Goat/beef comparison?

mammabooh · #1 10/27/08, 07:48 AM

We moved to our farm this year and are having a bunch of work done to the barn. I've been working to get the pasture growing well, and we hope to have fencing up by next spring. We are trying to decide if we should get goats or steers. I think goats would be easier to manage (with adequate fencing, that is), but I think beef would sell better in this area.

Whichever we decide, it will be pasture-grown and butchered young.

Anyone have any advice for us?

Also, do any of you know of anyone in my area (Ashland/Wayne Counties...Ohio) that might have some pasture-raised goat meat that we could try?

Thanks for any info that you can give.

mammabooh · #2 10/28/08, 05:03 AM

Anyone?

Shazza · #3 10/28/08, 05:56 AM

You will be able to run more goats than steers...and steers will take longer to grow out and finish. So it is up to you which you would prefer.

mammabooh · #4 10/28/08, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shazza

You will be able to run more goats than steers...and steers will take longer to grow out and finish. So it is up to you which you would prefer.

I'm also thinking that steer poop is a heck of a lot messier...right?

Can goat poop be used directly on the garden, or does it need to compost first?

Shazza · #5 10/28/08, 06:39 AM

Mine composts on the floor of the goat house....which comes out thick enough to make poop bricks from...then we shovel it into a pile, let it compost for a bit or if I am impatient I put it straight on the vege garden.

mammabooh · #6 10/28/08, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shazza

I put it straight on the vege garden.

So, it's ok to use directly on the garden? We had some rabbits a while back and I put their droppings directly on our red raspberry plants...wow, what wonderful berries we had those years!

dosthouhavemilk · #7 10/28/08, 07:20 AM

My only cocern would be where are you going to market your goat? Are you fairly close to Cleveland? Or will they be going through a sale barn and shipped East?
If you have enough room, you might consider buying a bull calf from a local dairy farm in...well late Fall is best, or winter if the calf will have adequate shelter but not a completely closed in area. They can be eating pasture all Spring, Summer and Fall and then can be butchered for baby beef. Or you could carry them through one winter, then run them to the next Fall and butcher them then.
Any fencing that will hold in goats, is going to hold a steer. Do you have enough land to try both the first year to see if there is a market in your area for goat meat?

mammabooh · #8 10/28/08, 07:33 AM

That's what my concern is too...being able to sell meat or goats to fund the operation. We ony have 10 acres, so we have to show $2500.00 of income to remain AG on our taxes. It doesn't have to be profit, just sales. I'm not saying that all of it needs to come from the goats or cattle, but it would be nice to eventually work up to that. We don't really have an ethnic community close to us that I know of.

I'd really like to have goats and think that we would enjoy them more than cattle, but I'm afraid that they would just end up being pets and would cost us money instead of the other way around. Beef is king in these parts.

Is there any issure with raising cattle and goats together? Is it ok to graze them in the same pastures and have them bed together, or do they need their own areas?

Shazza · #9 10/28/08, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammabooh

So, it's ok to use directly on the garden? We had some rabbits a while back and I put their droppings directly on our red raspberry plants...wow, what wonderful berries we had those years!

Well rabbit poop is the best of all the poops for the vege garden.

You can run both together, 3 of our bucks live with the Dexters and have learnt to dodge the horns at feed time. So maybe a miniture breed would be best...minature Galloways are cute..mini Belted Galloways are like big teddy bears. You would need a small cattle breed that mature quickly.

mammabooh · #10 10/28/08, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shazza

Well rabbit poop is the best of all the poops for the vege garden.

You can run both together, 3 of our bucks live with the Dexters and have learnt to dodge the horns at feed time. So maybe a miniture breed would be best...minature Galloways are cute..mini Belted Galloways are like big teddy bears. You would need a small cattle breed that mature quickly.

Ooohhh, you're making me a happy girl. A few mini-somethings (probably Dexters) is exactly wat I had in mind!

