overeating with free choice hay?

[FreckleFace]

Hi all! Quick question about feeding hay. We have three goats and typically provide them with a bundle of hay 2x or 3x per day and each gets a handful of grain for treats daily. These were the feeding recommendations given to us by the woman we bought the goats from at a petting zoo last summer. She was adament about not giving more than a couple handfuls of hay each day.

Our goats do not have access to pasture or browse because we live in a heavily treed area with lots of moss. I'd like to provide hay free choice, as many of the members here recommend. It seems more natural for them to graze all day rather than having two meals. They seem to cry for hay between meals even though they are not under weight.

The problem is when try I try keeping their hay feeder full all day, they seem to gorge themselves until their belies are swollen. I worry about bloat. Is there a trick to providing hay free choice without them overeating?

Thanks!

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

If they have no browse or pasture and only get a little bit of feed then I would most definitely give them alot of hay. Right now my Kiko does are in an area that has almost no browse (because they ate it all) and I do not like them eating pasture. They do have some pasture though. I am filling their hay feeder all the way full and they sit around it most of they day eating all the can. They are not fat by any means and they are not skinny. Most of the time by the end of the day they have eaten all the hay in the feeder. If I were to give them more they would eat it but I don't. Also it's not like they sit around it and it non-stop and don't do anything else. Point is it shouldn't give them bloat and I would give them a good amount of hay because they don't get much else.

 

[redtailgal]

I would leave free choice hay out there. When they adjust to it being available all the time, they wont gorge as bad.

However, is there anyway that you could fence off some of that heavily tree'd land you have? Mine have grass, normal wooded browse and a very densely tree'd area and they STAY in the dense area and as a result do not need hay or grain at all during the summer months.

 

[ThornyRidgeII]

I have miniature goats and each gets on average of an average sized flake of hay per day... it seems to be working for me.. good condition and minimal waste. I would tweak the amount you feed until you find what works that way there is minimal waste.. I know when I used to stuff my hay bags and feeders with hay and the goats would not eat/finish it all they would then waste it.. like hay went bad or something so I ended up wasting too much.. the bales I am feeding now seem to have the right sized flakes for my crew!

 

[FreckleFace]

Thanks for all the quick responses! I went right out and loaded up the feeder with lots of hay. The girls looked very happy. I'm glad to know now that hay doesn't cause bloat so I won't worry.

Redtailgal, we would love to fence off some of the wooded area for our goats. Our problem is that we have mountain laurel and rhododendron all through the woods, which I read is really poisonous to goats. I'm just not sure we could eliminate all of the poisonous plants so that our girls would be safe. Maybe one day!

 

[elevan]

Thanks for all the quick responses! I went right out and loaded up the feeder with lots of hay. The girls looked very happy. I'm glad to know now that hay doesn't cause bloat so I won't worry.

Redtailgal, we would love to fence off some of the wooded area for our goats. Our problem is that we have mountain laurel and rhododendron all through the woods, which I read is really poisonous to goats. I'm just not sure we could eliminate all of the poisonous plants so that our girls would be safe. Maybe one day!

Rhododendron is definitely a problem plant for goats.

 

[redtailgal]

Redtailgal, we would love to fence off some of the wooded area for our goats. Our problem is that we have mountain laurel and rhododendron all through the woods, which I read is really poisonous to goats. I'm just not sure we could eliminate all of the poisonous plants so that our girls would be safe. Maybe one day!

Definately dont wanna go that route.