# Hay required for two Nigerians



## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Hi everybody. 
I have a friend who is looking into getting two Nigerian Dwarfs. She is in the calculating costs stage of her planning and is picking my brain for help. I'm afraid I'm not much help at all since my farming practices are so different (semi load of round bales style).
Can any of you help us out? How much hay (square bales) and grain would two Nigerians require? She wants to milk them so they'll need a dairy diet. 
Thanks in advance!


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## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

It all depends on how much they weigh. I give kids and non pregnant females 1/2 cup of goat pellets twice a day. It goes up when they are pregnant and more so when they are milking, but never more than about 2 cups twice a day. When I had just two, a long time ago, I would give them 1 flake of hay twice a day and they have pasture most of the day as well. Don't forget the loose minerals.


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## Rise_and_Shine_Ranch (May 16, 2015)

I did pretty much what Sassycat does. Pretty much free choice orchardgrass (no more than one flake a day each). I would go through a square two string bale about every two-three weeks or so with pasture.

I liked to give a flake of alfalfa a day late into pregnancy and into milking. Chaffaye is a good choice as well. I saw boosted production.


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## ShireRidgeFarm (Sep 24, 2015)

My really rough guess would be 20 to 30 square bales a year (based on the 40 to 70 lbs bales we get). I always like to get extra hay, though, in case of a poor hay crop the next year or something like that. I feed hay all winter and supplement if I need to in the summer, and my seven does go through 1 square bale every 2 days during the winter.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Really it totally depends on the property you have, the weather, and the individual goats... My goats get a half acre of land, tons of huge trees included, and we had a mild winter in Arkansas, and I seriously only have gone through five bales since last August. But I feed a pound of grain and a pound of alfalfa pellets a day, and my goats will only eat hay if there's nothing else.


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Thanks to everybody who answered. Very helpful!


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

When I calculate how much hay I need for winter, I go by 2.5 pounds per goat per day for Nigerian Dwarfs. That's for grass hay. How much alfalfa pellets and grain varies greatly depending on the goat.


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