# Free choice alfalfa pellets?



## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

Just wondering if anyone feeds alfalfa pellets free choice? And how that works for them? I'd wonder if mine would eat themselves sick...?


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## ninabeast (Feb 14, 2013)

I do, along with hay and kelp. Grain and BOSS twice a day. It's apparently quite common to give to breeding/lactating does instead of hay in the winter. Not for bucks!


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

Do they go thru a ton of it?


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

We did, we seemed to go through a lot! But, they don't waste any like they do with hay. My parents had my switch back to hay because they were wondering how cost effective it was with the pellets, but the goats waste sooo much hay it probably ended up about the same. Plus, there's no clean up of hay.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Why no alfalfa pellets for bucks? My vet recommends it! We feed it in combination with grass hay. Grass hay typically has about 1:1 Ca ratio so the higher calcium in a ration of alfalfa pellets helps balance it out to closer to 2:1

But I guess if you free choiced the pellets then that balance may not be true - the assumption above is that they eat more grass hay then alfalfa. If they ate more pellets they ration would be higher on the Ca side so bad either way.

Anyhow, this is a good little discussion about it: http://http://adkgoats.blogspot.com/2013/02/calcium-phosphorus-ratio-why-alfalfa-is.html


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I apologize for high-jacking the original thread! I have never fed alfalfa pellets free choice - the potential price tag of that scares me! But that definitely makes sense that there would be much less waste. I wonder if my goats would eat any hay at all if I worked them up to that...


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I don't do free choice either...I think they'd eat me out of house and home for sure :lol:


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## ninabeast (Feb 14, 2013)

My understanding is that bucks do not need the high protein, and that it can be dangerous for them. I'm sure it's fine in limited consumption. It's true, they don't waste the pellets, and, this time of year, when the nutritional value of hay can be degraded due to time, I like that they have access.

Warning: heavy alfalfa consumption will give them pumpkin-orange pee! Scared the you-know-what out of me the first time.


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

I was wondering that too........ Instead of free choice alfalfa hay? 


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

ninabeast said:


> I do, along with hay and kelp. Grain and BOSS twice a day. It's apparently quite common to give to breeding/lactating does instead of hay in the winter. Not for bucks!


Yes for bucks! Alfalfa pellets balances out the CA/PH ratio. I give my bucks alfalfa pellets and it helps them a lot!

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## ninabeast (Feb 14, 2013)

fishin816 said:


> Yes for bucks! Alfalfa pellets balances out the CA/PH ratio. I give my bucks alfalfa pellets and it helps them a lot!
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Goat Forum


Huh. Wonder where I got that? Will have to go back and reread...


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

ninabeast said:


> My understanding is that bucks do not need the high protein, and that it can be dangerous for them. I'm sure it's fine in limited consumption. It's true, they don't waste the pellets, and, this time of year, when the nutritional value of hay can be degraded due to time, I like that they have access.
> 
> Warning: heavy alfalfa consumption will give them pumpkin-orange pee! Scared the you-know-what out of me the first time.


Protein IS NOT what hurts bucks. It is the unbalanced calcium/phosphorus ratio....... In a lot of cases, they is WAY to much PH and not enough CA. Alfalfa balances out the ratio. Really helps them! I will give my bucks alfalfa pellets as their "grain" when I cut them off feed.

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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

I feed free choice alfalfa pellets. Two goats go through a 40# bag a week. They've been doing very well on it, staying conditioned and still growing a bit even though it's cold. What I like is that there is no waste, unlike hay. I still feed hay as well, but a limited amount.


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## fishin816 (Mar 4, 2011)

Emzi00 said:


> I feed free choice alfalfa pellets. Two goats go through a 40# bag a week. They've been doing very well on it, staying conditioned and still growing a bit even though it's cold. What I like is that there is no waste, unlike hay. I still feed hay as well, but a limited amount.


Is it cost effective?

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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

We were going through SO much, my parents weren't thinking so but they didn't add up the costs either.


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## crownofjules (Dec 31, 2013)

I couldn't afford to free-choice pellets... my 7 pygmy/mini breeds would eat it like candy! I buy two 80# bags of it a month at the cost of $50/mo. Not counting the bermuda grass they get on a limited basis each day... I kind of make them clean their mess after their breakfast serving... they pick the ground clear ;-) but I serve them outside of their lounge areas so they aren't walking on it all day (or pottying). I'd love to be able to afford free choice for even the grass, but the system we have works... its a bit tedious, but they are in healthy condition/weight and I can afford to feed them all :2cents:


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

fishin816 said:


> Is it cost effective?


