How much do goats eat?

[PrinceSandwich]

How long will a bale of hay ( say 50-60 pounds) last two goat wethers?

 

[vicki2x2]

That depends on several things. Do they have other feed available like grass? How big are the wethers? Are they given free choice? I.E. is the bale left in there for them to eat off of or are the given a serving at a time? Most goats would make a mess of the bale in no time and waste it. Mine are given their hay flake at feeding time, which they still make a mess of, meaning I am still probably giving them more than they need. Other than that, they graze on weeds and stuff.

 

[glenolam]

I (at one time!) had a doe, her yearling wether and another yearling doe and all three would go through a bale in about 1 week - 2 weeks. It was offered free choice and they also had forage and minerals free choice. I supplemented with grain, but very little grain. They wasted more in the summer than in the winter - in the summer they have more to choose from in their pen as far as forage, so in the winter when everything is dead they wasted very little hay.

Now that I'm up to 9 I go through a square bale every 2-3 days.

 

[sandy sea]

My two goats ate two flakes of hay a day plus alf. pellets and goat feed.

 

[cmjust0]

Quote:
Two that size wouldn't need more than a flake a day, most likely, but that's assuming you're feeding out of a hay rack in order to minimize waste.

If you pitch it on the ground or make it so that they can soil it in some way, they'll go through it faster than you can throw it, only to stand there and SCREAM at you to throw more.

Such is the goat.

 

[allanimals21]

how much do they eat or how much do they waste? lol Mine waste everything. From Grain to hay to even grass. lol

 

[arabianequine]

The hay bale weighs 50-60 pounds right?

You probably don't know what the goats weigh. Are they pygmy or standard size goats?

They will constantly want more food especially sweet feed or goat feed....treats etc.....just cause they are naahhhing does not mean they are hungry. They just see you and know that people have the food.

For hay some flakes come off different in every bales. But I would say 4-5 inches or flake for the two of them should serfice....morning and night.

ETA: in the summer or winter? They may need more food in the winter to stay warm....their body will turn the food into energy burn up more calories faster....which will warm them up.