How Much Hay For NON-Pastured Goats?

[pridegoethb4thefall]

We currently have 6 goats, they are Nigerian Dwarfs.

1 is 6 years old and pregnant (not sure on due date),

1 is 3 years old and recently bred, not sure if preg.

4 of them are 5 month old doelings.

They have access to pasture, but WONT use it!!! I hear that can be a nigerian dwarf thing...

So my question is- How many flakes of alfalfa should I put out a day to keep them all fed and in good condition?

I also feed goat chow dressed with BOSS everyday and they usually get some kind of extra snacks like grapevines (real, not the candy! LOL!) and a few garden goodies.

None of them are underweight or anything, but I want to be sure I am doing right by these picky girls! I feel like I am missing something, or maybe not feeding enough. Currently feed 2 to 3 flakes a day- they are good quality, 2nd cutting alfalfa, once a day. Is that enough?

 

[SheepGirl]

A goat in maintenance (NOT bred, NOT lactating, NOT growing, etc - basically not doing anything lol) requires 3% of their body weight in roughage. So you figure a 100 lb goat will need 3 lbs of hay. Because you are feeding grain, they will need less hay. (With sheep, I figure 1 lb of grain = 2 lbs of hay).

With sheep (I assume goats would be similar, though sheep have a lower maintenance requirement than goats), when bred will need to eat at about maintenance level through month 3-4 of their pregnancy. Then in the last month or two, they get about 1/3 more hay (so a sheep getting 3 lbs of hay would be increased to 4 lbs) plus about 1 lb of grain. Lactating sheep get 1/2 to 1 lb of grain per lamb they are nursing. Lambs are creep fed grain and hay all they can eat. When lambs are weaned, they get hay plus 2-4% of their body weight in grain (depending on frame size/growth potential). Ewes after weaning are put back on a maintenance diet.

 

[20kidsonhill]

A goat in maintenance (NOT bred, NOT lactating, NOT growing, etc - basically not doing anything lol) requires 3% of their body weight in roughage. So you figure a 100 lb goat will need 3 lbs of hay. Because you are feeding grain, they will need less hay. (With sheep, I figure 1 lb of grain = 2 lbs of hay).

With sheep (I assume goats would be similar, though sheep have a lower maintenance requirement than goats), when bred will need to eat at about maintenance level through month 3-4 of their pregnancy. Then in the last month or two, they get about 1/3 more hay (so a sheep getting 3 lbs of hay would be increased to 4 lbs) plus about 1 lb of grain. Lactating sheep get 1/2 to 1 lb of grain per lamb they are nursing. Lambs are creep fed grain and hay all they can eat. When lambs are weaned, they get hay plus 2-4% of their body weight in grain (depending on frame size/growth potential). Ewes after weaning are put back on a maintenance diet.

That sounds about right to me and about what I am seeing our goats eating in a day.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I have 7 nigerians:
one 2 year old buck
one 3 month old buckling
one 4 month old doeling
two girls that are 2
two girls that are 5 or 6 I think (registration papers at home, but to get an idea of ages)

The boys are fed but don't eat all of one flake a day of hay, they also get a little grain once a day, and Jack gets a bottle at night for fun.

The girls eat about 3 flakes of hay, but it depends on the day. Most days we go through 4-5 flakes total (all 7 goats) with some waste. When they go out back to browse for 3-4 hours ....(about 1/2 acre) they will eat about half of that or less. The girls get all the grain on the milk stand that they want....the non milking girls get a just a little for a bedtime snack....(and so they don't beat the tar out of the milking girls out of jealousy )

Mostly I base the amount hay on whether it looks like all the fresh stuff was eaten completely or if there is still some left. Some days they seem to inhale the whole flake and want more before we are even done with morning chores. Some days they seem to not eat much at all and just hang out. We have had some extreme weather though, 110 and then down to the mid 80s only to shoot back up to 103 again so that could be some of the issue.

It does depend on the size of the flakes too....some of our bales come apart in absolutely huge flakes while some are willing to separate in more modest chunks. We feed 2x a day.