My hay costs me .11 per pound (85.00/800 lbs). Standlee bagged alfalfa pellets cost me .349 per pound (13.99/40 lbs/bag), to buy them here in bulk they are .25 per pound ($500.00/2000 lbs). Supplemental feed - especially if it is bagged - is never cost effective, but sometimes you don't have a choice.


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

fishin816 said:


> Is it cost effective?
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Goat Forum


Well, to get alfalfa hay around here its like $6 or more for a 40 lb bale. I'd say it about evens out if you take into account how they waste of the hay. It's not cheap though, that's for sure. But, a good quality grass hay _is way cheaper._ That one I have done the math on. Protein costs a lot, and that's why I'm using it.


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## LGFarm (May 30, 2013)

We do feed alfalfa pellets free choice. Free choice, our guys consume roughly 1 lb per head, so roughly 35 cents per day for alfalfa. My does are giving me roughly 1 quart per head per day, but if I was to buy raw goat's milk, it would be roughly $6+ per gallon, so that 35 cents per quart doesn't look too bad to me. 

And, yes, they do self limit, it might take them a few days to get there, but it gets old and unexciting too.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I feed it with their grain... I'm afraid to feed it free choice, they would really eat me out of house and home LOL... My boys bucks & wethers get it with their grain through the winter along with hay and loose minerals. I haven't had a problem;-)


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## Hobbyfarmer (Sep 7, 2011)

We did the first winter we had goats. Overall it was more expensive but not significantly so. We have a Nubian/Saanen that milks heavy and is difficult to keep weight on. When we used pellets she looked great. I'm considering going back to them to keep weight on her.


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## uglywon (Dec 21, 2012)

I like the idea of supplementing free choice hay with alfalfa pellets. But, when I attempted to slowly mix the alfalfa pellets into their sweet feed they ate around it. I found I was just feeding the squirrels. I still have 150 pounds in my garage. I'll try to introduce again in the Spring when the browse is plentiful and I begin reducing the amount of sweet feed.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

The cost is relative to your area. Here I pay $18.99 for 80 lb. bales of alfalfa or $20.98 for 80 lbs. of pellets. Plus the pellets are guaranteed on their protein amount, with no waste, it's cheaper by far for me to buy the pellets.


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## Cloudbuster (Mar 12, 2014)

I don't free choice the alfalfa pellets, but I do give them as a supplement, along with roasted soybeans, as the other poster mentioned above, to increase CAH ratios, and as added protein for does, kids and growing market whethers.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I have been adding more and more alfalfa pellets to my goats diet and I have reached a point where they will walk away and leave some pellets. Ive separated the pregnant girls and have found some days they are ravenous and other days they leave some in their feed tray. The other girls will leave some now and come back later to finish it. And since there is not as much competition for it , theres no reason to inhale all of it  I haven't seen one squirrel com down to eat any of the goats food . Maybe because we have plenty of trees dropping food for them throughout the fall they have enough in their pantries , lol.
I will always have hay for them , but i find they don't waste nearly as much because they aren't picking through it and dropping what they don't want on the ground. Im down to half the amount of hay I was using previously. Once i clean the paddocks up for the Spring , I will be able to judge better how much waste is on the ground now then when I gave them hay free choice and alfalfa pellets with their grain.
I think once you reach that happy medium with the pellets , it will become cost effective and a whole lot less mess. Wasted food is a shame and I don't like to see it. And , less on the manure pile is always a plus in my book. When you think of it, more then half of the pile is hay and straw. At least it is here.


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## craftEcowgirl (Oct 4, 2013)

If not feeding free choice alfalfa pellets, how much should I feed twice daily to two goats? One Nigerian (wether) one Lamancha (doe)? 2 months old. Will just alfalfa pellets work along with free choice minerals?

I wont be milking.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

SalteyLove said:


> I apologize for high-jacking the original thread! I have never fed alfalfa pellets free choice - the potential price tag of that scares me! But that definitely makes sense that there would be much less waste. I wonder if my goats would eat any hay at all if I worked them up to that...


I am going to preface my response with the statement that I do NOT free choice feed ANYTHING except mineral and water. Having said that, I think once the novelty of it wears off, they will eat their hay. My girls love their alfalfa pellets, but I've noticed that - even with feeding only a pound or two per doe - after a few days to a week they will leave their pellets and go back to the hay rack. After eating hay for a while, they start wandering back to what is left of the alfalfa pellets.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

craftEcowgirl said:


> Will just alfalfa pellets work along with free choice minerals?
> 
> I wont be milking.


No, goats have to have long stemmed forage - either hay, pasture, weeds, or browse - to keep their rumens working and healthy. I have, however, substituted 2 pounds of alfalfa pellets for 2 pounds of hay when we were running out of hay with very good results. Just start them slow and build up.


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