I get small squares from one neighbor, and round bales from the other. He keeps his first cutting, and sells me his second cutting. Most of the bales are really nice and my goats love it. I do pay by the bale, and it's just been the odd bale that's on the light side. The round bales for the most part are decent, although I do get the odd bale with a lot of sticks, probably cut from the edge of the field. My horse is real good at picking through the bale for the good stuff, so long as it's on the ground and not in the cradle. Yes, he will discount it if it's like that, but I get a good price from him anyway, so I don't make a big deal about it.
We pay by the bale as well from our producer. He gives us good consistency with product and weight. I would be far more inclined to pay by the pound if purchasing at an auction. We are glad you have someone reliable you can count on. That makes a huge difference. As always, thanks for watching and taking the time to leave a thoughtful message. 😬
Its interesting with the cutting. Where I live (northern canada) the growing season is so short that a second cutting is rare and a 3rd cut is unheard of. I've heard of people getting scammed here by things like that so it's super important to be aware of the growing conditions in your area to know what you're likely to get and if it seems too good to be true, it's worth asking the questions to know for sure.
Got some nice 2nd cut hay goats liked the first cut better not sure why but ended up needing to mix it up to use the 2nd cute or 2nd cute would take for ever to get through. Is it because they’re goats?
What are your thoughts for silage and haylage for sheep? We got silage for our sheep this winter and they love it! High content alfalfa and we are in an extended drought so I figured the extra moisture would be a good thing.
I would caution you to only lay out what they can eat at a time. Once silage hits the air it can very quickly ferment and we see A LOT of producers start losing sheep and goats to Listeria every year. Just about the time we start getting warm temps outside, we start getting calls about sheep and goats dropping dead. It can work great, just have to take proper precautions.
@LinessaFarms good to know! So far so good for our farm and we still have a bit of cold weather left. We only open bales as needed and have hay bales for when the weather warms up so we have tried to be careful with it but fingers crossed that's enough.
Hey Tim, I used to put up a LOT of hay. Mostly alfalfa and timothy. I don't miss those days. I'm moving out of the country and ran across alfahay. I'll be feeding both milk goats and meat sheep. Wondering your thoughts and (possibly) experience with it. Thanks
It’s good stuff if it’s put up right. You can see how stemmy first cutting can get and that can be a problem. If you can get your hands on some 2-3 cutting, that would be ideal. We have had good luck with it. I personally think straight alfalfa can be a little too hot for them and they seem to do well on a grass alfalfa mix. Although, if I had to pick between straight grass or straight alfalfa (based on what you’re doing) I would go with the alfalfa. 👍🏻
Hello. This is the mineral we use specifically for our adult males. It contains zero phosphorus and helps to control and prevent the formation of urinary calculi. Serving size is only 1oz per head per day, so there are 160 servings per bag. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at customerservice@linessafarms.com, or contact me directly at timothy.ventrello@linessafarms.com linessafarms.com/product/no-phosphorus-ultra-sheep-goat-mineral/
Hey....cant find what im researching online and my cant go to your tack box....dont have facebook. Have a maiden yearlung ewe inlast trimester. She came up yesterday with completely liquid butt. They are on pasture with 1.2-1.5 lbs alfalpha pellets and hay at will....they arenon stick pile, grass has just started growing. Cant figure out why....food rations have been same for a month. How to treat?
It’s more than likely the exposure to the young new grass. We see this a lot. You may have to pull her off the pasture and give her lower quality hay if she doesn’t clear up.
We are in a drought atm, my sheep have no green grass to eat. I have put out a round bale of hay which they eat constantly. But is there anything else I need to give them to eat ? Is hay enough nutrient? I have babydolls and they are rather fat, maybe too fat. I do have some lucerne but worries that will make them even fatter
Hello and thank you for the question. Overfeeding sheep and goats can be a problem for multiple reasons but can also be difficult to deal with. First, I would check their overall body condition to determine if they are actually overweight or if you are seeing wool fluff or large bellies (hay belly/bloat). An easy way to check body condition is to feel the ribs of the animal about mid-way up their side. The ribs should feel like the back of your hand. If you can imagine, feeling the backs of your fingers is a little too thin.... basically all bone and no meat. Feeling the back of your arm is too fat and not any bone. Feeling the back of your hand is just about right, as you can feel some bone and some fat (happy medium). If you are feeling mostly fat and very little rib, they are more than likely overweight. Some breeds hold weight better than others and the Southdown tends to be one of those breeds (Dorper can be a close second). You may find it helpful (if needed) to limit the amount of hay they are able to consume in a day. This can be acomplished by placing your round bale in an area and only allowing them access to that area for certain hours of the day. This can be stressful on the owner because sheep and goats are "always hungry". If they are used to having free choice hay all the time, they are not going to be very happy with you when you decide to limit their feed. It would also be helpful for you to provide them with a good free choice mineral, free choice sodium bicarb (baking soda), and free choice water. Being overweight has serious health and wellness repercussions and will especially cause problems when it comes to milk production and birthing complications. Another thing to remember is we don't want to make any fast or drastic changes in diet as this can cause problems as well. If you are going to limit feed, you will want to do it slowly. Major changes in feed can really throw them off and cause health problems you will want to avoid. Hopefully this was helpful and if you have any questions, please let us know. Thanks again for watching and we look forward to talking to you again in the future.
Do I have to have feed grain to sheep and goats, or can I use really good quality grass hay mixed with alfalfa hay. I feed minerals all the time and molasses and mineral mix and mineral salt. Let me know what you think I really don't want to pull lambs or kids because of grain feed. Thank you.
You can feed a good quality hay and a free choice mineral and be fine in most cases. People do it all the time. We fed no grain this past gestation period and had no problems with the ewes and does on good alfalfa mix hay and a good free choice mineral supplement. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to leave a good question. Best wishes to you and your family.
Ooooffff yeah, that’s a lot. 🫤 I know the cost of baling has gone up due to equipment maintenance costs and fuel costs. The drought in the western states hasn’t helped either.
