Hay feeder for goats1/21/2024 ![]() If it is so Simple, Why Doesn’t Everyone Test?īarriers to testing range from costs to lack of availability of analysts or labs. It is a very simple process for the farmer or hay consumer. Lab fees depend on the extent of the analysis: a basic nutritio nal profile is usually around $50 and r esults take one week. Chips are put into the bag and sent to a lab. Hay borers are available online for $150. If you do not have an analyst in your area, the tools required for sampling are a hay borer and a sealable plastic bag. The chips from the core sample represent a wider geographic area and give the average of the crop on the field. Soil quality and growing conditions can vary within the same field. Testing only a handful, a flake, or bale is not representative of the hay crop. Ideally, hay is tested by core samples taken from multiple bales in the stack or field. Photo Credit Karen Kopf How is Hay Tested? Farmers that test will mention test results in their ads. Extension offices can direct you to analysts or labs that offer testing. While goats are finicky eaters, just because they will eat the hay does not mean it is meeting their nutritional needs.ĭetermining the nutritional value of hay for goats requires chemical analysis. Most farmers will allow you to purchase a sample bale before committing to tonnage. In alfalfa, avoid blister beetles which produce cantharidin, toxic to people and animals.īeyond visual analysis is palatability. Look for toxic and nuisance weeds such as foxtail, which can cause mechanical injury. Hay harvested from roadsides and ditches is often contaminated with litter that can cause obstruction when ingested by the goat. Dirt not only increases the weight of the bale, and your cost, but contributes to respiratory issues when breathed as dust. Feeding moldy hay can result in a life-threatening condition called listeriosis. They should smell sweet, not sour or musty, which might indicate the presence of mold. Bales should flake easily and not stick together. Good hay should bend easily if it snaps, it has high fiber and low digestibility. If hay is rained on and redried or overcured, it will be yellow or brown throughout. Always sample from the inside of the bale. Sun can also bleach the exterior of bales, turning them yellow. In alfalfa fields, the use of molybdenum can alter the color, making the hay greener. ![]() While we look for bright green hay, color can be deceiving. Hay should have a high leaf to stem ratio. Maturity can be determined by stage of flower or seed head development. To visually analyze hay for goats, it is best to break a bale open. There are two types of analysis - visual and chemical. How can You be Sure That the Hay You Buy is a Quality Hay for Goats? Often the exterior of bales will bleach from sun exposure, but the interior of the bale shows good color. Late season cuttings have the highest leaf to stem ratio. In areas with longer growing seasons, a third cutting or even higher may be available. It has less weeds, is finer-stemmed, fertilized, and grown during the optimal growing season. Second cutting is generally the preferred hay for goats. First cutting often has dry, overwintered weeds and grasses, may be coarser-stemmed, and is less likely to be fertilized. Hay is sold as first, second, or third cutting. Cereal hay with seed heads must be fed with care to avoid bloat and urinary calculi. If not properly harvested, there is a risk of nitrate poisoning. The leaves of grasses change as the plant matures, making grass hays more digestible when the plant is fine-stemmed and immature.Ĭereal hay can either be harvested before the grain is produced or after the seed head is mature. Grass hay, such as timothy, orchard, brome, and bluegrass, is a suitable maintenance hay for goats. Legumes can have as much as twice the protein and three times the calcium of grass hays, so they are the preferred hay for goat kids and lactating does. The leaf-to-stem ratio is the most important criteria. The stems become courser and more fibrous, so the values are highest when the plant is young. ![]() Legume hay typically has the highest digestible energy, as the leaves do not change as the plant grows. There are three types of hay: legume, grass, and cereal.Ĭommon varieties of legume hay for goats are alfalfa, clover, lespedeza, and birdsfoot trefoil.
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