Raising goats and stuff

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Second that on the fencing. But if I'm outside (which is a good part of the day) the goats are out with me. They follow me around like puppies and always wanna be right up in my business.

Protecting against predators is a must. I learned that the hard way. It only takes a few minutes. Luckily I only left them unattended for a just a moment. But that was long enough for the neighbor's dog to attack one. Luckily she wasn't hurt too badly and fully recovered. Annie the one-eared goat now...

While I still have a soft spot for dogs, I'm finding the thought of having to kill one to protect the chickens and goat gets easier over time. Haven't done it yet but I've come close. I found one stray right out in front of my house. Had a little rifle handy and fired two rounds right over his head as he ran away. I've never seen a dog cover nearly 1000' of ground that quickly. That's been several months ago and no issues since.

I like how you do things. I just wanna have enough of these critters around to supply all the chicken meat/duck meat/eggs/goat meat and dairy products I need. Be able to give some of it away to those who can use it. I know my family and my inlaws would love that.

While I love eating them, and their fresh eggs, I do hate chickens, they're just nasty creatures. But I'll put up with them in small numbers.

Also, I forgot to mention, I figure a pig or two would be on my wish list as well. I would be open to any advice on them too.

Yeah...chickens are pretty nasty. But I still like them.

We've come really close to picking up a couple of baby pigs.

I like the thought of having some goat dairy stuff...especially cheese. But I have no idea how to do that. We're gonna try breeding the girls first and see how that goes before we get any further ahead of ourselves.

If you like animals, you'll love having them around. My wife grew up on a farm but it's been a long time since she's raised animals. I've never had animals other than dogs so this is all new to me and I really like it. I can't imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else. I have so much fun here I rarely want to leave.

 

[Perplexed]

I’ve had several requests for that but but most people don’t have adequate protective perimeter fencing to protect my “kids” while doing the job

This herder uses portable flexible orange fencing to pen in his goats while on site, and he also uses a battery-powered hot wire around the top to discourage the more adventurous goats. He said it works very well.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Recently, I met a goat herder from AR who rents out his herd of 100+ goats for non-chemical weed control; his goats do an excellent job knocking down sericea and other invasives. It was an impressive operation.

I've read some very interesting things about sericea lespedeza. I have a ton of it growing in an unused pasture behind the house and the goats eat that stuff like candy. Many ag experts are saying it's a natural parasite control, especially for goats and sheep. It's no longer looked upon as invasive by many states.

 

[Perplexed]

i was in contact with probably the same guy about some weed brush control but i am to far away. i knew a lady from calif who had or has semi loads of Kiko's that she takes all over for wild land growth control as part of a fire deterrent.

Wish I could remember his name. He was probably in his late 50s to early 60s. Very nice gentleman.

 

[tynyphil]

I find myself in that area quite often. When I find the time (right now I may as well have negative time) I'll give you a holler and make plans to stop by.

I’m available most times as I’m retired. Best way to hook up is email to [email protected] or PM

 

[Perplexed]

I've read some very interesting things about sericea lespedeza. I have a ton of it growing in an unused pasture behind the house and the goats eat that stuff like candy. Many ag experts are saying it's a natural parasite control, especially for goats and sheep. It's no longer looked upon as invasive by many states.

I’m told sericea has a significantly higher proportion of protein than most other vegetation goats might feed on. This fellow had 30-some goats set on a one-acre plot that was choked with sericea, and five days later the stuff was all gone.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Yep... They love it. It is very high in protein but one problem is the high level of tannins in the sericea bind proteins from other forage that makes their proteins undigestible. But they're not sure if that happens with ruminants like goats and sheep.

 

[cowadle]

Yep... They love it. It is very high in protein but one problem is the high level of tannins in the sericea bind proteins from other forage that makes their proteins undigestible. But they're not sure if that happens with ruminants like goats and sheep.

tannins are a blessing and a curse. they can help void parasites and they can kill the goat or cattle. goats are much more tolerant of it though. and goats prefer to browse and not graze.

 

[tynyphil]

moving on to chickens.. Like I've said before.....I have focused on self sufficiency for a while. I keep a flock of 10-20 laying hens most of the time and 'renew' the flock every other year to keep egg laying maximized. I keep 1 or 2 roosters so I'll have fertilized eggs. That way I can use my small incubators to perpetuate in case I can't get chicks otherwise. I am testing right now and have 21 eggs in the incubator but I have hedged my bet by ordering a specific breed of chick I wanted to be delivered in about 3 weeks. Chickens are great garbage disposals

 

[rickm]

Kid has been after me to get her some chicks but i havent got around to building any kind of coop to keep them in yet out at the farm and cant let them run free with all the critters out there and someone not there to watch them.