Is hay a must?

[alba]

Some folk say you don't have to let your goats forage/ browse green stuff, weeds, branches, grass, leaves. But you absolutely must give them hay.

That doesnt seem right to me. What do you think?

 

[wynedot55]

if theres nothing for them to graze an browse on then you need to give them hay.i wintered my goats on feed.an gave them very little if any hay.

 

[alba]

No they were saying you had to feed hay instead of browse. Doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[zatsenoughcritters4me]

we give our goats hay in the winter, they need the roughage. also goat feed all the time, not as much in the summer if they have good pasture with a good mix of grasses just because they have grass to eat in the pasture doesn't mean its all good pasture grasses. they need a variety, ours tend to eat the weeds too! they love that! we give them sticks, branches also.
hay a definate in the winter. they need the roughage to keep their systems working good. check http://www.fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm
they have the best info about how to raise goats.

 

[helmstead]

Even when they have ample browse, you should leave hay available. Helps with gut motility and offers peace of mind that they can always have a full belly.

 

[lilhill]

We also have hay available as well as browse and grass mixture pasture, plus grain and alfalfa pellets year round.

 

[alba]

I have had a bale of hay in their barn for a few months and they are not eating it. They prefer to browse.

 

[freemotion]

Hmmm, if my goats didn't touch a bale for that long, I'd take a very close look at the bale. Even with wonderful browse available, they will come in and eat hay, especially if it is too hot, rainy, buggy, cold, etc. Or if they are just being lazy!

Is the bale off the ground? Is it dust and mold free? Have birds or dogs pooped or pee'd on it? Don't mean to insult you, just covering the bases here, as I don't know your situation. Also giving lurkers some info if they have the same situation.

When I managed a horse farm, there would be an occasional bale or part of a bale that no one would touch. I might offer it to the piggiest horse just to test it, if that horse refused, into the compost it went. It can look wonderful to us, but their good noses can tell if the farmer's dog lifted a leg on the bale before it made it to your place.

Just some thoughts.

 

[username taken]

No, if you have adequate pasture and/or browse they do not need hay. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that even when you have pasture and browse, goats need to have hay and grain. Now that doesnt make any sense to me whatsoever, these creatures were designed to eat pasture and browse. When we have adequate growth, my animals (goats and sheep and cattle) live off pasture and browse ONLY, and do very very well on it. The exception would be high producing dairy does in milk - to sustain high production (and I'm talking 2.5 gallons a day) they need the grain and hay alongside pasture/browse.

There are only two times I provide hay alongside adequate pasture/browse:

1) Before I turn the goats out onto fresh, lush pasture/browse, I let them fill their bellies first on good dry hay, and have that available for the first 3 days or so, to buffer the stomach, because a lot of the time the lush feed will go straight through them until they get used to it

2) If it is going to be bitterly cold and/or wet, and they dont have a shed to get into, only natural shelter trees etc, I again give them a bale of good dry hay, which will keep them warm by the fermentation process in the rumen.

 

[lilhill]

There again, folks have lots of ways to manage and maintain their herds health, and you do whatever works best for you.