How Much Hay Will I Need?

[Egg_Newton]

I have a doe that I plan on breeding in Oct/Nov a whether who is currently about four months old, and I am on a waiting list to get a doeling this Nov/Dec. They are all Dwarf Nigerians. How many square bales of hay will I need to get me thru the winter?

 

[ksalvagno]

Depends on a lot of things. How big the bales are, how many flakes are in a bale. How long your goats can go out to pasture. If your bales have decent size flakes, then probably a flake per day for the 3 goats but you will have to see for yourself. Plus you need to see approximately how many flakes are in your bales. I would see what your goats eat for a week and then go from there.

 

[Ariel301]

A flake a day for three goats? Wow, Nigerians are cheap to feed. My big girls eat a flake a day EACH! And that's from 120 pound bales.

 

[Aped]

I have 5 nigerians and one sheep. They go through 1 to 2 bales a week depending on the type of hay(1st cutting,2nd cutting,etc). They don't have access to pasture unless I occasionally let them into the rest of the yard so the majority of their diet is the hay I provide.

 

[Egg_Newton]

I talked to the lady I got my Nigis from and she suggested 15 bales for all winter. She said 10 might be enough but to get 15 to be on the safe side. For those that were wondering.

 

[ksalvagno]

I'd probably get 20 just to be absolutely sure.

 

[ThornyRidge]

Since you are in Indiana you too can face harsh winters like us (neighbors in Ohio).. if your bales are average weight square bales (at least 50-60 lbs) and it is good hay I would calcualte an average at minimum 1-1.5 bales per week. You definately want to have more than you can use and if you come across good hay and have the space stock up now so you have it after the winter and won't run out and be scrambling trying to find hay in early spring when most are sold out and have not yet made hay! The other thing to consider is goats are so finicky and from one bale to the next they may waste and not eat a lot of it.. and consider that bale may look great on outside and when you cut it open you could find area of mold- get extra! Be prepared! Don't cut it close and then try to locate hay with 8 inches of snow down on ground.. not fun! I forgot to add that I feed 16 Nigerians ( on no pasture and very little grain) and go through at least 4-5 bales per week depending on size of bale and in the winter they get a bit more hay than normal