# Goats won't eat hay



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I've been giving my wethers straight alfalfa and would like to switch them to hay and alfalfa.

For the past couple of mornings I've put out just grass hay and in the evening it looks like they haven't touched it. I continue to give them alfalfa in the evening.

I'm a little hesitant to under feed them because it doesn't get above 25 F during the day and below zero at night.

The farmer who sold me the hay said his cattle wouldn't touch it for 3 days but then ate it just fine. I see no mold although it could be a bit dusty.

Will they eventually start eating the grass hay during the day?


----------



## armeda (Aug 17, 2006)

I think they will. Our goats were on a terrible diet when we got them.
She was giving them scratch grains and sweet feed mane with honey, 
which is hard to find. They wouldn't eat anything new. We have given 
them so many different things now, I think they would eat anything.
Good luck!


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

When I first got them they would only eat the grass hay that I bought from the previous owner and refused to eat any weeds or grass. They wouldn't even come out of the shelter for the first week.

I'm just concerned about stressing them in cold weather. If they don't eat it today I'll mix some with alfalfa for tomorrow morning.


----------



## oceanmist (Mar 21, 2006)

oh lol i have so been through this with our goats!  pesky critters!

goats are VERY picky eaters, don't let some old time COW farmer tell you they will just eat anything because they WON'T.

they are spoiled on the alfalfa and it is very, very hard to switch them over because they know you are holding out on them lol, they are like NO way are we eating this junk when there is alfalfa still in the barn...

seriously, goats will NOT eat most cattle hay... it's not the right quality for them. you need to find EXCELLENT grass hay, not dusty or moldy or poor quality hay... you are throwing your money away and you will find that no matter how little you mix with the alfalfa, that's what will be on the floor in the AM.. they will pick through and leave the crappy hay behind.

get better hay and they should make the switch just fine.

Misty
oh ps, any time you are making a change in feed do it SLOWLY over a period of about 7-10 days... i noticed you said they would eat the hay from the previous owner... any chance of getting some of that? i bet they'd gobble it up because they will remember it...


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Hay is so short around here that I had a hard time finding the little I did get. If they won't eat the grass hay that I have it looks like they'll be getting alfalfa pellets by February.

The grass hay that I got from the previous owner last summer was just ditch grass but they were used to it and ate it fine.

I think the boer cross may be eating some of the grass hay but he seems content to eat no matter what is happening around him. Hopefully he will teach the others.


----------



## AnnaS (Nov 29, 2003)

I think they're being picky too. My does were happily eating a CRP hay until I had some rounds of nice alfalfa brought in (from Mankato ). Now if they get the CRP, they cry & stir it with their muzzles to check for alfalfa, but won't eat it. 

I would also be concerned about chilling if they keep refusing hay. I'd bring them warm water and watch for shivering. As long as they're not shivering, they are okay. 

oceanmist, there isn't better hay- or any hay-around here. We had a hard cold winter with no snow cover that killed most alfalfa, followed by a severe drought that killed everything else. The few people who got some hay put up will not sell it at any price. Horses are going through the sale barn for $10 & $15 because their owners could not even find hay to buy. Should get really icky now- we had pasture until Saturday.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I check for shivering and haven't seen any. I don't check on them in the morning until it starts to get light but they do get 1/4 of a 2.2 coffee can of whole corn (for all 3) and alfalfa each evening. The feeder usually has some leaves left on the bottom. They also get 1/4 can of BOSS covered with 1 tbsp of corn oil and AC in the morning. I also tossed a nasty old jackpine into the pen for them to nibble on.

Yesterday the pickiest one found a few single leaves to eat so they may get the idea but in this cold I still worry about the boys.

We're getting heavy snow again today.


----------



## AnnaS (Nov 29, 2003)

fishhead said:


> I also tossed a nasty old jackpine into the pen for them to nibble on.


Oh oh, now you did it! My does ignore alfalfa if they can debark a jackpine. I had a live one fall over in the July (?) windstorm and they reduced it to a bare log in days. And they all got semi-permanent pine pitch mustaches!


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Mine haven't debarked any of the jacks that I've thrown to them but they do make short work of all the needles and tips. They're so pitchy I had to handle them. The goats don't seem to like white pine as much but they will eat Norway pine almost as fast. Funny you should mention the dirty faces. I saw the black spots on mine one day and immediately thought of some kind of rare disease before I thought of pine pitch.

Tonight when I got home the hay in the feeder was gone so unless they hid it somewhere they must be eating it. That's good news because I'm down to 5 bales of alfalfa already.


