How Much Hay Does a Goat Need? Daily and Per Winter

When the grass stops growing, hay becomes most of what a goat eats, and running out halfway through winter is expensive and stressful. The amount isn't a fixed number: it scales with the size of the goat. Agricultural extension services work it out in three steps, and this guide follows the same method.

Step 1: dry matter, 2–6% of bodyweight a day

Washington State University Extension gives goats a dry matter intake of 2–6% of bodyweight a day. That's a wide range, so this site uses a single planning figure of 3.75% (the same one behind our goat feed guide). For a 50 kg (110 lb) goat, that's about 1.9 kg (4.1 lb) of dry matter a day.

Step 2: turn dry matter into hay

Hay isn't pure dry matter: the same extension guidance treats it as about 90% dry matter, so you divide by 0.9 to get the weight of hay itself. The 50 kg goat needs about 2.1 kg (4.6 lb) of hay a day when hay is its whole forage diet.

Step 3: a winter's supply, plus waste

Multiply by the number of days you'll be feeding hay. WSU Extension's own worked example uses a six-month winter of 182 days, which comes to about 380 kg (840 lb) per goat. Then add an allowance for hay that gets trampled, soiled or pulled out: WSU puts waste at anywhere from 10% to 50% depending on how hay is fed. With 20% added, plan on roughly 455 kg (1,000 lb) per goat for the winter. How you feed the hay decides where you land in that range.

What changes the answer

• Size. A pygmy goat needs a fraction of what a large dairy breed does, because the figure is a percentage of bodyweight.
• Concentrate feed. 3.75% covers a goat's whole daily intake, so any concentrate it gets replaces some of the hay.
• Pasture. Days with good grazing need less hay; the figures above assume none.
• What's left over. The published range is wide, so watch whether hay is cleared fast or left, and adjust.

Work out your own numbers

The hay calculator does these steps for your herd size, your goats' weight and your winter length, and turns the total into bales if you enter a bale weight. Water rises alongside dry feed; the goat water guide and water calculator cover that side.

Source: Washington State University Extension (Dr Susan Kerr), “Calculating Livestock Winter Hay Needs”, via Oregon State University Small Farms: smallfarms.oregonstate.edu. Sources checked: October 2026. General information, not a ration plan from a vet or nutritionist.

Common questions

How much hay does a goat eat a day?

About 2.1 kg (4.6 lb) a day for a 50 kg goat, if hay is its whole forage diet. That comes from a planning intake of 3.75% of bodyweight in dry matter, divided by 0.9 because hay is about 90% dry matter.

How much hay does a goat need for winter?

Roughly 380 kg (840 lb) per 50 kg goat over a six-month, 182-day winter, or about 455 kg (1,000 lb) with a 20% allowance for waste.

How many bales of hay is that?

Divide the winter total by the weight of one of your bales. Bale weights vary too much by size and supplier to assume a standard one, so weigh a bale or ask your supplier, then use the hay calculator.

Do goats need hay if they're on pasture?

The figures here assume hay is the whole forage diet. Grazing and concentrate feed both replace part of it, so a goat with good pasture or a daily ration of feed needs less hay than this.