Good luckand dont bring home anything you cant feed! Losses can run as high as 50 percent if hay is not fed properly.Feeding hay to cattle is expensive. Total hay DM disappearance was reduced by 17.6 percent when cows had access to hay for eight hours per day versus 24 hours per day. We usually need to plan on feeding 100 days in the Ozarks, they claim. Round bales can be baled smaller or larger, lighter or heavier. gives you a cost breakdown of buying lamb versus raising them yourself. The 45.5 pounds that you need would be about the weight of a nice small square bale or 1.5 light weight small square bales. If you are keeping your lambs inside with their moms for now, they will eat some of the hay that they see the ewes eating. Figuring out how much hay your sheep will need is easy, you just need to know some basics. I go through a 600 # bale of hay a week between 6 sheep, 20 goats, and 2 horses. As a rule of thumb, as an animal matures and its weight increases, its DMI as a percent of body weight decreases. The larger yourgoat herd, the more important this is. Unfortunately, not all farmers have high quality hay. If you buy your hay by the bale, you will need to find out the approximate weight of each bale. Mineral needs are increased due to pregnancy or lactation at this time and goats are more likely to be deficient in minerals such as phosphorus, selenium and copper. These nutrients must fit into the amount of food an animal can physically consume. I heard that goats and horses should have better quality hay than cows; cows can tolerate some slightly moldy hay, but in goats and horses it can be a big no-no. Our herd would require 719 square bales ([625 X 0.15] + 625 = 718.75) to sustain them through a 100-day feeding period. When purchasing hay, make sure you ask the farmer what the weight of the bales are so that you can get an estimate of what the hay is actually costing you. Enter Average Weight of Animal: * lbs. Luckily, the internet is always willing to come to the rescue. In order to maximize herd health and minimize long-term economic consequences, you should develop a plan for winter feeding long before the last blade of grass or bale of hay disappears. Your average round bale could weigh anywhere from 400 to 800 pounds. We use mostly alfalfa for our dairy goats. For other goats, 4 pounds of hay per day should be enough. How much do your goats weigh? If you are able to stockpile forage on pasture or hayfields and the ground is frozen, you may be able to do some winter grazing and reduce your hay feeding days. Diets based on low protein forages (crude protein below 8%) benefit from protein supplementation because rumen microbial populations are able to flourish and digest dietary fiber more effectively. There is no great rule of thumb for how much hay you need because it depends on so many factors. However, dont fall into the trap of thinking that just because they eat all the hay you provide that they are getting enough nutrition. There are primarily two types of silage products fed to sheep: baled silage and precision-cut silage. Peer reviewed (Orange level). document.getElementById("copyright_year").innerHTML = new Date().getFullYear(); After more than a decade of helping small-farm operators meet their haying needs, Tractor Tools Dire My small goats are eating more of the hay I have now than my big goats do. Even as your sheep are munching away on a fall pasture or nipping the late season growth off of your lawn, you know you need to get some winter hay. With a square bale, if its set directly on the ground, the animals will eat it from the outside in and down, leaving the bottom of the bale wasted by the time they finish tromping on it and spreading it around. That is a tough question to answer, since the real answer is "it depends". 1-87SWEETLIX (1-877-933-8549) (See round bale notes below for my extrapolation with my round bales.). Calculate the hay need per sheep The first place to start is to calculate the hay needed by each sheep in your flock. (There will be a weigh slip showing the weight of the load that most hay sellers will give to you as a receipt.). Jan 7, 2009 It is really really hard for me to break it down - as DH HAD to have round bales this year, and I am hating life! Jun 2023 | That estimate would be on the high side for us, but we feed free-choice alfalfa pellets, so our goats don't eat as much hay as if we didn't feed that. Dry matter content also depends on where hay was harvested, as well as on climatic conditions where the herd is maintained. Also, feed supply is more accurately estimated if you conduct forage analysis to determine the exact nutrient content of your hay. Late made hay, with the seed heads sticking out everywhere, is not high quality, either. A note on regionality: there will be a prevalent hay type in your area, but it may not be one of the plants I have listed. Which still wasnt big enough, but we compromised on the conclusion that I could always refill it. The videos in this library fall within the Sergio Arispe | Hay prices skyrocket and it becomes a real problem. He is passionate about helping people prepare for tough times by embracing lifestyles of self-sufficiency. 