# feeding barley straw instead of hay



## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

Does any one have any knowledge, advice or informataion regarding feeding barley staw instead of hay to goats


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

If it's anything like oat hay, the time it is cut will be important. We have fed oat hay before that was beautiful. It was cut young, before the stems got too big and tough. We had 10 round bales of oat straw delivered a few days ago. No way could that be used as fodder. We currently feed barley as our main grain and the goats love it. We feed it just about free choice and have never had a problem with it. Maybe if it were greener we might have a problem with bloat.


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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

You would still have to be feeding alfalfa pellets or other nutrition -- straw simply has little to no nutritional value. That said, mine quite enjoy eating it during the winter when we use it for bedding, and it also helps generate body heat during digestion. But I would never count it in as any part of their diet value -- it is nothing but sheer roughage.


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## Polopony (Dec 24, 2011)

I feed beardless barley hay with my grass alfalfa mix. The hay still has the grain heads and they love it. I wouldn't think the straw would have much nutritional value.


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## feistymomma (May 20, 2009)

I also feed a barley clover mix hay. I use this mainly as filler with a clover hay and also feed alfalfa pellets. The goats seem to love it though.


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

It depends, do you actually mean straw, like the stubble left over from threshing barley, or is it cut like a hay at an earlier stage, like Anita is describing. Either way, I would still be using a legume hay, but you could give them a little bit to nibble on. My goats, like Tracy's, enjoy eating their bedding when new is added on top in the winter.


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## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

What I am refering to is the stuff left over on the field, I too have heard that it has little nutritional value. But as mentioned above I too have heard that duing the cold winter months, which we can get here, it generates body heat, I was thinking to get a stock in for this purpose, only, rather than feeding hay during the cold winter, feeding barley straw along with their normal nutritional ration.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Ours, although the stems can be thick, has lots of leaves and seed heads on it. This year as I bed the barn I am going to throw the barley out in flakes, let the girls eat through it and then throw the leftovers down for bedding. This kind of coarse hay is the perfect hay for dry does, to recondition that rumen after 10 months of grain and alfalfa. Vicki


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## feistymomma (May 20, 2009)

Our barley hay does have the seed heads on it. I am not sure how well they would est just the straw.


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