Nutritional info on hay

[mlw987m]

OK, real new on goats, I have two - not dairy, just for pets and I honestly love them to pieces.............Checking for hay for them, they seem to like everything I give them, but is orchard hay the best for them? I bought two bales of hay that looked more like dried straw, and they eat it like candy. But, do I want them as the goat version of 'Supersize me'? Should I search for orchard hay only? Or, does it matter long term nutrition-wise?
Thanks

 

[ksalvagno]

You want your overall hay/feed to be 2:1 calciumhosphorus. Do you have a loose goat mineral out for them to eat? Copper is also important for goats. A lot of people feed grass hay to their goats because of economics. You would have to have the hay analyzed if you wanted to find out the nutritional content of the hay. You could always give them alfalfa pellets if you need more calcium in their diet. You do want to be careful not to overfeed the goats.

 

[mlw987m]

Thanks. Yes, I have a mineral supplement out for them. They get two cups each of grain a day plus free choice hay. I found someone locally who sells hay, but he said it's a mixed grass type, so I was tossing it around with some other local hay sellers. I only buy two bales at a time, so it's harder to find someone who wants to take the time to sell a few bales. THough, the mixed grass person is actually the only one who told me to come and take a look at his hay! Nice guy, though he said it's only mulch hay, I guess not really good for goats, just for bedding.

 

[ksalvagno]

You still want your hay to be quality hay whether it is grass or alfalfa. The bulk of the goat's diet should be hay/browse/pasture and grain should only be supplement. If your goats aren't used for breeding or milking, you could even potentially get away with not feeding grain. As long as their body condition is good.

 

[mlw987m]

Thank you!

 

[cmjust0]

The Ca thing isn't quite as important when it comes to hay as it is for concentrated feeds.. Goats naturally recycle phosphorus through saliva, and hay requires a lot of saliva -- concentrated feed doesn't.

Having said that, yeah, I still try to get hay that I know has at least *some* calcium in it.. Alfalfa, clover, and lespedeza are good for calcium, and timothy has a favorable Ca ratio..

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...my all-time favorite cold weather hay is clover/timothy. The timothy is "crunchy" and stemmy, and the stemmier the hay, the more heat it generates, and the clover is going to provide good calcium and is usually in the 16% protein range.. Overall, I'd guesstimate a good clover/timothy hay to be in the 13-14% protein range with a Ca ratio of at least 1:1..

The best part is that it's usually still sold as "mixed grass" hay because there's no alfalfa in it...which means it's pretty cheap.

 

[mlw987m]

The Ca thing isn't quite as important when it comes to hay as it is for concentrated feeds.. Goats naturally recycle phosphorus through saliva, and hay requires a lot of saliva -- concentrated feed doesn't.

Having said that, yeah, I still try to get hay that I know has at least *some* calcium in it.. Alfalfa, clover, and lespedeza are good for calcium, and timothy has a favorable Ca ratio..

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...my all-time favorite cold weather hay is clover/timothy. The timothy is "crunchy" and stemmy, and the stemmier the hay, the more heat it generates, and the clover is going to provide good calcium and is usually in the 16% protein range.. Overall, I'd guesstimate a good clover/timothy hay to be in the 13-14% protein range with a Ca ratio of at least 1:1..

The best part is that it's usually still sold as "mixed grass" hay because there's no alfalfa in it...which means it's pretty cheap.

WOW - Thank you !!! That's what he's selling!!

 

[Our7Wonders]

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...my all-time favorite cold weather hay is clover/timothy.

Would clover/timothy be a good hay for pregnant does? My does get an alfalfa/grass mix. I read in a couple goatie books and I think I read a post (or maybe multipe posts) on here that said we should consider backing off alfalfa towards the end of gestation. I'm looking for a good hay to use for the last 4-6 weeks. I'm such a goat newbie and a completely hay incompetent - I need a little direction.

 

[cmjust0]

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...my all-time favorite cold weather hay is clover/timothy.

Would clover/timothy be a good hay for pregnant does? My does get an alfalfa/grass mix. I read in a couple goatie books and I think I read a post (or maybe multipe posts) on here that said we should consider backing off alfalfa towards the end of gestation. I'm looking for a good hay to use for the last 4-6 weeks. I'm such a goat newbie and a completely hay incompetent - I need a little direction.

I personally know a goat producer who lost *a bunch* of does to 'milk fever' (hypocalcemia) because he intentionally fed lots of straight-alfalfa hay in late gestation.. What happens is that blood calcium levels get so high from dietary intake that the body sorta forgets how to mobilize calcium from bones, which is how blood calcium is normally balanced. When the body begins lactating, blood calcium levels fall rapidly and the body has to try and re-learn how to mobilize it from bones...sometimes it can do it in time, sometimes it can't.

That was high-quality, straight-alfalfa hay he was feeding, though.. But the point is, yes, high levels of dietary calcium fed just before lactation begins *can* cause milk fever.

I wouldn't worry much if it's alfalfa/timothy, though, because it's most likely going to be mostly timothy.. If your alfalfa/grass is half grass or more, I would think that would be fine too..

If you want, though, you could always feed a less legume-heavy hay for the last couple of weeks to give them a chance to re-learn how to mobilize calcium, just in case their bodies have forgotten, and then switch back to a heavier legume mix in early lactation. Might be overkill, of course, but it wouldn't necessarily hurt anything.

 

[cmjust0]

WOW - Thank you !!! That's what he's selling!!

It won't look very good...stemmy and course...the timothy will likely be pale yellow and dry looking...all the clover will be BROWN and ugly. That's just the nature of clover/timothy, though.

When it's cold, though, my goats go NUTS for it. If I happen into a bale that's got a lot of bluegrass or orchard in it (both of which are 'finer' grasses), they'll root through that to get to timothy stems and clover.. Few things in life please me more than throwing timothy/clover hay when it's about 5* outside, then just standing back and listening to the 'crunch crunch crunch' of umpteen goats going to town on "cheap" hay -- and knowing they'll be nice and toasty afterward, not to mention well-fed.