Goat Hay Calculator

What Is Goat Hay?

Goat Hay is essentially the forage or dried grass that is provided to goats as part of their diet. It’s like a gourmet buffet for our bleating buddies!

Goat Hay Calculation Formula

To determine how much Goat Hay you’ll need for your goat herd, we’ll use a simple formula. Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science, just a touch of basic math:

1. Start by estimating the average daily dry matter intake (DMI) per goat. Dry matter intake refers to the amount of feed consumed by a goat without considering its moisture content. As a general rule of a hoof, goats typically consume about 2-4% of their body weight in dry matter. So, if we have a goat that weighs 100 pounds, the DMI would be between 2 and 4 pounds per day.
2. Next, consider the moisture content of the Goat Hay. Freshly harvested forage usually contains a fair amount of moisture, typically around 60-80%. However, when it’s dried to make hay, the moisture content drops to a range of 10-20%. For our calculation, we’ll assume a moisture content of 15%.
3. Divide the desired dry matter intake (from step 1) by the dry matter content (1 – moisture content) of the Goat Hay. For instance, if our goat needs 3 pounds of dry matter intake per day and the hay’s moisture content is 15%, we’ll have:
   
   Dry Matter Intake / (1 – Moisture Content) = Goat Hay Amount
   3 pounds / (1 – 0.15) = Goat Hay Amount
   3 pounds / 0.85 = Goat Hay Amount
   Goat Hay Amount ≈ 3.53 pounds

So, you’d need approximately 3.53 pounds of Goat Hay per day to meet the desired dry matter intake for your goat.

Now that you have the Goat Hay calculation under your belt, you can ensure your goats have enough hay to munch on each day.

Happy goat farming!