"Regular Hay" or Alfalfa Hay?

[madimorg]

I just brought home my daughters 4H project goat. He was born in mid December. He'll be going to fair in mid June. I have a mineral block for him as well as pellet goat feed and using Calf Manna in the feed. I've had some people tell me to just give him what I consider regular hay of cut bailed grasses and then I'm reading online that most people seem to recomend Alfalfa Hay. What are the pros/cons to each type. I can actually get Alfalfa Hay on the farm next to my farm so that would be very easy.

Thank you.

 

[mama24]

I think most people only feed alfalfa to dairy goats or pregnant goats who are having trouble keeping weight on.

 

[20kidsonhill]

Is it a meat goat for a meat show, or is it breeding stock and/or dairy?

 

[poorboys]

I feed grass hay, and alfalfa pellets, cause I can't afford straight alfalfa hay.

 

[hcppam]

I think most people only feed alfalfa to dairy goats or pregnant goats who are having trouble keeping weight on.

x2

 

[madimorg]

Thank you for the replies... he is a meat Boer goat which is my daughters 4H project. Fair is early June and he was born in mid December.

 

[CocoNUT]

Ok...so just to clarify - if I have two young does who are obviously not pregnant or lactating...is alfalfa hay preferable to timothy hay? Our girls do get 'outside' time and have access to fresh grass and shurbs when we take them for 'walks' around our pasture. But for constant access while they're growing...does it matter which type of hay we feed them? (We don't want them getting too fat!)

Alfalfa hay or Timothy hay? (we have access to both in our area...just would like to know which I should purchase.) (we have rabbits too...hence the timothy hay!)

Thanks!

 

[SDBoerGoats]

Thank you for the replies... he is a meat Boer goat which is my daughters 4H project. Fair is early June and he was born in mid December.

My kids do meat goats for fair, and we feed them alfalfa and Boer Goat Developer. Also feed loose minerals instead of the block, they just don't get enough minerals from licking the blocks.

 

[20kidsonhill]

Is it a meat goat for a meat show, or is it breeding stock and/or dairy?

We feed ours show quality grain only and very very little hay. You would want to feed at least 3% of body weight in grain a day, You can feed up to 4%, if they aren't gaining enough, or you are exercising them really hard. So a 50lb boer kid should be getting between 1 1/2 lbs and 2 lbs of show feed a day divided up into 2 or 3 feedings. Most pelleted feeds that I have wieghed and measured come out to be right around 3 cups of feed per lb.


Weighing you goat every couple weeks can really help you monitor their progress and to determine if you need to change anything or worm your goat. Daily weight gain can vary depending on blood-lines, but you should expect at least a .35 to .4 daily gain, if not higher than that.