craigs list ads are around 180.00 and such for grass hay. Crazy huh

 

[bcnewe2]

Wow, this is one of those times I really love living in MO!
are you in a drought this year?

 

[OneFineAcre]

Grass hay isn't that expensive here.

 

[alsea1]

No. I think that greed is getting involved.
They blame it on california drought and fuel prices

 

[alsea1]

found some. now to find some help to get it home