# How many hours a day do goats need to graze?



## Skykomish (May 28, 2008)

How many hours a day do goats need to graze? I keep mine penned at night and when I can't supervise them. They're both full grown and I have one doe/one buck- Nubians. She is not PG currently. They only got 3 hours today because it started raining. There's TONS of browse out here so they can eat as much as they want when they aren't in their pen.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

They need at least three hours per day of browsing/grazing time. So they probably got enough. But it's good to split that into at least two sessions if you can manage it.

Kathleen


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## goatkid (Nov 20, 2005)

Are they getting hay or alfalfa pellets in addition to their browse? I feed mine hay in the morning and then milk them. After milking, I leave their gate open to their pasture until evening, when I offer them a bit more hay and keep them in after milking. If I go away or it rains, the goats are put back in their pen. If all yours are getting is browse, if you allow them to spend the day in the pasture, they will eat when they need and rest and chew their cud when they are full.


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## Skykomish (May 28, 2008)

All they are getting is browse right now. I forgot to add she is not milking either. There is some hay in their stall but they don't seem to want to eat it.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Is the hay fresh? Goats will only eat fresh hay (VERY picky eaters, LOL!). But if they are getting at least three hours a day to feed outside, they should be fine. Just keep an eye on their condition -- if they start to look like they are losing condition, then you need to make sure they get more to eat. 

Do make sure they get wormed when they need it, though.

Kathleen


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## Sweet Goats (Nov 30, 2005)

Goat eat (Browse) a average of 8 times a day. I would say that they need to have other good hay if they are only browsing 3 hours a day. They also need a good mineral.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

It also depends on the quality of browse. This time of year, my goats spend as much time under a shade tree as they do actually out browsing. In the fall after the first killing frost, they spend pretty much all day out in the pasture eating the brown stuff. 

Do you not have your animals fenced in any way? Is that what you mean by keeping them penned unless you can supervise them?


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## Skykomish (May 28, 2008)

There is a pen that is like 30x20 with another square about half that size with an indoor stall area they sleep in and when I'm not available to watch them they are in. But they already ate the browse out of it. The rest of the 5 acres has a 5 wire fence but I don't know if they can go through that (I imagine they could if they wanted to) and I do like to try to keep them out of my garden and off my bushes when they're out. They spend the entire time they are out of the pen browsing as its not too hot here and they don't rest in the shade.


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