Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Most goats are kept outside during daylight hours for at least part of the year, where they can
freely forage for vegetation and obtain adequate exercise, sunshine, and fresh air. Goats can
be pastured together with horses, cattle, or sheep because they browse vegetation other live-
stock will not touch. Owners of meat and fiber goats often turn them loose into wooded areas
to browse. This is not advised for dairy goats because they can injure their udders on rough
undergrowth and because the quality and type of forage they eat affects the flavor of their
milk.
Dairy goats typically are confined in open pasture and kept closer to the stable or barn where
they are milked. Goats like to hang around close to the shed or barn — they are less apt than
sheep or cattle to wander for long distances. They also like to be close to where people are.
The amount of forage your goats can access will affect your budget — if they are grazing on
pasture, they are not eating as much feed out of your barn. In winter months, you will be
providing almost all of their food, but you can lighten the financial burden in warmer months
by providing access to areas for foraging and browsing.
The ideal solution is to establish at least one extra enclosure that can be left empty for weeks
at a time to recover while the goats are in another pen. The size of these enclosures is up to
you. A larger area will stay cleaner and give your goats more exercise. It will be necessary to
maintain some control over what grows within the enclosures, such as toxic weeds. If you en-
joy walking, wander over a large pasture periodically to check the quality of forage. The pres-
ence of a few poisonous plants will not necessarily harm your goats; if they have enough oth-
er forage to eat, they are not likely to consume more than a tiny amount of a harmful plant.
If you do not have enough land to fence two larger enclosures, you will need to have at least
one. In addition, you will need at least one small pen to separate livestock when weaning kids
or isolating a sick or overly aggressive animal from the herd. If you decide you want to keep a
buck for breeding, you must be able to accommodate him separately from your does.
To move a small herd of goats from one pen to another, or from pasture to barn, all you need
is a bucket of grain. Simply walk out into the field and rattle it, and the goats will follow you
anywhere. However, a larger herd of a dozen goats, even fewer if you are physically small and
have a large breed, will soon have you on the ground in their goat-like enthusiasm to get at the
grain.
Feeding Your Goats
