# Do goats like timothy hay?



## outofmire (Aug 21, 2003)

We can't store large quantities of hay, and that means we've been stuck buying it as we go from the feedstore. But my goats don't seem to care for bermuda hay half the time, and the other half they love it. Right now they don't like it. I may be able to get some timothy, but I was wondering if they'd eat it. What kinds of hay do you all use?


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## Jillis (Sep 11, 2005)

I have limited options. There are a LOT of farmers who hay up here, it's one of the main crops---that and feed corn. There are a lot of cow dairys.
I started getting hay from one farmer that was timothy and some clover mixed in. They liked that fine, then he started giving me really dusty hay. The next guy was selling what he called "mixed field grasses" and touted it as organic...it was very course and weedy. Didn't buy any more from him
The man down the hill from me who raises Alpacas turned me on to a man who selld beautiful hay---second cut, green, soft...they dive into it as if it were grain. But darned if I know what kind it is...maybe I should ask...I think it is timothy though...it's always better to buy from a farmer than from a feed store.


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## Nancy_in_GA (Oct 20, 2004)

The only hay grown locally here is bermuda and fescue. We put out good quality coastal bermuda, from two different farmers, for our goats last winter and they wouldn't touch either. Then we tried poorer quality coastal with weeds. They sorted out and ate a little of the weeds. Most of it ended up as bedding.

This fall we decided to try some timothy, and so far most of our goats love it. It is shipped in from the midwest somewhere, and costs $7.50 per square bale, but we decided to go ahead and get enough for this winter anyway. 

Nancy
NE Georgia


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## outofmire (Aug 21, 2003)

Do you have it shipped, or do you buy it from someone locally who has it shipped?


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## Nancy_in_GA (Oct 20, 2004)

From a feed store. Not many options around here. -Nancy


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

Well, it certainly isn't their favorite, I can say that. But if that and bermuda hay is all that can be had, that's the way it is! 

I think that the quality of hay can be just as important as the _type_ of hay. I have had some alfalfa that so so stemmy, dried out with lots of leaf shattering, and moldy, that grass hay was actually preferable. If you can find a good quality grass hay that isn't too stemmy or mature and has a lot of leaf, go with that.


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## Jillis (Sep 11, 2005)

Nancy_in_GA said:


> This fall we decided to try some timothy, and so far most of our goats love it. It is shipped in from the midwest somewhere, and costs $7.50 per square bale, but we decided to go ahead and get enough for this winter anyway.
> 
> Nancy
> NE Georgia


My word! 7.50 a square bale!!! I am so glad I live where farmers hay! I was complaining about spending $3.00 a large square bale! 
BTW, chamoisee, isn't it really bad to feed moldy hay to any animal?


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## moonspinner (Jul 2, 2002)

My goats aren't fussy over their hay, except this timothy from one farmer. DOn't get it - it looks good, smells terrific, green, not stemmy at all. They love grass hays for some reason. I do feed alfalfa during pregnancy and early lactation. Over the summer and early fall I go with round hay bales - grass and timothy - and supplement with alfalfa pellets. I found my goats really like burdock too.


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## debitaber (Jun 6, 2003)

we feed alfhafa hay, 3d and 4th cut , that is what you need to make good rich milk. 
I feed timithy to my horses. 
we pay about 2.80 a bale for alfalha hay, and about 1.50 for timithy hay. but we are in michigan. and that might be the reason. and we thought that was high,I would sure hate to pay your prices.


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## Nancy_in_GA (Oct 20, 2004)

Jillis said:


> My word! 7.50 a square bale!!! I am so glad I live where farmers hay!


Yes, I wish I lived somewhere else, too. Actually there are lots of farmers who bale hay here, but most of Georgia soil is either red clay or sand, and only coastal and fescue grow well on that. Coastal was $3 a bale here last year. 

Our goats are supplemented with alfalfa pellets in the winter. We tried free choice last year, but the goats highest on the pecking order gained too much weight on them, and limiting the amount of pellets just made it worse. So we thought having hay might fill the pigs up with something not so rich. 

This is only our second winter with goats, so we are still experimenting. Keeping them has become more of a hobby. Watching them launch into a bale of hay is more fun than most things I can think of to do.  

Nancy


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## debitaber (Jun 6, 2003)

wait until you get babies. we have some in the kitchen right now. so cute and fun to watch.


