These days you got to save money wherever you can. And goats are great at wasting hay. These are some ways we go about saving on hay costs with our own goats.
Keep Hay Off The Ground
Goats instinctually don’t want to eat hay that’s on the ground as it tends to get soiled. So, coming up with ways to keep it off the ground will save you money.
Modify Hay Feeder
Many hay feeders have too large of holes or slats. When there are large spaces, goats rip out large mouthfuls of hay and drop most of it on the ground. We solved this with our feeders by inserting heavy duty fencing with 2″ by 4″ holes, so they have to work at the hay more. If it’s too tough to get, you can cut the holes a little bigger. I cut and bend pieces inward so there’s no sharp edges to scrape the goats noses.
This works similarly to the above suggestion in that they have to work at pulling the hay out of the holes of the net. I only have used hay nets when traveling. Otherwise, I avoid them as goats are good at getting into trouble with such items like getting a foot or horn stuck in them.
Only Feed What They’ll Eat In A Day
Feeding your goats what they eat in a day forces them to pick up the scraps off the ground. Our goats get fed once each morning, if they run out from the feeder, they scrounge around the feeder and trough portion for the rest of the scraps.
Feed Hay Pellets
Not to be mistaken for grain pellets, but pellets made from grass hay, alfalfa hay, or both. Pellets can be fed in a raised bin. The goats eat what they want, and there is much less waste. It’s important to not feed pellets only. Goats need the roughage of loose hay in their diet. But the addition of pellets helps ease the waste of hay. Be sure to feed pellets and NOT cubes. Horse cubes are too large and too hard for your goats to eat. They will NOT eat them. Horse pellets are acceptable, and our Nigerian Dwarf goat handle them well. However, there are some companies that offer pellets specifically for goats that are a little smaller, and therefore easier to eat.
Chaffhaye
Like pellets, Chaffehaye can be dished out and fed with little waste left behind. It can be an acquired taste for some goats. What season it is can also affect whether or not your goats will want to eat it. I’ve heard chaffhaye can increase milk production. But I’ve also heard does in milk don’t necessarily like it.
What To Do With The Wasted Hay
Waste is inevitable no matter what you do. Here are a few things you can do to further stretch your dollar . . .
Put It Back In The Feeder
If the hay still looks fresh and hasn’t been soiled. You can try to put the hay back into the feeder to give it a second pass. They generally won’t eat if off the ground if they can help it. But putting it back up in the feeder can fool them into giving a second pass.
Bedding
Hay that is questionable to put back in the feeder but is still relatively clean can be used as bedding. It’s best collected daily. I go through once per day with empty feed bags and collect the dryer wasted hay to later be used either as chicken bedding or store it for winter bedding for the goats.
Mulch/Compost/Core Gardening
Hay waste that’s unsuitable for re-eating or bedding can be used as mulch, compost, or core gardening.
And that’s what we do to try and save money when it comes to feeding the goats hay and utilizing the waste. Hopefully this can help you with saving money with your goats too!
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