----------



## hollym (Feb 18, 2005)

Mine weren't accustomed to hay at first. They had been on a big pasture, which I don't have. I just kept it available and I notice that they are eating the entire feeder full (small) now that it's gotten colder here. They are still getting their beet pulp and grain morning and evening, but are cleaning up the hay in between. Unless your hay is truly awful, I think they might eat it once they get used to the idea? 

hollym


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

They did eat most of it yesterday and I filled the feeder with it again this morning so I think it's going to be okay from now on. If the temp is below zero I'll make sure they get plenty of alfalfa because I'm assuming it produces more heat due to the higher nitrogen level just like a compost pile.

If this stresses me out I don't think I could handle kidding. I would end up in a sleeping bag out in the shelter with them.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I'm looking forward to the days when the dikes look like this again. The grass seems to just explode in the spring.


----------



## Scrounger (Jan 6, 2007)

It's been my experience that MY goats (yours may vary) WILL eat the "trash". I've only fed them ONE bale of alfalfa EVER - and only because it was left when I got rid of the rabbits I was rescuing. They LOVE the stuff cows won't eat. Before I was set up to bale my own hay, I would get the trashiest, weediest, hay that no one else wanted. I got it all for free, so that was even better!
The way I figured, I would get them used to something that was on my farm or close to it. Since I have no alfalfa, they don't get it (I do supplement with some pellets). 

Now, they eat what is given them. They love the hay I have (raised here) - it's fine stemmed native prairie hay. There are a few wild flowers and a weed or two, but 98% grass. It's what they eat in the summer, so they get it in winter. 
During summer, they are pastured on the same, but there are weeds in the pasture that aren't in the hay mow. I also have lots of cedar trees for them to clib and chew on (they LOVE them). A good sized goat can strip a 10' tall cedar in short order (except for the very top). I have a BUNCH of cedar trees out there that only have needles on the very top. I also have photos of a goat IN the tree eating. 
It has also been my experience (helping others with their herds) - when you DO feed alfalfa, don't feed a lot and make sure they clean it up before adding more. If they train you to clean out the bunk when they have eaten just the leaves, then that's all they will eat. 
Goats WILL eat weeds, and they WILL eat grass.

It's all in how they train you.....

EXCELLENT photo, Fishhead


----------



## moonspinner (Jul 2, 2002)

My experience with feed changes in goats is that they will eventually eat the new stuff. They won't go hungry.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Well I thought they had decided that I wasn't trying to poison them with grass hay but I was wrong. They've been eating it during the day okay since early last week but late this morning I went out and they were all shivering and it didn't look like they had touched the grass hay at all. I took them for a walk and made them run a bit but they were still shivering so I put them back in the pen and yanked the grass hay out and replaced it with alfalfa. They tore into it and when I checked on them a half hour later they were all bloated like basketballs except the thin one and weren't shivering.

I guess I'll have to save the grass hay for days when it's supposed to get 20 above or more.


----------



## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

*Good* grass hay, goats will eat. But moving them from alfalfa to grass hay is difficult because they are like small children.....STUBBORN!!
My goats *only* get grass hay...and lots of it. The milkers and kids get alfalfa pellets. But since mine are used to grass hay, they love it and do very well on it. Its all in how they train you is exactly right. I love to feed Brome hay.
That said, I do think you'd better try to switch them over in warmer weather.....like you discovered.  
And of course, even goats who are accustomed to eating grass hay will decline if its not up to their quality standards.


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Mine won't touch any kind of hay yet. There's still a bit of browse left and they are covering every inch of the fence lines digging out any leaves they find. I put hay in every night, but so far they just sleep in it instead of eating it. Maybe I spoiled them by giving them all grain? I normally only give grain to the milkers when they're on the stand, but this week I started giving grain to all of them.


----------



## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

My goats do quite well on grass hay. Well, it has some alfalfa in it but not really enough to make it worthwhile calling it a mix. 

I give alfalfa pellets to my lactating does in the stand. Other than that, they get grass hay. My young, my bucks, my non preggo, and my non lactating does get no alfalfa or grain, ever. Makes goats quite affordable to maintain/raise.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

What I don't understand is that they have been eating grass hay during the day for almost a week and then stopped. It's the same hay.

I'll just hold onto it until the weather warms up enough that they won't get chilled if they don't eat it right away.


----------



## moonspinner (Jul 2, 2002)

Maybe it had more to do with them shivering than the hay itself. Once you took them out for a run and they warmed up, then they felt better to eat. Otherwise I can't figure why they would eat the grass stuff for a week and then not. But of course if you were getting prime rib and then had hamburger tossed at you, what would you take?
If it were me I would not do the grass in morning and alfalfa in evening. I would start by mixing the two hays and then gradually eliminate more and more of the alfalfa.


----------



## BethW (May 3, 2007)

Scrounger said:


> I also have photos of a goat IN the tree eating.


You know you need to post these pictures, right?


----------