1,800 pounds per ton divided by 54 bales=33 pounds per bale. I feel the same way about hay. How leafy or stemmy is your hay? Did you ever think, when you were writing romance novels, that someday you would be writing about equations with several variables? A quick and dirty way to estimate feed requirements is on the basis of animal units. However, Im planning on square bales for everyone. Articles. They should consume 4.5% of their body weight in feed/hay per day. Jun 5, 2023 | For more information, contact yourlocal SWEETLIXdealeror call1-87-SWEETLIXto speak with a SWEETLIXnutritionist. If you dont have pasture, plan on more hay. This will help you make a plan and to know how much hay to buy per year for your herd. I live on a farm. Using a moderate DMI of 2% of body weight, we can estimate her daily DMI as 22 pounds of hay (24.2 pounds as fed, adding back in 10% water weight for hay). Legume hay is great for goats because it is very high in protein and plenty of other nutrients. To stock up for the duration of the winter, assuming the cold weather starts in October and ends on the 1st of March, you'll need to buy $13,590 worth of hay. :happyflower: It may be the glass of champagne talking, it is NYE after all, but I love you, I love your writing, I love your farm, I love your animals. You are better off keeping fewer goats. Grain hays can be a great supplement to grass and legume hays when chosen with care and fed sparingly. No deal. I havent heard that in regard to goats specifically, though that may be true. May 2021 | A 130 pound ewe will need 4.55 pounds of hay per day. Each animal unit will require approximately 50 pounds of hay per day, assuming average to good quality hay. In most years, you won't need that backup, but when you do, your goats (and your pocketbook) will thank you for it. Hay Selection. With all of the above in mind, the following equation is based on the average square bale or the average round bale. Enter Number of animals: * Enter number of days feeding hay: * Enter Average Bale Weight: * lbs. Why might I need one? Entire Contents Copyright 2004-2022 Chickens in the Road, Inc. If feeding pellets to growing goats nursing goats, aim for 1 to 2 pounds per day, or about 1% of the goats body weight. Even though, ewe lambs are smaller than ewes (3.5% of their body weight would be less than 4.55 pounds) they seem to eat just about as much. I should have said on edge not on end!! Dr. Amy Skibiel and Dr. Pedram Rezamand provide a research update on wildfire smoke exposure and its effects on livestock health and performance. Using animal units or percentages to estimate feed requirements is just a quick tool. Id have to buy the same number of round bales for the two horses, the same number for the goats, and the same number for the sheep and donkeys, which would mean at least 70 round bales total (if they were the exact same size round bales I used last year). per day. Its a good idea to ask for recommendations from farmer friends and neighbors when choosing a hay man. Right now, I have just over 300 square bales, so Im close to halfway. Unless, of course, you have a creep gate of some sort. One rule of thumb says 1 square bale per goat per week. For planning purposes, assume that a cow will consume, at minimum, about 2.5 percent of its body weight in average-quality hay per day on a dry matter (DM) basis, but when waste is factored in, about 3 percent of the cows body weight will disappear from inventory. "It was a cold wintry day when I brought my children to live in rural West Virginia. These Home Garden Hacks Will Save You Cash, Recipe: Copy-Cat Duluth Grill Marinated Kale, Farm Storehouse: 13 Products For The Farm & Garden, Important Lessons For A Beautiful, Organic Lawn, Faux Free-Ranging Chickens In A Moveable Run. I buy square bales for $2.50/bale. We always fed our animals first at Stringtown Rising, but it certainly created a lot of financial havoc because we had more animals than we had resources (pasture or money) to comfortably support. Ive been there/done that on a farm without enough pasture. Some people dont provide feed at all. Apr 2009 | FujiQ, yes, that is what Ive heard about cows vs horses re old or poor quality hay. You should know, some sheep are very accepting of a creep gate keeping them out of an area and others will try all day to get through it. That includes their care and their feed. They are more like deer regarding nutrition, than they are to sheep or cattle, which eat a lot of grass. Straw that is older, not shiny, is a better buy for bedding. Keeping feed costs manageable is a huge challenge for livestock producers, but securing winter hay supplies well in advance of the feeding period is one opportunity to realize some feed cost savings. You may also estimate hay needs by the percentage method. We know that a goat needs about 3% to 4% of its body weight in