[Stephen]

Question
Is it ok for feeding corn stalk bales, to your goats ? trying to change up the diet a little, just have access to horse hay at the moment. Thought of mixing it in with the hay ?

 

[Rex]

I guess no one has experience feeding goats corn stalks. I assume you are talking green stalks? Growing up in the Midwest we baled green corn stalks to feed the dairy cows but more often we chopped them up and put them in the silo for silage during the winter. Nothing like the smell of fermenting silage. Sort of a sweet and sour smell. I liked it....

If its good enough for dairy cows I don't see how it would hurt the goats any.

 

[sanhestar]

If its good enough for dairy cows I don't see how it would hurt the goats any.

just a note of caution on silage feed. Poorly done silage can contain enough listeriosis bacteria to make a goat seriously ill (while cows can still manage).

 

[Rex]

just a note of caution on silage feed. Poorly done silage can contain enough listeriosis bacteria to make a goat seriously ill (while cows can still manage).

Its also a good reason to pasteurize your milk before you drink it since many types of bacteria pass through the goat (or cow) and into the raw milk.

 

[Stephen]

Was not thinking of silage for feed, but they do have bales from dried out standing corn stalks they bale up.

 

[Rex]

If you are talking about feeding corn stalks bailed after the corn was picked I would suspect you would see some weight loss in the goats because of the low nutritional value. You would probably have to supplement with some sort of protein to help them hold their weight.

 

[Stephen]

My idea was to add it to the hay I have, and feed them together.

 

[Rex]

The only problem I see with that is goats are notorious for picking through their feed and only eating what they like. I suspect they would eat the hay and leave the stalks. But... having never fed corn stalks I'm just guessing. If you decide to try it, make sure to let us know how it goes.

 

[Herb]

Semi-loads of round baled, corn stalks are still moving around these parts. Most of these are heading to cattle feeders which grind them with hay, cattle can use the extra ruffage = cheaper feed. The bales alone won't make very good feed.