why wont they eat hay?

[bheila]

Please don't let your goats eat chickens feed, it can kill them. I'm speaking from experience. It almost killed our wether because I wasn't experienced enough to know that it was harmful to goats. I of coarse can't remember now what is in the food that can kill them but I'm sure the veteran goat owners can tell you.

 

[Indiana hens]

We also grow Jerusalem Artichokes; they love the leaves. They will eat sunflower leaves as well. The older goats like swiss chard. Lambsquarter is favorite summer weed. Ragweed is a favorite in the fall. You can pretty much clean out your garden in the fall. I was told that green oak leaves and green peach leaves are toxic to them; but don't know how much they would have to eat. We throw them pine limbs and christmas trees as long as they haven't been treated with anything. They will clean your orchard branches for you. They do not like any food that smells of goat! Boer goats are more the grazers.

 

[agnes_day]

Quote:
what about the little bits on the ground??? i have the chicken food put to where they cant get to it because i heard the same thing, but they are finding all the missed bits on the ground.

 

[Chatychick]

Goats are browsers and they do like hay but I have found out that mine like the hay that I call stick hay or its basically what the cows dont want to eat. I give mine alfalfa pellets and they get hay we grow and mine love it...Goats basically eat leaves weeds and do like some hay but mine I guess are different as they do eat clover when its dry and in hay. Mine move from hay feeder to hay feeder and like most say they dont like to eat hay off the ground that winds up as bedding in a way if I let it stay that long there. Is the feed your feeding them medicated? With them this young they need the medicated feed and really dont need all the molasses in the goat chow.

 

[byrandom]

Be aware, with the Goat Show, that different companies use different ingredients. Our goats love the feed we get from the mill. However, the mill is 2 hours away from us, and we can only make it once a month. If their feed runs out before we can make it again, then they get fed bagged feed. Some feed they like, others they barely nibble at. Give them a big bowl of the mill's feed, and they'd chow down!

 

[agnes_day]

Quote:
no, its just a bale of hay from the feed store...the food is purina goat chow..i am also wondering if they are even really weaned yet because their moms were sold the night before i picked them up!

 

[griffin45]

Goats eat what they like first and then move to the stuff they like less. If you have a tractor supply near you get some medicated sheep and goat food and feed that for the first few months. Moving to a new place causes stress and you should also be very mindful of worms. Stress in goats (just like humans) is hard on their immune systems and causes them to be suseptible to things like Pneumonia, Coccidiosis and worms. I talked to some of the big goat farmers and they say they feed medicated food to their goats for the first year of their life (the medicated food is for Coccidiosis). Since we started using it we have had much fewer indications of any illness in our goats. Not to mention they maul me at feeding time.

And remember the goats creed, "Take a bite, smack your neighbor."

Chris

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
if you dont want dead trees in your yard you better fence off the trees..eating the bark will kill the tree..

 

[agnes_day]

i have one half dead tree that they are more than welcome to eat!

 

[hollyk]

My goats are boer and they are not crazy over hay. The kind I have found them to like best is Bahaia. If I were a horse owner I would be upset over this hay, it has a lot of weeds. The goats pick that out first. The only time we really see them eat hay is when we have some really bad weather moving in. The rest of the time, they browse the pasture an nibble on everything. Obviously they get enough roughage, You can see them chewing their cud and their wieght gain is good. As you have seen, there are as many opinions as there are goat owners! The nibbling of chicken feed won't hurt them. Pigging out on a whole bag- that could. If oak leaves of any color killed goats, mine would be all dead. I have asked around to breeders in my area (East Texas) and they say the same thing. There are oaks everywhere, all varities, and there is no way to keep them away from the leaves. No one has ever had a problem. I also checked with my county extension agent, he said the same thing.

These critters do an excellent job of stripping the cedar fence posts. The posts are smooth and pretty when they get done!