hay each day, so for a 150-pound goat you'd need about 4.5 to 6 pounds of hay per day. We were looking for a milk cow this spring and Im so happy now that we didnt find onekeeping her and her calf fed this winter would have been impossible with how much hay is in my area due to the drought. Now that you have estimated your feed requirements, you need to evaluate your feed supply. Extension Catalog publication Designed to help dairy farmers calculate the costs of homegrown forages and compare them to the costs of purchasing forages. (at $60.00 a bale) Next year I am SOOOOO getting squares - I don't care what he says!!! First off, different stages of the reproductive cycle require different levels of nutrition. Taking waste into account (assuming 15% waste), you would need at least 11.5 to 14.4 tons of hay. Was wondering "about" how many 5X6 bales of grass hay to plan on per pair? C cowboy43 Well-known member Joined Mar 7, 2009 Messages 1,945 Reaction score 3 Location We (my husband and I) are life long animal lovers and full time livestock farmers in Ohio. I defy you to see the $250 on her head. Bale Weight (1,200 pounds) Hay Calculator Hay Calculator Choose Type of Livestock: * Cow Sheep Alpaca Goat Horse Beef Steer Llama * See the Hay Consumption Table for details. They need the roughage to keep their rumens functioning properly. What Is 1st Or 2nd Cutting Hay? They will tell you. The hay seller says the bales are a bit lighter than he would like them to be, but the hay is really high quality. You will not have the same hay types available as we do, unless you live in or near Ohio! Lets say we want to calculate how much hay to purchase as the foundation for a ration for an 1,100-pound beef cow for a six-month (182 day) feeding period. December 01, 2018. And the bales are around 60# . They love it and it works well for us. It depletes B vitamins in the gut and can lead to goat polio (severe thiamine deficiency). If theyve used his hay, theyll be able to give you a good estimate of his round bale weight. Animals eat a round bale from the center out, and the outer layer will be left behind when theyre finished eating the good stuff. A second cutting grass or mixed hay would be fine, but youll have to monitor the flocks condition (fat covering the body). pressed block. (Will your flock make money?). You can ask the person baling it. Consistency is what we try to achieve the most with our goats. Its a truly important question. Ability to work with the hay producer's schedule. Grass hay is a category that includes both perennial and annual varieties, but all grass hays provide lots of nutrition for goats. :sheep: A very efficient feeding system may allow as little as 10% waste while inefficient systems may be over 50% wastage. We can turn a lot of it into pasture with some work ( a lot of it is shrubby growth now). Because we do not have continuous access to good quality alfalfa hay, we choose to feed good quality grass hay. I have had hay where my goats waste 80% and other hay where they eat almost all of it. A goat might be filling up on even high-quality hay constantly and still be deficient in one or more nutrients! Right now with hay being so expensive a mix of grass and alfalfa hay is a good idea. For a horse this size that is about 16-18 pounds of hay! Extension Catalog publication Thats fine. Depending on the type, quality, location, size of the bales, you should expect to pay something between $30 and $300 per ton of hay. At Goat Milk Stuff, we prefer 50 pound bales because they are easier for the younger children to move. Low quality or junk hay should never be fed to your flock, theres no nutritional value. 30-40% alfalfa is good for mantainence for all goats. link to Is Raising Sheep Worth It? You can do your best to minimize this waste by having good hay mangers, but there will always be waste. Normally, for four or five sheep, I would plan 100 square bales. Extension Catalog publication I wanted to finish early, but we had a run of rainy weather, preventing me from getting trucks to the barn. If you can bale your own hay, youll save moneyafter you buy the equipment. We always weigh the person, then weight the person holding the bale. For example, a 200 lb. Obtaining an entire season's supply from a new hay crop certainly beats underestimating needs and having to cobble together purchases of more hay in late winter when demand may outstrip supply and quality may be variable. Decrease waste and enhance herd health by implementing an appropriate feeding system for forage and supplemental feeds. When were drying our dairy goats off we give them only grass hay/pasture, no grain or alfalfa. of hay per day or 10 to 12.5 tons of hay to sustain them through a 100-day feeding period (before waste). If you cant feed your animal through the winter, you shouldnt have that animal. On a bit of a side tangent, consider getting a really easy to read, easy to use scale. Makes it sturdier to climb on. The quality issue is too true. Sheep For Profit goes over the items you need to