So we're finally emerging from a ridiculously hot, dry and long Summer here in N. Texas, which has me thinking about the coming winter and feeding my tiny herd of 4 ND does, now all hitting 8 months of age. When I got them back in May their 1/4 acre paddock was overgrown with a variety of weeds and grasses, which constituted the bulk of their diet. I supplemented that with a little bit of hay and pellet feed (Purina "Goat Grower"), but they mostly preferred the forage, which regrew just about as fast as they could eat it. But when the hellish heat and drought hit the forage gradually dried up, so I replaced it with alfalfa hay, which they love.
With the temperature starting to come down and us finally getting a little rain now the greenery is slowly starting to grow again, but it won't grow fast enough to reach its former abundance before Winter arrives. So I'm thinking about seeding the paddock with annual ryegrass (aka, "Winter rye"), which will hopefully provide at least some forage until Spring. But they're doing well on the diet of hay, pellets and the oats I've added to the mix (only about 1/2 cup per goat per day), so I plan on continuing that as well. I'll stockpile about 3-4 months worth of alfalfa hay over the next couple of weekends just in case it becomes difficult to obtain during the Winter months.
So...does this sound like a reasonably advisable plan? Any suggestions for modifications to it?
With the temperature starting to come down and us finally getting a little rain now the greenery is slowly starting to grow again, but it won't grow fast enough to reach its former abundance before Winter arrives. So I'm thinking about seeding the paddock with annual ryegrass (aka, "Winter rye"), which will hopefully provide at least some forage until Spring. But they're doing well on the diet of hay, pellets and the oats I've added to the mix (only about 1/2 cup per goat per day), so I plan on continuing that as well. I'll stockpile about 3-4 months worth of alfalfa hay over the next couple of weekends just in case it becomes difficult to obtain during the Winter months.
So...does this sound like a reasonably advisable plan? Any suggestions for modifications to it?
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