I know it's been asked a thousand times and that there is no precise answer for every animal, but I'm looking at getting 2 LaManchas for milking and am trying to figure out how much straw and hay storage to build into the goat barn. I'd like to keep at least 3 or 4 months worth on hand if possible, so on average how much hay and straw will those 2 goats go through in a month. Thanks
as far as space goes plan on the bigger the better!!! you willnever have too much storage space in the barn.. alot of it comes down to how big and what quality your bales of hay are. If they are getting any pasture/browse at all and/or grain I would figure at least 2 flakes of hay per day per goat.. give or take.. again goats waste a ton of hay so I error on side of caution and give more plus mine have pasture but will not eat plain grass. I also try to stock up on as much hay as possible in case of shortages/higher prices or when I get an excellent crop.
in an effort to be as generic here as possible ... 2 large biscuits or 2kg of hay per goat per day half a small square bale of straw per stall per week
I recently got a Dairy Goat myself & was new to the whole hay & straw thing. (we had pygmys before a few yrs ago). Currently we have 3 small bottle baby kids (nearly weaned ) & my Large Saanen Doe in milk...... for now till we find another doe we like. & I have a double horse sized stall for my Doe (don't know off hand exactly the measurements, but Large). & I put originally 2 flakes of straw shaken & skattered around the wooden planked floor, & I twice daily (before milkings) clean any poo if any from the stall, & rescatter the straw around evenly. & I only have to add 1/2 a straw flake 2x week to her stall floor. = a total of 1 straw flake to her stall a week, which isn't bad cuz I pitch out straw in stall cleaning. ------But I also made a hay bag from an old pair of denim jeans that were too big, so it keeps her from wasting alfalfa hay....& it hangs on her back stall wall, so if she happens to drop any while eating...it does double duty as floor cover with the straw. Hay bags online cost $20.00+ & they're thin, this one is denim so it's tough so when she wants to take a nip of it it doesn't hurt it a bit. & it keeps the hay dust from falling down onto her face like a metal traditional hay rack would. As for hay she eats a flake a day. Sometimes more sometimes less, but the average is a flake a day. As a reference, for this month I started out with 4 Hay & 2 Straw bails. & Today I'll be opening the last bail of straw & the last bail of hay. We give her as much alfalfa hay as she can eat & she gets dairy mineral grain feed & some plain oats as a mid day snack. She also has a salt trace mineral block. So for first time Dairy Goat owners we don't think that's bad. I also use the hay & straw for my 3 kids too, so not a bad month long usage. 6 bottles a day really use up milk. Soon we'll have about a gallon a day all for us. Hope this helps. When it comes to winter storage of hay or straw alot of people here stack the hay & tarp cover it from the weather. Ideally a barn storage would be best, but as long as it keeps it dry & kept free from mold it'll work.
