How much acreage needed for goat...

PBPitcher · #1 07/10/07, 08:05 AM

I apologize for the spinoff of the acre per cow thread, but this seemed like an appropriate time to ask

How much acreage do you think would be needed for a goat? We live on a couple acres of land, and as I have mentioned before are contemplating chickens and potentially a goat for milking - hasn't happened yet (life happens, what can you do

)...I am still doing my research and contemplating!

Any advice would be appreciated!

devdragon33 · #2 07/10/07, 01:47 PM

we have one acre and can keep 11 goats on it, BUT we feed hay all year round and grain also. Also we have other animals on it and they only run about 3/4 an acre with the other animals. We are in the middle of fencing the two acres next to us off for them (the guy said we could use it-- after all he has about 1000 acres).

ozark_jewels · #3 07/10/07, 01:53 PM

You could easily keep a couple goats on a couple acres in a green state. They will do especially well if the acres are brushy or slightly grown up with saplings, etc. You may need to supplement with hay if you don't have that much brush. Goats prefer brush to pasture.
I say a *couple* goats because you can't have just one. They are a herd animal and they *need* a companion. Chickens just won't cut it.

Goats are great!

Dahc · #4 07/10/07, 03:04 PM

I can't answer your question but I can tell you this: 8,000 sq ft is NOT enough for two goats. I have two in that size area and they have eaten it almost to the dirt including skinning the bark off the trees. One acre is 43,000 sq ft so 14 goats would be far to many to be able to make it sustainable. That's based on the 2 per 8000 mistake I have made.

As an uneducated estimate, I would say no more than 6 or 7 per acre if you want the scrub to grow back before it's killed by the goats eating to much of it.

Scrounger · #5 07/10/07, 05:27 PM

Well - my first "goat pen" was 65' x 400' - I had 2 moms and 4 kids. I added about 1/2 acre to that for 14 goats. They never even got CLOSE to getting ahead of the grass/browse in it. I am in the process of opening more pasture for the future. I only feed hay from Thanksgiving to April here. They pretty much eat everything in their path - from Brome grass, Redtop, Bluegrass, to Multiflora Rose.
It all depends on where you are and what you have. A goat will generally eat whatever you have in your pasture - including the trees.

reese · #6 07/11/07, 07:37 AM

If you are on limited space, look into mini or kinder goats.

We're in the same boat, small amount of acerage, but really want goats. We've decided to go ahead and get Mini-Manchas, when we can find them, and not compromise what we want for the convinence of finding couple/3 goats.

WE've settled on the idea of needing hay part time, that is fine, it is our compromise for the lifestyle we desire.

Reese

okgoatgal2 · #7 07/11/07, 09:22 AM

generally, an acre can "support" 6-7 goats if it is good thick grass/browse. multiple pens are better, you know-eat in one for a week, move to a new one, rotational grazing.

Hammer4 · #8 07/12/07, 10:31 AM

I have 7 boers on slightly less than an acre of pasture, and they can't keep up with it...

But like any other grazing animal to acrage equation, it depends on rain. If you don't get rain, the grass stops growing, you will run out of grass...if you have more animals per acre vs less, you just run out of grass sooner.

ET1 SS · #9 07/12/07, 08:02 PM

We have a half dozen goats in a 40X40 pen, in a forest. They stay in there at night and when we are away. Otherwise we let them out and they roam an area of forest maybe one acre.

We feed one bag of rolled oats about all summer.

Once a blanket of snow is on the ground, then straw will be given to them and lots more grain.

rwzzz · #10 07/13/07, 10:38 AM

What are you using for fence? I have a lot of scrubby, grown up patches, (lots of poison Ivy) that I would like to have a couple of goats to eat, but the fencing issue is tough. It would have to be portable so I could move it around a bit.
thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

We have a half dozen goats in a 40X40 pen, in a forest. They stay in there at night and when we are away. Otherwise we let them out and they roam an area of forest maybe one acre.

We feed one bag of rolled oats about all summer.

Once a blanket of snow is on the ground, then straw will be given to them and lots more grain.

ET1 SS · #11 07/13/07, 01:32 PM

We found electric plastic mesh netting, 165 foot long and 42 inches tall, for $115 a roll.
It makes a 40 foot by 40 foot square pen, with a wooden 'loading pallet' gate.
Our fence zappers are DC and run off a car battery with a charger.

I cleared a path through the forest underbrush 2 maybe 3 foot wide, just enough that I could walk and setup the fencing.

northwinds · #12 07/13/07, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

We found electric plastic mesh netting, 165 foot long and 42 inches tall, for $115 a roll.
It makes a 40 foot by 40 foot square pen, with a wooden 'loading pallet' gate.
Our fence zappers are DC and run off a car battery with a charger.

I cleared a path through the forest underbrush 2 maybe 3 foot wide, just enough that I could walk and setup the fencing.

What about the one acre of forest in which they roam? Is that fenced?

ET1 SS · #13 07/13/07, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northwinds

What about the one acre of forest in which they roam? Is that fenced?

No.

We have a 300' driveway that has forest on either side. The goat pen is to one side of the house. When I let the goats out in the morning, they charge out and hit the tall weeds around the house and maybe wander into the trees/brush. Within 20 minutes they are laying up against the house with huge extended bellies. Too fat to move, and they lay there chewing their cud for an hour. Through out the day, they will all get up and wander along the driveway and in the forest on either side immediately alongside the driveway. Then they all come right back to the house, with huge bellies. They like to rub against the siding on our house, so we can hear them when they come back.

Through out the day, they are either laying next to the house chewing their cud. Or they are browsing in the trees/brush alongside the driveway.

In my research, when they eat and fill their stomachs like that, their bellies pressurize and their feed ferments [which is why their bellies look so extended], this is all perfectly normal and healthy for goats with good 'feed'.

They are rarely outside of line-of-sight from the house. They never do reach all the way to the end of the driveway, they just can't seem to make it that far, without filling their bellies already. So then they return to the house to sit and process their full bellies.

The entire area that all of this takes place in is about an acre, though it includes our driveway.