Working and keeping goats

[Hillsvale]

We have:
3 pigs
5 goats
9 sheep/lambs
98 meat chicks
11 layer adults
maybe 30 layer chicks
11 meat turkeys
12 dozen poults
2 african geese
3 muscovys
couple of dozen ducklings

This is like my perfect future scenario! How many acres do have for all these animals? Is it farmland or woods? What?

We have 3 acres many of which are still covered in downed trees... we are actively clearing the property line so we can fence for the goats and sheep to roam and munch forther back ... they will love it when this happens. Lets of course say that our sheep/lambs and goats get evening grain and bails and bails of hay.... we really should have had the extra pastures cleared by now but ran into an issue so our feed costs (hay) are higher than they would normally be...

Last year we just had the two lambs and one goat and we fed them so much grain and hay that we needed to mow the pasture! Next season things will stabilize with the extra acreage available.

Of course most of these critters (most poultry and half the hooved critters) will be headed to freezer camp. I forgot 12 heritage turkeys which we breed...

 

[Seven Hens Farm]

I have about 2 1/2 acres that is just a weeded over field. Do you think goats would like that?

Im thinking about raising some meat chickens later this summer to be butchered in the fall.

Right now I have 4 Muscoveys, one Kahki Campbell, one rooster and sixteen laying hens and six barnyard mix chicks.

I asked in a previous post about a pond...would it be a bad idea to let the goats have access to that?

 

[freemotion]

Weedy field=goat heaven!

Pond.....depends where you are. Wet areas tend to be a bad environment for goats because it is ideal conditions for nasty parasites that can be very harmful to goats. If you are an area where the pond will freeze, it can create some danger if they venture onto the ice. They hate to get wet, so they probably won't want to drink from it. And it will breed mosquitoes unless you have a really good fountain in it or plenty of something to eat the mosquito larvae. Doesn't mean you shouldn't have a pond, just maybe not in the goat pasture, or divide the pasture and just let them near the pond when it is dry in the summer.

 

[Hillsvale]

I have about 2 1/2 acres that is just a weeded over field. Do you think goats would like that?

Im thinking about raising some meat chickens later this summer to be butchered in the fall.

Right now I have 4 Muscoveys, one Kahki Campbell, one rooster and sixteen laying hens and six barnyard mix chicks.

I asked in a previous post about a pond...would it be a bad idea to let the goats have access to that?

sounds perfect!

 

[Hillsvale]

Weedy field=goat heaven!

Pond.....depends where you are. Wet areas tend to be a bad environment for goats because it is ideal conditions for nasty parasites that can be very harmful to goats. If you are an area where the pond will freeze, it can create some danger if they venture onto the ice. They hate to get wet, so they probably won't want to drink from it. And it will breed mosquitoes unless you have a really good fountain in it or plenty of something to eat the mosquito larvae. Doesn't mean you shouldn't have a pond, just maybe not in the goat pasture, or divide the pasture and just let them near the pond when it is dry in the summer.

well first of she can't just have one goat.... and the other poultry would handle the pond so I think the goats would handle the weeds and say Yahhooooo

 

[Seven Hens Farm]

well first of she can't just have one goat.... and the other poultry would handle the pond so I think the goats would handle the weeds and say Yahhooooo

Of course not just one goat!

What do you mean "handle the pond"? Do you mean the ducks would eat the mosquitos and other bugs? That would be awesome! I think I might have to get some more Khaki Campbells though, the Muscoveys dont like the water as much as the Campbells! We also have a lot of those barn swallows that supposedly eat them too.

Well, Im going to go to the local Fleet Farm and look at fencing. I have been there and noticed there are a lot of different types of electric fence...rope, wire, tape...which one is the best to keep predators out?

 

[jodief100]

I work full time and have an hour one way commute. Hubby's isn't much better.

We currently have:
23 adult and yearling does
15 kids (7 to keep)
2 bucks
30 laying hens
25 roosters to be processed
8 guineas
2 turkeys (named Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner)
3 LGD Great Pyrs
2 lazy house dog greyhounds
7 barn cats
2 fat house cats

I feed and water the chickens and feed the LGD's every morning. Every night we feed and water the goats, dogs, chickens, etc.... It takes about 15-20 minutes in the morning and about 30-45 in the evening. These are meat goats, no milking. I have 1 milk goat but I only keep her in milk about 3 months of the year.

Weekends are spent trimming hooves, FAMACHA checking, doing all the monthly maintenance stuff. Fence building, barn cleaning; all those things are done as we have time.

We are busy but we love it. We use goat fence, it is 4 square. I have heard for electric, high tensile wire is best. We are going to try that with our back pastures.