Feeding alfalfa pellets instead of hay....

Free choice on the pellets is always a good option for the does. I don't find them overeating and consumption varies with whatever stage they are in - early pregnancy, late pregnancy, heavy lactation.... With a few mouthfuls of browse to complement the free choice pellets I would certainly stop feeding hay under your conditions. Maybe some hay if your browse is limited until the weather warms.

 

I need to come to see you. :biggrin All we have here is grass hay, :sniffle and the alfalfa is $15.00 a bale and I have to go to Rett and then to Alabama to get that. I feed the pellets for it is easy to get.

Deana

 

OK just to be real frank here they all need alfalfa either in pellets or hay otherwise you are going to have problems running out your ears. For a year and a half mine had no hay or browse because there wasn't any available and all my goats still look fine and none the worse for wear. But Alfalfa is a must one way or another.
here bucks/ wethers/and dry does get hay (now) and alfalfa pellets
those in milk get grain also and everyone gets free choice loose minerals.

 

We have fed solely a. pellets going on two years now to most of ours. They are split by condition/need and fed by pound accordingly. Milkers/heavy bred and then yearlings and then kids seperate. Mostly the adult doe milkers will take around 3 lbs./day ea. I give them what they will clean up 2 x/day and adjust accordingly. The bred yearlings are just now reaching 3 lbs./day ea. One heavy milker is getting about 4 lbs./day by herself right now.

 

Sorry I am not familiar w/pygmy's at all. Maybe a mini or pygmy breeder can chime in. But I imagine they would be easier keepers than minis since they aren't a dairy goat. I know that my spring kids are normally reaching about 2 lbs. pellets /day by fall and weighing 100 lbs. and they are now due in the next week and have hit the 3 lb.ea/day mark. I give them all they will clean completely up 2 x/day.

 

Do you realize what that alfalfa is worth in other parts of the country???

You could make a fortune buying and selling.

 

I just paid $12 for a 40 pound bail that was yellow stems on the outside, some green leaves on the inside but it was like compressed...not sure baby goats will even be able to pull this sucker apart!

The biggy with using alfalfa pellets succesfully is to not overfeed grain. If you are a grain for kids, grain for dry does, grain for treats, grain for unused bucks kind of person, you need hay or roughage in another forum that pellets. Vicki

 

""""Kassi- Thanks. I think I'll use 1.5lbs for the pygmys and adjust if I need to. My heaviest pygmy weighs about 80lbs. """"

My ND's are very much kin to the pygmy's.......and so the 1.5 lbs a day will be a close figure in my estimation. 3/4 lbs of Alf pellets is about what I feed all my goats 2 times per day, year around now. I do however have some browse year around....plenty of grass hay.....and my grain amounts are adjusted according to each goat and their present condition....... Such as pregnant, milking, to fat, loosing weight, or bucks that are working or not........In almost every case here, my goats get their alf. at every meal year around.....and I make any adjustments to be made, in the grain department.

Whim

 

I feed both hay & alfalfa pellets. When I fed hay only, we went through TONS of it. Then, I started feeding AP free choice, and hay free choice. My goats go through about a bale/a week, if that. So you can probably still offer the hay, they won't go through it near as fast.

 

Do you all feed dry yearlings free choice or a limited amout of alfalfa pellets a day? Or do you just feed them hay free choice?
Thanks,
Vicki in NC

 

I decided yesterday we are going to switch to pellets too. I'm surrounded by alfalfa fields here where I live. I buy my *cow* hay straight from the farmers barn stored hay from last year for eight bucks a bale. The problem is I can't get alfalfa from the farmers because it is all sold before it's even baled. SOOOO I had to go to the feed store yesterday to get hay for the goats. I paid....are ya ready?.....ya better sit down.....16.99 a bale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I about fell out! I was so stunned I forgot to ask what pellets run. I am going to call today to find out and have the hubby run by there to pick some up while he's in town. It went up like 5 bucks in two weeks!
Sorry had to vent!
Have a Great Day!

 

Vicki NC, what is a dry yearling??? Mine get grain and alfalfa pellets from brith till kidding because they kid at 12 and 13 months old, no dry yearling alowed!

Amy if the hay is of really poor quality goats can't manage the ultra cold temps up north with just hay. You must have better quality hay than most. Because some grain will help stock keep wieght on during the winter with it's added fat and carbs...something we do not have to worry about here vicki

 

Vicki, I hear ya. My bad that they didn't get bred last fall. Just out of curiosity what is your protocol for breeding? Age/Weight, etc?