# Hay Wasting



## MissyParkerton (Nov 24, 2012)

I know it is normal for goats to waste hay. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on minimizing it? Thanks!


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

:ROFL:
I used to put a large feed tub under their hay rack to catch the droppings.
I would see them pick from that once the bulk of it was gone.
It doesnt salvage all of it , but I know I throw out less this way.
I will use it for bedding from time to time too. I hate to waste such good hay just because it hit the floor. But now since they got used to picking at the left overs , I have seen them pick up hay that fell out of the racks too.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Oh just make sure they cant step in it , because once they step on the hay , they just wont eat it.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

I love this hay feeder! Fallout waste is nil. The only problem is if you have chickens, they walk and poop on the hay. Small goat kids can also enter the hay rack, but that can actually be a plus - they can't get butted away! I pile the hay up toward the front, so the kids can stand in the back and eat.


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## PiccoloGoat (Sep 10, 2008)

This is probably a bit silly coming from someone who's never had goats but yesterday I saw a laundry basket(the kind that are plastic and have all the little holes) and thought it would be good somehow suspended at head height. Because that way they can only pull out little bits at a time. 
Just a thought :thumbup:


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

PiccoloGoat said:


> This is probably a bit silly coming from someone who's never had goats but yesterday I saw a laundry basket(the kind that are plastic and have all the little holes) and thought it would be good somehow suspended at head height. Because that way they can only pull out little bits at a time.
> Just a thought :thumbup:


I have seen pics on line of people using them. 
The only problem is kids that like to jump, haha.
I have a huge plastic tote nailed to the wall on it's side facing the stall, and had a couple of those metal feed trough dividers over the front, where I can get a flake of hay in it, and they can stick their head in, or pull some hay through the dividers, and I notice a lot less waste. It's hideous lol but it works great...

I did have some black netting but they tore it up <this was only going to be temporary!>. That was loose hay from a hay roll. When I stick a flake from a bale in there, it isn't so 'messy' looking and again waste is minimal. 









If you have hornless goats, maybe something they can stick their head into and eat, like that fence idea, but I'd probably make it off the ground/inside because of weather.


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## AdamsAcres (Dec 3, 2012)




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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I've been happy with this one.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I use square 5 gallon buckets screwed to the walls with 4-5 inch holes cut towards the bottom and attached so those holes are at nose height, I fill from the top and goats eat from the bottom.


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## PiccoloGoat (Sep 10, 2008)

That's similar to what I was suggesting liz, does it work well?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Works very well... of course though I HAVE to have one for each goat plus an extra because of a bully who thinks all food belongs to her!


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## MissyParkerton (Nov 24, 2012)

Wow, these are all great suggestions! Thanks everyone!


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## GoatsLive (Jul 1, 2012)

I use a small galvanized bucket for hay. I try not to over fill it, but keep hay available all the time. The bucket rests on a stand that locks it into position so they can't knock it over. I seem to have far less waste since I went to this configuration.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I love all the ideas shown here !!!
Wonderful thread !!


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

We can be so creative. My spacing is small enough they can stick their nose in and pull out a mouth full, and the extra drops on the little shelf type extension. I worry too much about ones they can put their head all the way through. That's mainly because I have one boer doe who is very much a bully, even though there is plenty of space (using a two sided feeder at that) she wants what they have. I also have a ND doe who is the same way.


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## pdpo222 (Jun 26, 2011)

I found I had a lot of wasted hay with first cutting. I switched to second cutting and it cut way down on the waste. The wasted came from them digging through it looking for what they thought was the good stuff. Second cutting they don't do that and the only waste i get is what falls out of their hay racks when they pull out mouthfuls. It costs more but since i have cut down on waste, it's all about the same. plus saves me on clean upl


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## GoatsLive (Jul 1, 2012)

pdpo222 said:


> I found I had a lot of wasted hay with first cutting. I switched to second cutting and it cut way down on the waste. The wasted came from them digging through it looking for what they thought was the good stuff. Second cutting they don't do that and the only waste i get is what falls out of their hay racks when they pull out mouthfuls. It costs more but since i have cut down on waste, it's all about the same. plus saves me on clean upl


Boy are my girls guilty of that! The hay at the bottom of the bucket always seems to taste better than that at the top for some reason


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Yeah , the hay waste I see on the ground makes me sick !!
It's waste and I hate to see it thrown away. 
I was trying to think of a animal that wouldn't mind cleaning up spilt hay from my goats......any ideas ?


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

I made a hay feeder of sorts by putting pallets outside the cattle panel fence, setting milk crates upside down on either end and setting boards on top of them in between the panels and the pallets. The goats put their heads through and eat the hay. This cuts down some, but they still waste a lot. I go out with a fork and pick all the dropped hay 2-3 times a day and feed it to the horses or use it as bedding for the chickens.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Trickyroo, I've heard that horses will eat spilled hay, but I have no experience with that. Rabbits would probably eat it, if it hadn't gotten very dirty.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

*Buy a cow*

My advice is buy a cow. Everything my girls throw on the ground beneath the feeder each day I gather up with my hands and throw over the fence into the cow feeder. They are a lot less picky, they graze down your pasture much better than goats so you dont have to mow and in a year or two... great steaks on the grill!