have in your budget to successfully raise sheep. Some animals may need additional nutrients to maintain the desired degree of body condition. , Here at Tractor Tools Direct we field quite a few phone calls, chats, and emails asking about differ There is a higher risk of listeria associated with haylage and silage feeding that you should be aware of, should you consider haylage for your flock. This will be great for your sheep! But they are also more difficult to move and to store. Tractor Tools Direct. You can always weigh one on a bathroom scale, to get a number for what you actually buying. The outer layer of a round bale is exposed to weather (or the ground). We had to reinforce our hay loft because we underestimated the weight of the hay we would store there. This is one post of many from our Raising Goats resources. (& how to tell when you need to), Well made, first cutting grass (timothy, orchard grass, etc. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you also feed your goats fruits or vegetables, they will eat 6 pounds of them per day. Wed love to hear from you if you have any questions! Not all sheep producers agree on this. In the meantime, there are steps you can take to manage supplies in the months ahead. = Balesof Hay Needed for the Winter Feeding Period (88.5 bales). My husband was telling me about a guy who had a verbal agreement with a farmer for round bales at $85 at the beginning of the summer before the drought was too bad (normally they are between $45 and $65). Animals do not have DMI requirements. If your estimate reveals that youll come up short in meeting your herds nutritional needs, consider stretching supplies with alternative feeds, such as crop residues. Depending on the weight of the goat, breed, and quality of the hay, a goat can eat up to 6 pounds of hay per day.This means an average 150-pound goat could consume as much as 180 pounds of hay in a month! The SWEETLIX Meat MakerProtein Pressed Block or the SWEETLIX Meat Maker Roughage Balancer Tub provides supplemental protein in addition to 100% of a goats trace mineral requirements in a convenient, weather-resistant, 33.3 lb. Goats generally need between 3% and 4% of their body weight in hay daily. Just a thought after looking at your pics. animal! Nov 2016 | If you havent already, take time to have forage analyzed for nutrient profiles in order to determine supplemental feed needs. Aurora Villarroel | 800 South 9th Street Hay is absolutely essential for dairy goats. They will get plenty to eat by nibbling around on the smaller grasses and clover plants in the pasture and nursing from the ewe. Hay stored outdoors has about 20-percent wastage (i.e., a waste factor of 1.2);hay stored indoors has about 7 percent (or 1.07 WF). This is equal to one-eighth of an animal unit. Introducing Tractor Tools Directs Amazon Best-Selling Author! Many a beginning goat farmer wastes money because they think that all bales weigh the same. , What is a lift kit, and why might I need one? This is a question we get here at Tractor Tools Dire Like most livestock, its up to us to ensure that our goats get plenty of food every single day, and that means providing it for them in the form of hay to supplement what they find in the pasture, if you allow them to browse. Robert KallenbachDepartment of AgronomyFigure 1. I like to feed milking does about 60%-80% alfalfa. My Dad always made us stack it on end to keep it from molding. Are you using your hay for bedding as well as eating? Use a hay-feeding rack to store forage and regulate intake, and select a well-designed portable mineral feeder with a roof to protect it from moisture. Hay nutritional value is variable, from cutting to cutting, year to year and farm to farm. This publication is part of the Living on the Land series. At Goat Milk Stuff, we tend to use old hay as bedding or to put down on muddy areas of the property where we are trying to get grass to grow if we've had extremely wet weather. As the picture notes, we feed haylage to our sheep all winter. If you have problems with molding you might want to consider it for next year. If you have 5 sheep, youll be feeding about half a bale, you get the idea. All rights reserved. round bales for each cow. Monitoring and the Grazing Response Chris Schachtschneider, Vanessa Schroeder, Dustin Johnson | Dr. Lyle G. McNeal is a livestock specialist in the Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences at Utah State University. Below you will find a FREE Hay Cost Calculator for Goats. , Tractor Tools Direct square bales you would need approximately 750 lbs. Feeding your sheep hay is a big part of winter flock care. To calculate each bale's DM weight: Bale Weight (1,200 pounds) x Percent DM (0.8) = Amount of Hay DM Per Bale (960 pounds) Well made first cutting hay is great. For example, a herd of 35 adult does, 1 buck, 10 replacement doelings and 16 kids with a feeding period of 100 days (roughly 3 months) will require the following: 6.25 animal units X 50 lbs. Alfalfa hay is more expensive. Last year