So, off to the store I went today. Yes, they do carry hay cubes, which are timothy and alfalfa mixed, chopped and pressed into cubes. How much they cost is rather amazing, but then there are the middlemen to deal with and in this case, the local Co-op store, which marks the feed up considerably from the producer. The hay cubes are out of my price range and I am curious as to whether the goats will even eat them or not, so I buy a couple of bags. The sheep certainly would eat them if the goats will not.
The goats are looking for feed. They do not want to eat any more grass. That is why they waste incredible amounts of hay. They only eat the fine leaves and weeds from the hay and the rest is wasted. Anything that falls on the ground is never eaten. Of all the animals, the hay waste in the goats is likely 50%. I try to do the math. A large bale this last go round was 100 dollars for 2000 pounds. That is 20 cents a pound. A 50 pound bag of cubes is 16 dollars. At that price, for the 100 dollars a large round bale costs, the cubes would only provide a quarter the weight. So, if the goats waste half, the bale is still a better price. Then the waste removal has to be configured in, because with hay cubes, there is little to no waste. So they say.
I brought the cubes to the goats and they turned their noses up at them. They want grain. The problem with grain is, is that it is like heroin to animals. One taste and they are hooked and they will do anything for more. They will eat themselves to death on grain if they get into it without supervision. They had some grain the day before and a little this morning and they want more and more and more. When they realized what was in their trough was what they were getting, they went back to smell the cubes. One of two goats tried them, taking a whole cubes in their mouths and chomping down. I guess they were not that bad, but only a few of the goats were at all interested. The others came over to ask me where the grain was and what was that crap I was trying to give them and they were insulted. Really!
The only other option is to take them to the market either on the 14th if I can get them all tagged and loaded in time and the hauler can fit me in or the next market on the 25th I think. I would keep a few, one Angora, Daphne, Sherry, Daria, …oh my, who would I not keep? See, that is how I got into the predicament of too many animals in the first place. And tomorrow, feeding the goats, number 3.
The goats are looking for feed. They do not want to eat any more grass. That is why they waste incredible amounts of hay. They only eat the fine leaves and weeds from the hay and the rest is wasted. Anything that falls on the ground is never eaten. Of all the animals, the hay waste in the goats is likely 50%. I try to do the math. A large bale this last go round was 100 dollars for 2000 pounds. That is 20 cents a pound. A 50 pound bag of cubes is 16 dollars. At that price, for the 100 dollars a large round bale costs, the cubes would only provide a quarter the weight. So, if the goats waste half, the bale is still a better price. Then the waste removal has to be configured in, because with hay cubes, there is little to no waste. So they say.
I brought the cubes to the goats and they turned their noses up at them. They want grain. The problem with grain is, is that it is like heroin to animals. One taste and they are hooked and they will do anything for more. They will eat themselves to death on grain if they get into it without supervision. They had some grain the day before and a little this morning and they want more and more and more. When they realized what was in their trough was what they were getting, they went back to smell the cubes. One of two goats tried them, taking a whole cubes in their mouths and chomping down. I guess they were not that bad, but only a few of the goats were at all interested. The others came over to ask me where the grain was and what was that crap I was trying to give them and they were insulted. Really!
The only other option is to take them to the market either on the 14th if I can get them all tagged and loaded in time and the hauler can fit me in or the next market on the 25th I think. I would keep a few, one Angora, Daphne, Sherry, Daria, …oh my, who would I not keep? See, that is how I got into the predicament of too many animals in the first place. And tomorrow, feeding the goats, number 3.
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