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Excellent quality Bermudagrass hay is much better goat feed than poor quality alfalfa hay. And the only way to accurately determine nutritional quality is through a forage analysis test.
What cut of hay is best for goats?
Second cutting is generally the preferred hay for goats. It has less weeds, is finer-stemmed, fertilized, and grown during the optimal growing season. In areas with longer growing seasons, a third cutting or even higher may be available. Late season cuttings have the highest leaf to stem ratio.4 days ago.
When should hay be fed to a goat?
Goats eat approximately three pounds of hay every day. It is best to make it available to them throughout the day when there is no pasture available. When pasture is available you should make it available to goats twice a day. You also can feed goats alfalfa in pellet form.
What hay gives goats?
When keeping domestic goats, hay is essential for two reasons: It provides both nutrition and dry roughage to balance the moisture and fiber content in the rumen. I often hear the terms “hay” and “straw” used interchangeably, and I cringe.
Can goats have timothy hay?
Timothy hay is also an option for both wethers and does. In winter months, goats should always have hay available to them in their shelter. Even if there is lots of browse left in their pasture, winter browse does not contain enough nutrients to sustain goats for the long winter months.
What kind of grass is best for goats?
What Kind of Grass Do Goats Prefer? Bahiagrass. Bahiagrass tolerates drought well and grows in all types of soil. Millet. Millet, an annual grass, is a productive choice for producing winter hay for goats. Fescue. Fescue grass is highly tolerant of drought, insects and disease. Clover. Bromegrass.
Do goats need hay in summer?
Goats need the extra nutrition that comes from feeding hay. They get a good deal of protein and energy from hay, especially in the winter months. You will use less hay in the summer than you do in the winter months if your goats have access to pasture and a lot of forage.
How many bales of hay does a goat need?
One rule of thumb says 1 square bale per goat per week. Again, there are a lot of factors, but if you have absolutely no idea how much hay you need, start there and keep track. I’ve said it before, write it all down, because you will forget how many bales you had and how long they lasted.
Can goats live on hay alone?
Grain – (0-10% of their diet) – Goats don’t need grain to survive, in fact, they can live happily on pasture or hay, or a combination of both.
Is Coastal hay good for goats?
Coastal is a good, maintenance grass hay that gives all of the additional nutrients horses need. Sheep and goats can eat every type of hay. Coastal or hay-grazer will be the most sufficient types of hay as a maintenance. Alfalfa is a good forage if they need additional protein added to their diet.
Can goats eat too much hay?
Goats can get something called bloat if overfed, and it can kill a goat in less than 24 hours. Goats eat hay, sweet feed, and goat food. You can graze goats, but make sure they don’t eat too much grass. Goats are very curious and smart.
How many goats can you have per acre?
How Many Goats Per Acre? Goats are similar to sheep in that you can support about six to eight goats on an acre of land. Because goats are browsers, not grazers, it will be important that the land you have will supply them with the sort of forage they like to eat—see below.
What should you not feed goats?
But, just like other animals, goats shouldn’t consume things like garlic, onion, chocolate or any source of caffeine, to name a few. Although most goats wouldn’t eat leftover meat scraps, they shouldn’t be offered them either. Citrus fruits should also be avoided, as they can really upset the rumen.
Is Tifton hay good for goats?
Bermudagrass is a fast growing, hearty species of warm-season perennial grass found extensively in the Southeast. Improved hybrid varieties of bermudagrass are well suited for hay production. Common varieties include Coastal, Tifton 44, Tifton 85 and Tifton 78. Many goats do quite well on bermudagrass pastures and hay.
Can goats eat Tifton hay?
As another result of Tifton 85’s higher digestibility, the goats ate more Tifton 85 hay than Coastal hay in both the digestibility and the intake trials. The animals receiving Tifton 85 hay ate on average 1.25 pounds of hay DM, while the animals receiving Coastal hay only ate 1.0 pounds of dry matter.
Can goats eat hay pellets?
Hay pellets are pulverized, so goats really don’t have to chew much at all when they eat pellets. As long as your goats are eating some long-stemmed hay, either in the form of pasture, browse or baled hay, they can eat as much as they want of hay pellets.