decent hay was about 3 cents a pound or $223.65/cow to feed her if you fed for 213 days. to 10 lbs. Dr. Juliana Ranches and Dr. Jenifer Cruickshank speak to preparedness for livestock producers, focusing on animal health before and during wildfire events. Home. Cold weather will require an increase in nutrients to meet increased maintenance requirements. A good farmer knows when to cut the hay for the optimum nutrition and how to bale it and store it so it stays safe. Dec 2004 | Your average round bale could weigh anywhere from 400 to 800 pounds. Flail Mower? We don't really know if we have enough room for pasture for a Dexter and her calf. We also recommend conducting an inventory of hay and other feed resources. Your sheep may need more or less than the 4.55 pounds per day. Of course, you can only test that after youve bought it. You should know that if you put out nice hay for the lambs to snack on, the ewes will hog it all! Peer reviewed (Orange level). #1 How many round bales of hay do you expect cows to eat, per cow, in the winter? I average a bale a week per goat during the winter. If you are having trouble getting the hay you need, think horse hay, or even say it. Other factors affect DMI as well. If you have pasture, you can expect that on nice days, your animals may still find grass to eat, supplementing from nature. Oregons Outback is a Sustainable Rangeland-Based Beef Production Video Library that highlights best management practices for cow-calf producers and agricultural professionals. Rained on first cutting hay is not high quality! from! Ask Extension is a way for you to get answers from the Oregon State University Extension Service. Thats too rich of a forage for them and pricey for you. , It mills! It is always better to store extra because you can use any old hay for bedding. The hay I buy is of average quality. True. That would mean you would need 6.2 1200 lb. Give it a try. Boer doe will eat roughly 8 lbs. Suzanne, Peer reviewed (Orange level). Hay is absolutely essential for dairy goats. Oct 2022 | Ironically, alfalfa hay should be avoided for maintenance sheep, as well. You can ask the person baling it. (Will your flock make money? But there is still plenty of green grass in October and again in March! you may say. Threat-based land management provides a framework for improving grazing and management and adjusting as conditions change. Extrapolate the calculation to round bales. Absolutely. For show goats: for this article, I'm speaking of commercial goats, not show goats. Will your flock make money? A cow weighs about 1000 pounds give or take. Hay is beneficial to goats in the summer too. While the hay-for-winter equation has many variableswaste, size/weight of bales, weather, available pasture, etcyou can always start with the rule of thumb (100 square bales per winter per large animal or 100 square bales per winter per upwards of half-dozen small animals) to at least get a fingerhold on what you would need to provide when planning to bring animals on to a farm. It depends on the size of the baler, the grass being baled, and other factors, and every bale is slightly unique even from the same baler. Good news, these bales are very typical, having a 50 pound weight per bale. Video, OSU Extension acquired Alberta, a life-size black model cow without a head or legs, four years ago and the model has been traveling the state teaching people how to deal with dystocia, a difficult birth that usually manifests itself in a turned calf or a calf that is too large, Kym Pokorny | But some will eat anything. Just know that it will have lost some of its nutrition, so make sure they are getting plenty of other good feed. The Best Rake for Your Small-Farm Haying Needs, Conditioning Drum Mowers: Meeting the Conditions of Many Small Farms. Well see. Privacy Policy, Disclosure, Disclaimer, and Terms of Use, Copyright 2004-2023 Suzanne McMinn Design by Swank Web Design Powered by WordPress. Buying hay for winter is a sacrifice, always, in trade for the rewards of keeping livestock. Adequate storage capacity. 104 Things Goats Can Eat and 62 They Cannot [+ Printable Checklist]. Per winter, plan at least 100 days feeding hay (which, of course, varies per your area and even per winter in the same area, but 100 is a good rule of thumb). And don't use it as bedding because goats eat their bedding all the time. To be more accurate, you need to consider dry matter content as well as exact nutritional requirements for the size of animal and stage of production. Collection. Goats dont really need grain as a staple in their diet, but in some cases it can be a beneficial supplement.Choose high-quality grains that are low in sugar and carbohydrates, feed sparingly, and always introduce them slowly to avoid disrupting their rumen. Dr. Katie Wollstein talks about wildfire preparedness for livestock producers, focusing on fuels and property management prior to and during wildfire event.
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how many bales of hay per goat for winter
