# Wasting hay!



## pitchik (Dec 2, 2011)

We have a routine of feeding at home with our goats.....basically, they get a good size chunk of a square bale of hay every morning, every afternoon they get their pelletes and every evening they get a smaller chunk of hay. On weekends they get vege peels and such from all the cooking we do.

Over 5 years, the hay has built up, like almost 3 1/2 feet high in the pen. This is from the uneaten hay they leave. They eat, nibble, and leave enough that they refuse to eat. Why is this? I have noticed since Darla has arrived, this habit has gotten worse. There is an aweful LOT of uneaten hay in the pen, and they down right refuse to touch it, other then climb on it and poo! :GAAH: 

If I refuse hay to try and make them eat it, they just stand and scream for fresh hay, and scream, and scream louder- Billy will literally get skinny waiting for fresh hay.

In the past we willl burn the unused hay, but it has gotten so thick this past summer I am even afraid to do this for fear of where the pens located (thick of the woods) and we have a no burn ordinance under any circumstance!

Why are they so picky? Because we have made them this way?


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

It is an age old delemna. We have tried multiple things. My husband built a *no-waste* manger. It does catch some of what they drop so I can throw it back in or give it to the rabbits. But all in all they waste a lot.
And yes, I believe they would lie next to perfectly edible food and starve to death.

We have made them this way in that we feed them hay in a manger. They should be eating leaves and needles and other forage/browse. They go from tree to tree and plant to plant and balance their own diet. Few these days are lucky enough to have that much land. So they pick through and try to find the best bits and let the rest fall on the ground where it is no longer food in their minds.


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

I have the same problem! Altho I know that the previous owner of two of my does fed the "perfect" hay, they still wasted alot! All I can do is clean up what they don't eat and throw it over the fence to the horses. They will pick through it and eat what has not been soiled. I have seen my girls eat pretty good sized branches, but give them stalky hay? Won't touch it! Silly goats have our number don't they!


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

in part that is goats in part it may be the hay itself. I find that different hay my goats watt less and eat more. Once one goat steps on it it is then bad to them and they wont touch it so the best is to have a feeder that it is off the ground and hope for less waste.

Oh and I just make a pile out back and turn it and it composts pretty quick.


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## pitchik (Dec 2, 2011)

whew-glad Im not the only one with this problem! Thanks yall-


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Goats are seriously one of the worst hay wasters. I have the same problem...drives me nuts.


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## mommaB (Oct 1, 2009)

> And yes, I believe they would lie next to perfectly edible food and starve to death.


 :ROFL: Soooo true!!! They are finicky little farts!! IDK how they EVER survived in the wild?


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## Bit of Everything (Jan 28, 2011)

If someone could invent a hay feeder where they didn't waste hay they would be millionaires! My girls are terrible at wasting hay as well. Drives my husband nuts as "his cows" don't waste hay like "my goats" I love how they get categorized around here. But the minute the cows get out they are mine!!


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

If you figure out a solution to this problem, please, let us know. I have had goats around for darn near 20 years and haven't figured it out! It is the nature of the beast, I suppose. 

In all seriousness, I have never been able to eliminate waste but I have reduced it by buying the softest, least stemmy, greenest hay I can find. If the hay is bad the type of hay feeder used has not mattered very much in my experience...they just pull the hay they don't want out of even well-designed feeders and spit it out on the ground...or they just leave it in the feeder and flat out refuse to eat it.


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## Charlene (Nov 9, 2011)

this feeder has been a Godsend to me!! my brother-in-law built it for me, following the plans i found here. the only change i would make is that since mine is inside out of the weather, i would have had a solid floor put in. when the goats gets these 2 bales eaten down, i will put a piece of plywood on the bottom so nothing falls through. the only "waste" i have at this point is the hay that falls through to the floor. since it stays dry, i just rake it out and put it back in.



















i am on day 17 with these 2 bales (6 goats) and it looks like i'll have at least another week before i have to put the next 2 bales in. :thumb:


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## pitchik (Dec 2, 2011)

Get this, under all the piled up wasted hay, are grub worms. Not just any grub worms, I am taking about huge Superman GIANT grubs! Of course you got to dig thru the hay and about 5 inches down, but seems the hay environment is perfect for farming goliath grubs!

Now, if I werent such a wussy, Id be digging and selling them as bait .........................


