After what seems like a few dozen phone calls to various friends, I finally found some hay. I knew there was some out there at a reasonable price, it just involved a long search. Anyway, I’ll be picking up 18-20, 4′ x 5′ bales on Sunday. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will last me through the rest of the winter. Since I was using 4′ x 4′ bales, I estimated I needed about 30 more bales. Seeing these are a couple hundreds pounds larger (per bale), I’m thinking the quantity of hay is about the same. We’ll see.
Prepare yourselves, this is a long one.
In my last post I wrote about my search for hay. I’ve also been working on developing my own goat feed. I’ve been using a custom goat feed developed by Ernie & Linda Cullers of Timberville, VA and while I like the feed, I have to drive quite far to get it and prices have been going through the roof. In December 2006, when I started using the feed, I paid under $10 per 100 lb bag (buying at least a ton at a time). Last week when I bought it I paid almost $18 per 100 lb bag, that’s almost a 100% increase in 13 months! Without boring you with the all of the details, this feed contains, Whole Grain Barley, Roasted Soy Beans, Corn, Molasses, Oats, Ammonium Chloride, a Sheep & Goat Mineral, and Rumensin. This feed is about a 18% protein/5% fat feed, and is free choice, not a pellet.
So I know what most of this stuff is, but, what is Ammonium Chloride for? Rumensin?
Rumensin is “Monensin Sodium”, basically a medicine used for the prevention of coccidiosis in goats (also in cattle). Here’s an article I found on the Sweetlix web site, a company that makes great livestock supplements.
Ammonium Chloride is used for the prevention of urinary calculi in goats. Here’s a pretty good article covering Urinary Calculi in Goats. Now that we have this covered, lets move on.
Here is a link to an article from a Tennessee goat owner detailing their “feeding” and their thoughts on it. They also have a large number of feed labels on their site.
On to my feed…
Coni Ross, a goat rancher from Texas, also an ABGA Judge and one of the most highly respected resources (medical, nutritional, etc) for goat owners in the US, wrote this to me in an email: “If you were limited to what you could eat, would you want a huge bowl of iceburg lettuce, or a small plate of meat, veg., and potato? I prefer not to add junk, like hulls of any kind. I do not want to pay for junk. If they need to be filled up, use good hay. The idea is to supply their nutritional needs with a small amount of high quality feed, and let them graze to fulfill the balance. I only full feed kids for show, or sale goats.” She also said “My ration is made with a lot of oats…If you are in Virginia, you are also sulfur deficient, so the molasses with the natural sulfur will help that. I have used this feed as a supplement, and for feeding show goats…I do not add any filler to the feed. NO pellets, since the feed is intended to be a high quality supplement.”
So, starting with the feed I’ve been using and then adding in Coni’s advice along with the information I’ve gathered during countless hours of research, I know that I want my feed to be cheaper (not sure I’m going to meet that goal), around 18%protein/4% fat and have the following ingredients:
What’s Conklin? This is the Conklin Story. In short, I’m an Independent Business Owner and resell their products. Here is a brief summary about their Animal Products (taken from their website) ”Today’s livestock and companion animal owners need high quality products that are cost effective and easy to use. The Fastrack family of products provide lactic acid-producing bacteria, live yeast cells or yeast culture, enzymes, dried chicory root and other components. Use these products as part of a nutrition program for all stages of animal development.” I’ll write more about this in another post. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, either in a comment or email or call me.
Where do I go from here? Well, I contacted a local feed mill and am currently working with them on the ingredients list, ratios, protein & fat levels, as well as cost. I’ll keep you posted as it gets closer to finalization.
Not “Hey!”, but “hay”, as in what my goats and cows eat. I’ve run out. I baled about 65 round bales (4′ x 4′) in my first cutting, and due to the drought, was only able to make 10 more for a total of 75 round bales. While I didn’t have to feed hay last winter until late December (’06), this year, I put my first bales out in early November (’07).
Last week, then again this week, I bought our local “The Valley Trader” to start my search for buying some hay. I knew prices were going to be up, but, my-oh-my, are prices UP! My eyes about fell out of their sockets. Last year I bought large 5′ x 6′ bales from a friend for $15 each, which was relatively cheap, going prices were in the $25 – $40 range. Here’s a sampling of what I saw tonight:
- HAY: 1000 lb round bales, 4′ x 5′, $65
- HAY: 5′ x 6′ rolls, 2 – 3 yrs old, $10 – $20/ea (Great for mulch or bedding)
- HAY: Mixed (1000 lb, 5′ x 5′ round bales), $60 each
- HAY: 4′ x 5′ round bales, net wrapped. Orchard grass. Excellent quality, $80 per bale
So today I called some of my friends. First call, “I don’t have enough for myself, if you find some, let me know.” Second call, “We might have some. We pre-sold (without getting paid or delivering them) to a friend. He hasn’t asked for them yet, nor has he paid. Let me call him and see if he still wants them. I’ll call you back.” Third call – “Please leave a message.” Forth call (to a friend of a friend) – “4′ x 5′ bales $50 if you pick up, $60 delivered.” Okay, I guess I need more friends who make or sell hay. Hopefully I’ll have better luck tomorrow or this weekend or I’ll be selling goats to buy the hay I need for the remainder of the winter 
So, if you live in or around the Berryville, VA area and have or know of goat/cow quality hay for sale (at a cheap price), please let me know. I’m not looking for “horse quality hay”, goats nor cows need that, but I am looking for something better than “great for mulch or bedding.”