Shazza · #11 10/28/08, 08:04 AM

Ah haaa...so now you need to investigate the specialty market for your meat..as we all know Dexter has a taste all its own and to get yourself a niche market is the go. Local restuarants for example. If you buy short leg cows make sure you only ever use a Chron negative Bull and dont ever keep a short leg bull from your cows.

mammabooh · #12 10/28/08, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shazza

dont ever keep a short leg bull from your cows.

What does that mean? Sorry...I'm not too informed yet when it comes to this stuff. I was raised on a farm, but I was mostly used for bailing hay, not animal husbandry!

Shazza · #13 10/28/08, 08:16 AM

Have a look in the cattle forum there should be Chrondysplasia threads in there....aka Dwafisim in Dexters. Rule of thumb is Never put a short leg to a short leg....which could happen if your cows are short and you keep a short bull calf and son gets mum.

mammabooh · #14 10/28/08, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shazza

Have a look in the cattle forum there should be Chrondysplasia threads in there....aka Dwafisim in Dexters. Rule of thumb is Never put a short leg to a short leg....which could happen if your cows are short and you keep a short bull calf and son gets mum.

Oh...so "from" was a typo and should have been "for"?

Shazza · #15 10/28/08, 08:29 AM

Both.

mpillow · #16 10/28/08, 08:57 AM

I have dairy goats and raise dairy bull calves on the milk. I would suggest that you buy from a local dairy farmer...Holstein, milking Shorthorns or crosses even. Priced between about $20-$50 at 3-5 days old. (cheaper in the Fall)
By 3m the calf will yield 60-90# of veal, a goat takes a year to come close to 60# of meat!!!! You can sell veal critters ready for butcher.
By 6-8 weeks the calves can be weaned and sold as "started"....minimum $150 around here.
At 16m you might yield 350# beef from a good holst.

The goats and young calves can be housed/pastured together but cows are WET, and harder on your pasture/soil in wet conditions. By 8m old its best to separate from the goats but not altogether necessary. Just make your barn door accommodate the goats and make the beef stay outside. Like a dutch door....close the top.

We have a nearly year old short legged bull Holst. right now that my daughter rides on... Thomas is a sweetheart.

Pigs grow quick on goat milk too.

10 acres is plenty....we only have 5 acres.

mammabooh · #17 10/28/08, 09:43 AM

Thanks, mpillow, for more good ideas. There are plenty of dairy farms around here...I'm sure I can get calves very cheaply. I'm just not sure that cheap is what I want. I sort of have my heart set on Dexters (or some other mini). I suppose I could always start out with some holsteins, see how they do for me and how I like them, and then make a decision based on that info for the next time. It would probably be better to do it that way than to spend big money on Dexters if Holsteins will suit me just fine, huh?!?!?

And, by the way, I'd LOVE to get a couple of hogs, but Hubby doesn't want any "stinkin' pigs". I reasoned that we don't even have to eat them...we could sell all of the meat, but he's not budging (yet...hee hee hee!).

Shazza · #18 10/28/08, 06:48 PM

Pigs dont stink...a Piggery stinks...but not a couple of pigs in a pen. I actually like the smell of home pigs, once your nose gets tuned in you can smell a pig a mile off

Most of our Dexters are shorties...and even though we use a long leg bull we get lots of shorty bull calves born...they are ready to butcher at 12mths old.

mammabooh · #19 10/29/08, 05:01 AM

Thanks, Shazza. I will keep gently working on Hubby. We have an old corn crib on a concrete base that I would love to convert to a pig pen. All we'd have to do is partially cover the weather side (I'm thinking a huge tarp...it would just be temporary) and build some sort of enclosure for them in there. The corn crib is the farthest structure from the house, so Hubby shouldn't be able to smell it unless he's out there playing with them. I'm with you...I like the smell of pigs (and cows, and chickens, and goats...but not horses...YUCK!).

Are your Dexters mostly grass-fed, or do you supplement with lots of grain?

Shazza · #20 10/29/08, 06:13 AM

Our Dexters are fed Oaten hay morning and night..so the hay and the grass they eat.