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## polopony (Jun 24, 2011)

My wonderful husband built me a feeder based on the ones on Premier Supplies site. It hasn't totally eliminated waste, but it has sure helped.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

pitchik said:


> Get this, under all the piled up wasted hay, are grub worms.


Our chickens just love scratching around on the floor for those tasty treats. :greengrin:


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## EmmaDipstik (Sep 22, 2011)

I had the same exact problem until we went to buy our grass hay and the guy recommended alfalfa pellets. They are grass hay formed into a pellet. Very useful and there is no waste. Well maybe a pellet or two. You should check them out! They also have cubes and shreds, I like them a lot! (Of course I only have two goats, but still.) Here's the link - http://www.standleehay.com/ViewProduct. ... =sh&id=ahp


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

To save on hay waste, I made feeders using square buckets screwed to the walls, I cut a nose sized hole in the front and each side at the bottom, these hold roughly a 1/4 flake each and I currently have 4 mounted for 5 does, the tops are high enough to prevent my short goats from reaching inside them and pulling it out. I fill these am and pm and use the Standlee alfalfa/oat or alfalfa/timothy hay cubes that I break up into smaller pieces, I have hook over fence type feeders that I will give the 5 does a 2 quart bucket full dispersed between the feeders and the boys each get 2 cup fuls, they still get the roughage from long stemmed hay but also that of the crushed cubes and no waste.


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## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

I use the waste hay as bedding, mixed with their shavings, then i toss it in with the chickens to scratch thru b/c their yard is usually a mudpile, if they have enough, it goes out to the garden as mulch. My chickens (or my son's lizard) would love those grubs - you could probably advertise them on craigslist as a 'you pick' operation for lizard owners and have them rake it out for you at the same time :greengrin: 

I use metal milk crates as hay racks, and put one square bale section in at a time, they usually eat all of one and part of another before the next meal, then i combine the two batches, and fluff up the packed-down stuff, and if I don't give them too much surplus, they waste less.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

My solution is get a cow! Every morning and night I grab up the hay under the feeder the goats have wasted along with the stems left in the feeder they've picked through and I toss it all over the fence into the cow's feeder. Then I give fresh hay to the goats. My Jersey cross Weezy aint so picky so everyone is happy. Then anything Weezy wastes which is little I fork out for bedding for the ducks and feeder pigs and they make mud out of it. The hay goes through quite a cycle at our place and my wife thinks Im crazy for spending so much time moving the same hay from pen to pen but it sure reduces waste due to picky goats


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

^That is brilliant! I need to get a cow! 
M.


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## Stardance (Dec 31, 2011)

I have 2 girls and they use to waste half there hay or more. I searched for some idea's and ended up making this.










It could probably be better but they waste alot less hay with this, maybe a shovel or 2 full where as I was getting half a wheel barrow full or more some days. I keep it in the runin part of there shelter before they enter the barn and it stay's nice and dry. This also stopped the fighting over the hanging one's I use to have. I had 2 up one for each girl but Bambi decied they where both her's, lol. With this Bambi get's the front and Sweety (one in picture) gets the side and they happily eat together now.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

Hi stardance... great feeder. Are those spindles made out of broomsticks? Sweety sure looks aptly named!


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## Stardance (Dec 31, 2011)

Thank you, she is a sweet heart, when she wants to be, lol. Those are actully part of a old metal bunk bed my sister's kids out grew. We took the bottom supports and cut them to the size we wanted and set them in the wood so no sharp edges. Sweety has a habit of chewing on wood, with the metal bar's there's no chewing this apart. lol.


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Yes that used to be a BIG problem for me as well.
I put in about 3 large flakes in the feeder and about 1-2 flakes went on the ground.
I have since put some trellis wire up that has openings of 2.5X3 with a few bigger.
They don't waste nearly as much hay. Some wastage is good in my case as it is a cement floor and gets cold without all that bedding.
I before was using 1-1.25 bales a day. I am now using 1 bale every 36-48 hrs.
The chickens come in and "comb" it out everyday, eating all the tasties in there.

I am thinking of making a hay feeder out of a plastic 55 gallon drum.
It would have an open top with a bunch of 3 inch holes in it.
I would have it on a platform with 4 blocks of wood on each side of the platform so they can put their feet up their to reach the hay....hard to describe but I am trying to think of a way it would work.


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