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

I use one similar to this for my boers, they do waste some but most that gets dropped falls into the bottom trough and they pick through and eat most of it with their grain.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

milkmaid said:


> Trickyroo, I've heard that horses will eat spilled hay, but I have no experience with that. Rabbits would probably eat it, if it hadn't gotten very dirty.


Thank you for the suggestions Milkmaid


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## Jack_Coleman (Nov 30, 2012)

KymberLeeAnn, where did you purchase this feeder?


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

jaycee said:


> My advice is buy a cow. Everything my girls throw on the ground beneath the feeder each day I gather up with my hands and throw over the fence into the cow feeder. They are a lot less picky, they graze down your pasture much better than goats so you dont have to mow and in a year or two... great steaks on the grill!


Jaycee , good idea as well. I was thinking of o e of those mini cows , I forgot the breed name, lolol. I dont think we would eat her though


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

KymberLeAnn said:


> I use one similar to this for my boers, they do waste some but most that gets dropped falls into the bottom trough and they pick through and eat most of it with their grain.


This is very similar to the setup I have for my girls.
At first ( stupid mistake , but eh , I learned , lol ) paint mixing plastic tubs to catch the spilt hay . Replaced those once I found them cracked because Jenni thought it was a great place to sleep . I then used the heavy feeding tubs .
Works well, but I still would love to find a magic cute to hay waste , lolol.
I know I'm asking for way too much this year , lolol.
KymberLeeAnn,did you make yours ?


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

I'm not exactly sure where we got it, it's been around our house for quite a few years but my guess is that we got it from Wilco, the farm store here.
I've seen people make similar ones from wood.


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## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

In my limited experience, the type of feeders that I think waste the least amount of hay are feeders where the goats have to 1) stick their head THROUGH a panel or something, and 2) where the hay is already resting on a flat solid surface...not one like a V where the hay falls down and is caught. I don't have a pic, but I made a bunk type feeder, and I used 2X2's around the whole thing spaced maybe 5-6 inches apart so they have to stick their heads through to get to the hay and they can't jump into it, which we all know is not a good thing. I had to screw on some horizontal boards so they couldn't squeeze into the feeder. It;s not the simplest feeder, but it has worked great so far.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

We had thought about a feeder like that for my does, but it gets a bit difficult when you have horned animals with all different sizes


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

Trickyroo said:


> Jaycee , good idea as well. I was thinking of o e of those mini cows , I forgot the breed name, lolol. I dont think we would eat her though


Theres mini jerseys... only get about 3 1/2 feet tall... and you can milk em too... but oh my they are expensive!


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Anybody have a picture of a mini jersey ?
Does anybody have one ?


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)




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## Ninja Goats (Sep 6, 2011)

I have a slow feed hay net strung like a basket ball hoop around a plastic ring from a 55 gallon barrel. I can toss the hay in there and they can only get their noses thru the net to get the hay. There's still a pile of hay under it so I just don't give them more till they at least make a dent in the pile. I also bed with the hay so some on the ground is ok.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)




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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

My dad wants a mini jersey... I don't want to keep it with my goats (The only place we would have for one unless we move) So I don't want one right now.. They sure are cute though!


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks GTAllen 
Jacee , thank you as well  Is this one yours ?
Such beautiful animals ! I love the all brown ones.
My Mom grew up on a dairy farm and she had a full size Jersey named Brownie of course  She said she was a real sweetheart and new her name and reacted to my Mom like she was a dog , lolol.

Even the small ones look tremendous to me , Im not used to seeing cows up close and when I do I am in awe of them and I must admit a bit frightened , lololol.

My husband looked at GTAllen's link and he is now in love with them , lolol.
Awesome , I created a monster....God help me if one shows up in the back field , lolol. What can I say except , "thanks Bob" 
Oh what did I dooooooooo !!!!!!!


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

Newp sorry thats not mine. I have a Jersey/Angus cross who Ill be milking when she calves in March and a little Holstein heifer who unfortunately I'm beginning to suspect may be a freemartin I would love to get started with those mini-jerseys because I think theres a growing market for family cows amongst people without really enough acreage for full sized cows. Of course, we all know that the answer to that dilemma is dairy goats and that their milk is delicious. Unfortunately I run into a lot of folks who have goat phobias, seem to think they are dirty or nasty animals or that the milk will taste gamey or something. We all here know thats baloney, goats are the sweetest animals ever and the milk is sweet and delicious if handled correctly. Still, I think due to people's stubbornness but increasing desire to become more self sufficient, the market is there for tiny milk cows. But the minis I've seen advertised run about double the price of their full sized cousins...


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Jaycee , if you dont mind me asking , how much is a Mini Jersey ?
Just curious to see if it is possible or just a fleeting dream , lolol.
For me to see the hay that is wasted by my goaties go to feed another animal is enough to make me happy and of course my husband would be thrilled to have one anyways , lolol


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