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Post by princessferf on Aug 9, 2017 13:34:48 GMT
When buying bales of hay for your goats (assuming you don't bale your own OR supplement with purchased hay), what sort of plant mix are you looking for? I've been making calls and a lot of what I find has a high percentage of alfalfa with some grass and weeds.
If you could pick the ideal mix of plants for your goat hay, what would it be?
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Post by here to stay on Aug 9, 2017 14:06:17 GMT
Hay is tricky. Sometimes I find something I think beautifully cured, lovely green and sweet. And the animals are like 'meh.'
Then again, I buy something brownish and variable and the animals love it.
I want a nutritious, economic hay. For this in my area, a notoriously poor hay producer, I buy the best grass hay I can find. And, for every 10 bales of that, I buy one bale of alfalfa. Then I feed 90% grass and maybe 10% alfalfa. More or less.
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Post by princessferf on Aug 9, 2017 16:32:35 GMT
I bought myself a scythe and was going into the "wild" areas of our property and cutting out (and laying to dry) most everything.... grass and weeds and a tiny bit of alfalfa once and awhile (this land has grown alfalfa several times over the years and it spread a little into the wilds). I'm thinking that the stuff I'm cutting/drying might be better than the "good hay" I'm finding around that's mostly alfalfa. I'm going to continue my search to find mostly grass hay. BTW, Charlie will be getting some friends (2 NGDs born this spring) in October.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2017 17:25:16 GMT
I always try/tried to find second cutting grass. It seems to out grow the weeds and is fairly fine without a lot of seed. Second cutting can be made when the weather is better. Good grass horse hay makes good goat hay, usually....James
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Post by dustawaits on Aug 9, 2017 20:18:25 GMT
Never past second cutting as James said , horse hay. The blister beetles in third or later cutting can be devastating. Dairy goats eat more brush than meat goats. They like green briers , blackberries, and things to chew on. But they also need quality hay. If you buy your hay you need it tested. If you buy it locally you need to see the field it comes from and know whether it was fertilized and what kind or sprayed and with what. I would stay away from red clover hay , it is a very iffy hay. It can cause abortions.
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