Hay Day

I had a new bale of hay delivered last Wednesday. The first bale lasted about six weeks, but we'll start going through hay much more quickly as the goats grow.

There are several different types of hay. I went with our goat girl's recommended orchard hay over the feed store's recommended timothy hay. I don't think it really matters that much; all I know is that I should never feed wethers alfalfa. Alfalfa is a rich, high-protein legume (it's technically not a grass) that can cause wethers to develop urinary stones. It is high-calorie--we had to eliminate the alfalfa from Moto's diet when he started stall rest. Incidentally, it also is delicious. Moto sorely misses his daily alfalfa ration.

I immediately noticed that the hay in this new bale looks and feels much different than the hay in the first bale. The goats had been eating (and greatly enjoying, I might add) long stemmed, leafy hay that was somewhat dry, prickly, and straw-like. It poked through my Uggs and shredded my hands. I started wearing gloves when breaking off sections (flakes) of hay.

In contrast, this new hay is very soft--no gloves needed. I could sleep on this stuff. It's dark green, short-stemmed and has a broad, flat blade. It feels more like regular grass. Whereas the goats gluttonously devoured the old hay, they have taken a rather "meh" approach to the new hay. They're eating, but not as enthusiastically.

Text messages and pictures of hay flew between the goat girl and me this morning. She confirmed that the new bale is high-quality orchard grass, but the previous bale likely was alfalfa. I also called my dad, who asked me if the hay in question was long-stemmed and leafy. Yes and yes. "Sounds like alfalfa," he concluded. Doh! Not good for my wethers.

And so I learned another lesson: I have to know my stuff. I can't rely on others to get it right. I didn't know how to identify different types of hay, and I assumed that the feed store sent me the correct kind. The feed store made an error, but I didn't catch it. It was entirely my fault that my goats ate the wrong hay for six weeks.