The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: mentalmilly on August 30, 2016, 12:04:07 pm
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I have a lot of grass land with trees and a few shrubs and was thinking of getting a goat or two to keep the grass down. Is this a good idea and what breed is good for this? how hard is it to keep goats, don't want to eat them or breed from them. do they need company of their own kind ( would l need 2 ) or would a flock of chucks be enough company for them. need any info please. Have housing they can shelter in, do they need locking up at night, are they noisy, that sort of info. Have kept a couple of lambs in the past, wondered if they are the same to keep but without the death wish that sheep have.
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I have a lot of grass land with trees and a few shrubs and was thinking of getting a goat or two to keep the grass down. Is this a good idea and what breed is good for this? How much land do you have? What sort of shrubs? Goats love browsing and you need to make sure you have nothing poisonous and you they will eat your shrubs.
how hard is it to keep goats, don't want to eat them or breed from them. Do you have any animal knowledge? I don't find my goats difficult or time consuming but you need to do lots of research and get some hands on experience ideally before you get any livestock. Where are you? Find a local goat keeper and ask to visit. See if you really like goats and the commitment before you commit.
do they need company of their own kind ( would l need 2 ) Yes they do.
Have housing they can shelter in, do they need locking up at night, are they noisy, that sort of info. Have kept a couple of lambs in the past, wondered if they are the same to keep but without the death wish that sheep have. They need very good fencing. They can be noisy. What happened to your lambs?
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Thanks Harmony I don't think any of our shrubs are poisonous, having looked them up on the web, but if they are noisy that may be an issue with the neighbours. We ate the lambs which is why we had them. We have a little smallholding and have decided we don't like keeping animals for food. Are goats very good at grass cropping or would l lose every bit of green in the area? Also which breed/size of goat would maybe suit us?
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Goats.
Make sure your fencing is good - stock fencing with single strand of electric along top and half way up is ideal we find.
If you want essentially pets then I would suggest a pair of castrated males.
Goats can be noisy but generally only when they think it is feeding time - I cant see how a pair of goats will be a noise nuisance
Trees will need protecting as goats will eat the bark.
Goats will not generally eat the grass that close - they are browsers not grazers.
Size / breed depends on a lot of things - how much area? What is available - what do you want to spend? Do you mind horns. Bagots, Boers, Golden Guernseys are my preferences. Angoras are nice but need 2 x yearly shearing
Goats will need a shelter all year round also hay and mineral lick. If just pets doubt they will need much / if any hard feed - depends on quality of grazing / hay / weather etc
Very similar routine husbandry requirements as sheep but advise go on a goat care course first
No don't need locking up at night - can live with chickens as long as cant access the chicken food and the ground is large enough not to be contaminated with chicken poop.
Buttercups Goat Sanctuary look out for homes for goats and run care courses - might be an idea - otherwise depending on where you are other courses might be available or friendly goat keepers willing to show you the ropes
http://www.buttercups.org.uk/husbandry-course.htm (http://www.buttercups.org.uk/husbandry-course.htm)
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thanks Cuckoo We may have to rethink goats. The buttercup sanctuary is in Maidstone we are in west wales. Oh well goats, just a thought.
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I keep angora goats and coloured ryeland sheep. Originally I had Pygmy goats for much the same reason you give. When they passed on we decided to upgrade to Angoras (sorry Pygmy goat owners - I mean they are bigger). If you are not keeping milking goats, I would say the annual routine is more straightforward than for sheep. For grazing only than a couple of Pygmy goats or bagots if you can get them. Make sure they have a field shelter.
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Thanks Pharnorth would Pigmy goats keep the grass shorter then? l think l read somewhere they are not very good for grazing just grass. They would get more than just grass but that is the main reason to get then. Apart from the fact they are lovely creatures.
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We have two pygmy goats (who are adorable, lots of fun) and very little trouble to care for. They don't keep the grass down though.
Like you we didn't get them to eat or breed from or milk, they're just lovely pets!
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It's a quantity question really. Our original goat paddock is about the size of a tennis court and two Pygmies kept that short. But we are in the dry East so it grows slowly through June to September. Certainly your grass will be shorter with them than without them but you may find you need more than a couple or run through with a mower once in a while if you have half acre plus or your grass grows quicker than ours.
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They will kill your bushes/trees BEFORE they eat SOME of the grass. Goats are not lawnmowers.
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Certainly you will have to protect your trees and shrubs and that may be more trouble than it is worth but if you do ring fence round your trees then the goats will eat what they can reach and then the grass. I don't usually disagree with Anke but Bagots were specifically bred for parkland grazing. You must protect the bark from them but they will happily reach any low hanging branches. Pygmies, in my opinion are a good more easily available alternative.
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We are also new to goats and have two Toggenburg X and two Angoras, not had them long but the Toggs eat the trees out of choose, but th Angoras definitely graze. When I did a bit of research on the net the non dairy breeds seem to be better grazers.
Like you we have a patch of land we wanted eaten down with trees around the edges, the do seem to be helping.
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Thanks everyone, this gives me a lot to think on and decide what to do.
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I'd second geese as a grazing alternative. We fatten our Christmas geese in the goat field as our dairy goats don't really keep it down enough! As easy to keep as chickens and don't seem to mind the company.
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I keep my goats in a built up area and no one has complained about the noise. I have two adults and two kids at the moment. One of the kids is particularly noisy so I have been a bit worried but the neighbours seem to like them. He won't be around for very long anyway. He's not called Korma for nothing.