[New Riverside Farm]

Hello,

We have 3 lovelys and still working out, slowly, what's safe for them to eat. They get their concentrates, hay, goat willow, ash, a bit of elm, some raspberry canes (they are not pregnant and they've eaten them already!).

So the questions are:

1. Sycamore? Is it ok? Are there limits (read something about too much giving them bloat)
2. Are we ok with the trees we are giving - do they need to be limited for any reason?
3. Bind weed. I tried to remove it all but I've seen them get some from edges so it seems ok but that might be down to a small amount and me getting it away from them - but we're hoping to open another area to them and it is mixed in with brambles, raspberries, etc.

I have some other strange weed that I cannot identify in the mix and I'll keep trying and then ask you all to see if it's ok or not but thought I'd start there!

Oh yeah and does anyone have any golden guernsey studs in the West Yorkshire area? We'll be looking to breed our girls soon so looking for a handsome lad as a candidate!

[Penninehillbilly]

Can you take photos of the weeds? Pulled out and then photo'd so we know which it is  ..
I think there is one in Oxenhope. I think you once said you were somewhere near Skipton?
I'll check with a friend who has GG's.

[New Riverside Farm]

Here is the weed.

[Lesley Silvester]

Sycamore and bindweed are both fine although mine aren't wild about bindweed, probably because it's a week not one of my precious plants.    What you are giving them sounds fine to me. Fias Co Farm website is a mine of information and has lists of what is poisonous to goats and what is safe. It's an American site but most of the names seem to be the same. I used it a lot in my early goating days.


If you put your goats in the area with brambles, etc, they will have a darn good go at clearing it for you. Just get that weed identified first.

[New Riverside Farm]

Hi - Yes, in the Skipton area so if there's a good lookin' lad for our girls that'd be great!

As for the foraging. I've sent a pic of the weed but would love some help on the tree feed ok/not ok/ok in small amounts.

Many thanks!!

[Anke]

Your weed looks like Willowherb to me... if yes it's a goat favourite, especially once the purple flowers are out.


If you want to breed your GG's to registered stock - when joining the Golden Guernsey Goat Society you will get a stud list, uk-wide, so can check on there for local(ish) males available. You will almost certainly have to have your girls CAE tested, but you may have done so already.

[New Riverside Farm]

does anyone know about japanese knotweed? it's not in the section I'm looking at but there are parts still on the land which have it and I'd like to get rid of it!! Also got butterbur too - not sure if I've asked about that before or not.

As for CAE tested, is that only if they are registered? Like we have a collie and to breed her, we can still do it without registering her as we cannot do her provenance - though for all intents and purposes she is definitely a Border collie, so not much point to going the whole route as we can't register her and don't want the expense of papers, and put that money to good stud, good care, etc.

Would goats be similar?

[Dogwalker]

Sycamore - My goats love it but i noticed a drop in milk yield when the dairy goats had a pile of brash to clear up.  Back to normal after a few days and no other ill effects just don't give nursing does or milkers much.

[Anke]

re CAE - any responsible goat owner will have their stock tested at least once and then only use tested males for breeding as well. Nothing to do with registering as such, but it is a disease that is transferred through bodily fluids, including milk (especially if pooled milk is fed by bottle to all kids on a holding). Unless ALL  your girls came from tested herds (with a certificate) you do not know if they carry the virus until one develops signs at a few years of age - by which time it is too late. If you intend to run a fairly closed herd - get the vet out to take blood samples to test once and then only used tested males.


Fortunately we do not have Japanese knotweed, so don't know about it at all. Not sure about butterbur either, somehow doesn't look like something juicy the goats would like?

[New Riverside Farm]

ok - thanks Anke for letting me know about the CAE so I can do it well in advance and got plenty of time! : )

anyone else know japanese knotweed or butterbur?

[New Riverside Farm]

Anke,

This may seem a stupid question but my girls did all come from one place. In fact 2 are sisters, and the other is maybe a half sister or cousin I'd guess! But if I got one or two, would that be sufficient to test if they all came from the same place?

Many thanks!

[New Riverside Farm]

Thanks very much Scarlet! On both counts!

I did know we could eat part of the Japanese knotweed but you never know with goats and I don't want to risk them by testing different foods on them.

Many thanks again team goats!

[New Riverside Farm]

Hiya again,

Had someone local speculate that this weed is loosestrife. We are near a river so...

but not sure if this could be yellow loosestrife, purple, or rosebay willow herb as some on the forum have speculated. Our local wasn't sure if it was loosestrife or willowherb and it's difficult to say without flowers yet.

So I guess my question to you all is, is loosestrife a problem? If it's not (either variety as they are of different families) - then it won't matter which these are. But if any are a problem, then I'll need to dig a bit further to decide what this is for sure.

Many thanks again!!! : )

[New Riverside Farm]

oh one more thing - is wild garlic ok for them? We're not milking them so it won't matter for milk at the moment! But I know garlic can be such a useful thing healthwise with pest deterrents and we've got a lot of wild garlic, so...

[Lesley Silvester]

Garlic is fine. I'm not sure about loosestrife. I use this list. http://fiascofarm.com/goats/poisonousplants.htm  I printed a copy off and use it a lot. It is American so there may be some plants that have different names over there.