# Any ideas on how to get goats to finish their hay?



## TianaRose (Mar 11, 2015)

So I have a wonderful feeder that hardly waste any hay, however, that does not stop the goats from wasting it. They just refuse to eat it. I have both grass and alfalfa bales. What I do is put some grass on the bottom and a flake of alfalfa on top. Then I rotate. Then the hay they are not eating slowly gets moved to the left as the new hay gets added to the right. Keep rotating, they must be eating some of it or the feeder would overflow. At the end of the week I take the hay that is left in the feeder (about 2 flakes) and toss the whole thing on the ground (after cleaning the area). Probably not the best place but they like to spread it out and pick through it. They eat about half of it and I end up throwing the rest away and start the whole silly thing over again for a new week. I tried just rotating it and not giving them more and the silly things still refused to eat it, just started getting skinny. :GAAH: Any ideas? Does anyone have anything that works for them?


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## Tapestry (Feb 5, 2015)

No suggestions. My goats do the same. They absolutely insist on wasting hay. I just assumed it was a goat thing, like the doe code.


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## GoatieGranny (Jul 26, 2013)

Nope, it's just a goat thing. They are browsers, so they pick the best and leave the rest. :think: If you get some rabbits, they will eat the leftovers.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Get a cow??

Haha sorry, not super helpful. It sounds Iike you are really reducing waste as much as possible. There will way be a portion they don't eat. How often do you add new hay to the feeder - once a day?


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## Summersun (Apr 24, 2014)

My goats must be odd because they clean everything up. But then again I cannot afford to free feed. They get only what they need to stay a decent weight, not overweight. So I feed 6 flakes of alfalfa a day for 5 pygmies, 1 mini nubian, 1 nubian and 1 saanen. And it's gone within a couple hours.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Wow 5 flakes a day??!! I feed 2-3 for 22 goats and 6 sheep. Mine have some forage and a bit of grain but not that much. Maybe flake size is different?


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I meant 6 flakes wow


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

Maybe we should go by pounds, I know mine get more than 3 flakes and I only have 10 goats. I keep one or two boers around, they will eventually eat what the others refuse, just my way of reducing waste.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

I feed 1 flake per 3 adult goats or 5 young goats because that is all they eat over night, with left over! and during the day they are on grass. The stuff they leave is fed to one of my non picky horses. My wastage from the goats ends up being about 1/2 a biscuit from all the pens (4 different pens) and the horse eats that as it's just because it's a little stalky that they don't like it.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

It also depends on whether or not your goats get grass and brush. Mine do not, so I feed more hay than some other folks... Although my hubby built me a new feeder and we've not been going through the flakes as fast. 

I would have no idea how much our bales or flakes weigh. The farmer I buy from said someone asked him once and he just laughed. I can throw a bale by myself, so I'm guessing a bale which can have 6-8 flakes in it might weigh about 25 pounds? Maybe a wee bit more?

I know that when our family drove across country (Maine to Cali) a couple of years ago, I started taking pictures of all the different styles and shapes of hay and how they were stacked. It was fascinating to see how differently hay is baled from state to state and region to region!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I agree feed less. I don't put up with waist so I feed only what they will finish by the next feeding time ( some pens get hay twice a day some once) all my new goats try and pull the 'i don't eat stems or this or that' and I simply tell them they are.going to stave. Haven't had one yet to die of starving but they all learn to eat what I give them.


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## TianaRose (Mar 11, 2015)

I can try cutting back. Feeding them in the morning and trying to make it just enough so by evening they have ran out. The bales are 80-90 pound bales. I have gone through two bales (one of grass and one of alfalfa) in five weeks. They are long rectangle not the large square. Not sure how much each flake weighs. I have two adult lamancha and one mini lamancha 9 week old.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Yeah bales are very different then! I go through two 100#+ bales a week. But only 2 flakes a day. Lol


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## Hughie (Mar 4, 2015)

I agree with everyone who said feed less. I believe we have a tendency to feed with our hearts and not our heads. Goats being goats, the more they have to choose from the more finicky an eater they become.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Our bales up here are about 35 pounds on an avergae, sometimes you can get them 45 pounds.

I feed 3 times a day, just what they will clean up in an hours time. Theys till waste a lot, which i rake up and put in the horse area for them to pick through. They usually eat most of it.

I was thinking about getting a sheep to clean up after my goats!


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## Tapestry (Feb 5, 2015)

My sheep waste just as much hay as my goats.


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## AncientBlue (Dec 21, 2014)

My goats seem to prefer the browse. Sabbie will actually attempt to fight with the hay in her feeder. It's hilarious to watch. I provide hay and they let it set there until I have to use it for bedding or garden cover.


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