2006-06-20 04:13:58 · 17 answers · asked by ohiofarmgirl94 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Any kind of hay will do. I have 2 goats and they just get regular hay, they make alfalfa hay which they love but it's not good to feed them that all the time and it's more expensive than regular hay.
2006-06-20 04:16:56 · answer #1 · answered by farmergyrl23 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Bermuda is always a good choice, as is clover and timothy hay. Stay away from fescue - there is a fungus that grows in the stalks and can cause goats to bloat, die, or dry up if they're milking. Alfalfa is a great hay if you need to increase milk production or put weight on goats. It is also conveniently sold in pellets of about the diameter of a pencil... i like to feed these pellets to my milkers and growing kids. If alfalfa is fed to bucks, the calcium content needs to be balanced with grain (which is high in phosphorus). The high calcium isn't what causes urinary calculi, it's actually an imbalance in the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. I have had many bucks here and none of them have had UC, thankfully. Anyway... stick with a regular, fresh good-quality grass hay as the base of their diet and you should be fine.
2006-06-20 16:18:59 · answer #2 · answered by tranquilitti 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Any type of hay can be fed, however, billies have an increased chance of developing urinary calculi when fed alfalfa hay because of the high levels of calcium. The highest quality hays should be fed to young, growing animals and does nursing kids. Lower quality hay can be fed to dry does in the beginning stages of pregnancy. Haylage is also a good forage source for goats. Because haylage is made at an earlier stage of maturity it is often higher in nutritive value than dry hay. Haylage can be substituted for hay in the ration of any of the animals in the goat herd.
2006-06-20 04:20:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many different types of hay. We always fed our sheep a grass and alfalfa mix. It does not need to be the greatest quality hay, just free of mold and spoilage. You want higher quality hay for pregnant or lactating females though.
2006-06-20 05:39:26 · answer #4 · answered by ekaty84 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Timothy hay
2006-06-20 04:25:33 · answer #5 · answered by Mommadog 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think there is only 1 kind of hay
2006-06-20 04:15:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
TOO MANY people without a clue giving advice. Goats will NOT eat garbage. Even if starving.
2006-06-20 04:26:22 · answer #7 · answered by Jan H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Didn't realize there were different types of hay!
2006-06-20 04:16:24 · answer #8 · answered by Shep 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hay is hay. no matter how u look at it there's no different kinds just maybe in color.
2006-06-20 04:18:50 · answer #9 · answered by roblaw05 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Goats can eat garbage and survive. Don't worry about feeding them, they will find stuff to eat on their own.
2006-06-20 04:17:07 · answer #10 · answered by hpneil 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