New to goats

[elevan]

Yep, goats are like potato chips and they give you G.A.S.

We buy our hay in bulk...what we're going to expect to need for the whole season when it comes to square bales. We also have round bales delivered as needed since we have larger animals too.

 

[new2goats907]

G.A.S thats just funny.so for the two nigerian dwarfs how many bales could i expect to go through?

 

[CoffeeCow]

I'm pretty new to goats as well, the learning curve isn't that bad if you are used to chickens ( I have 15 chickens with 2 broodys sitting on eggs) We have only had ours for 2 weeks, they are Boer/something small mixes, mom and dad are 90 lbs and 100 lbs respectively. We have them in a rather large area, and they aren't eating a lot of the hay... They are more interested in the honeysuckle and briars that are growing along the fencerow. but from what I hear, we should go through about a bale of hay each per month. at $5.50 a bale, that's not bad at all. I have been feeding them about a cup~ cup and a half of medicated goat food per day, and they get some BOSS mixed in.

We de-horned them yesterday (the people we got them from didn't do it when they were young... luckily my wife is a Veterinarian).
You will absolutely love them, they are great fun to watch and play with.. Anyhow, here are some pics of them after the dehorning surgery, the bandages look like hats, and that makes them cute, yet sad all at the same time.

http://puu.sh/tXBT This is Phineas, he is (almost) a weathers
http://puu.sh/tXCg And here is Candace

I'll be able to post pics here soon, please excuse the links =/

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Wow your lucky! Hay is $19.99 a bale here and I am going through TWO a WEEK!


Cute goaties BTW!

 

[CoffeeCow]

Holy cow! $20 a bale? I really hope the bailing twine is made of gold

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Yeah it sucks. It's SO expensive here and the place where they grow it is only like an hour and a half away. It's SO stupid!

 

[CoffeeCow]

Wheat straw is even cheaper, I use it for bedding, it's $4 a bale.
I use it for the chickens and ducks as well.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Straw is $13 a bale here; too expensive to use as bedding... I use free wood chipping sawdust from a firewood co.

 

[new2goats907]

Got hay yesterday 21$

 

[Mamaboid]

Wow!! We pay $3. a 35# bale for mixed hay here. Straw is $5. so we use hay for everything. Bedding, nesting and eating. We buy it directly from the farm 5 minutes from us, and get it 15 bales at a time so we don't have a lot of storage problems. Wish you all had access, it sure does make for a lot less expensive feeding.