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- #11
DustyBoot
Loving the herd life
Been thinking, and here's my latest idea. 7 or 8 goats (1 buck kept penned with a wether to keep him company, and 5 or 6 does). One jersey cow, and we breed her to a friend's good Dexter bull for a beefier calf and also pick up a bummer calf for her to raise, and hopefully have a bit of milk left for us (milking once a day). There's a dairy not far from here and I've talked to him before about the possibility of buying a cow from him. Figure we could get one a little older and more docile, but well bred.
We have ~12 acres to use for ag. A little of that is "improved" rather than native pasture, according to records. The county says 1 cow-calf pair or 7 goats per 5 acres of native pasture (or 4 of improved pasture). I figure 7 goats, one cow-calf pair, and one extra calf seems about right. Still hoping I can get in touch with the ag extension guy, but not holding my breath.
I was walking around yesterday thinking through things, and I really think there's a lot for goats down in the woods. It may be that eventually they clear it out to the point where it's no longer goat territory, and if that happens we can reconsider our stock. Maybe hair sheep at that point. But I think there's enough there to keep goats going for a while. It's pretty dense stuff. Oak and Pecan with undergrowth galore... poison oak as tall as I am.
Does that sound feasible at all, at least for getting started? Maybe I should ask over in the cattle forum about the likelihood of the nurse cow thing working out.
We have ~12 acres to use for ag. A little of that is "improved" rather than native pasture, according to records. The county says 1 cow-calf pair or 7 goats per 5 acres of native pasture (or 4 of improved pasture). I figure 7 goats, one cow-calf pair, and one extra calf seems about right. Still hoping I can get in touch with the ag extension guy, but not holding my breath.
I was walking around yesterday thinking through things, and I really think there's a lot for goats down in the woods. It may be that eventually they clear it out to the point where it's no longer goat territory, and if that happens we can reconsider our stock. Maybe hair sheep at that point. But I think there's enough there to keep goats going for a while. It's pretty dense stuff. Oak and Pecan with undergrowth galore... poison oak as tall as I am.
Does that sound feasible at all, at least for getting started? Maybe I should ask over in the cattle forum about the likelihood of the nurse cow thing working out.