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## goatkid (Nov 20, 2005)

I feed mostly alfalfa hay which I get delivered in 5 - 10 ton lots at a time. I get 4 - 5 deliveries a year. I am also buying some local grass hay this week. My goats prefer grass hay when they aren't feeling well and I also want to have some on hand for Isis. It was a lifesaver last year when she had ketosis and milk fever. My goats like Timothy. Here, we pay $85 - $90 a ton including delivery fee.


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

> BTW, chamoisee, isn't it really bad to feed moldy hay to any animal?


Yes. And trying to pick out the moldy parts (not to feed) in the dark isn't any fun, either! The stuff made me hack and cough....



> My goats aren't fussy over their hay, except this timothy from one farmer. DOn't get it - it looks good, smells terrific, green, not stemmy at all.


I had that happen with some grain from a particular feed store. It looked good, they'd eat one sack but reject the next one. Turns out the people who owned the feed store had a lot of male dogs (like 5-6 of them) that were frree to roam around the area where feed was stored. I can only surmise that they had peed on some of the feed and that was why the goats turned it down. The same kind of feed, from a different store, was fine with them...

Do they eat timothy hay from another source?


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## djuhnke (Oct 7, 2004)

goatkid said:


> I feed mostly alfalfa hay which I get delivered in 5 - 10 ton lots at a time. I get 4 - 5 deliveries a year. I am also buying some local grass hay this week. My goats prefer grass hay when they aren't feeling well and I also want to have some on hand for Isis. It was a lifesaver last year when she had ketosis and milk fever. My goats like Timothy. Here, we pay $85 - $90 a ton including delivery fee.



How long will a ton of feed last your goats?


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

Mine is timothy/clover mix...green and not dusty
I buy out of the field for 2.25 a bale or $3 out of the barn in winter...I store 100 or so bales

Moldy hay will kill a goat....


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## dbarjacres (Feb 2, 2004)

This is the first year we ever ended up with what I'm pretty sure is fescue. I got some "grass mix" first crop from a highly recommended farmer, it cost me an arm and a leg and the crap is fescue. This does me NO good feeding to bred donkey jennets! So I'm trying to feed this stuff up as fast as I can and hope they won't be affected in their late pregnancy by it. I tried to feed it to the goats and they looked at me like I was crazy and refused to eat it at all. Mine did eat timothy the first year we got them, just a few as pets. But now we have breeding and youngstock, so we went all out and got them second crop 50% timothy 50% red clover/alfalfa. Goat candy! It tested out at 18% and they love it. Donkeys think it's heaven if I drop some on the ground in their pasture when carrying it! But now that mine get that, they are most likely gonna be picky unless starving. I don't feed any grain then either.

Yes, be careful about buying brittle alfalfa. It's a complete waste of money. We bought small squares, about 300 from the neighbor last year and it was so dry. The goats wouldn't eat the stems and most of the leaf went on the ground while putting it out to feed, so the donkeys got to eat a lot of alfalfa stems last winter and we bought different goat hay, even gave the left over stuff to the amish neighbor this summer. The new farmer/neighbor I got this stuff from does a beautiful job with his alfalfa.


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## goatkid (Nov 20, 2005)

djuhnke said:


> How long will a ton of feed last your goats?


I feed around 25 goats in the winter, more when they kid. Right now, they are eating 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 90 -100 lb bales per day. Some of these goats were born this year and don't eat as much as the older ones. No matter what kind of feeder I have devised, they always manage to waste some of their hay. I can't do the keyhole feeders because the goats are different sizes. When I had the last 10 tons delivered, I figured it would last me longer than it looks like it will. Part of this is due to some bales being really dry and being harder to feed without losing some. My goats live in pens and do not go out to pasture. In spring and summer, we let them out in the yard to eat weeds and grass for a while each day, but have to watch them so they don't run off. We rent so this is why we haven't put up fencing on more of the property. Some of itis on the side of a hill and would be tricky to fence.


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## mom2jaluno (Dec 9, 2005)

> The man down the hill from me who raises Alpacas turned me on to a man who selld beautiful hay---second cut, green, soft...they dive into it as if it were grain. But darned if I know what kind it is...maybe I should ask...I think it is timothy though


If the guy was buying for alpacas then it was most likely Orchard or Timothy hay.


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