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04/16/09, 06:52 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Worcestershire, England
Posts: 474
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Can goats go out after rain?
Sorry, this is probably a silly question but I know that if feeding goats browse, you should let it dry first if it had been rained on, to avoid bloat. My goats have an exercise yard and a paddock to use when it's not raining. If the day starts with rain but then dries up, is it ok to let the goats go out when the grass, leaves etc will still be wet? Living in the UK, most days are a mixture!
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04/16/09, 06:53 AM
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A & N Lazy Pond Farm
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 3,375
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My goats are free to come and go from the barn as they like, rain or shine.
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04/16/09, 06:58 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 24,108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockytopsis
My goats are free to come and go from the barn as they like, rain or shine.
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mine too 
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Teach only Love...for that is what You are 
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04/16/09, 07:09 AM
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Gimme a YAAAAY!
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NC Arkansas
Posts: 5,327
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Mine, too.
In fact, I've never heard that browse should be dry. Goodness, what would herds of field goats do?
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04/16/09, 07:25 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Worcestershire, England
Posts: 474
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Well, that's what I thought.Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick somewhere (No pun intended!) So, everyone else's goats go in and out and eat wet leaves with no ill effects?
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04/16/09, 07:55 AM
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 839
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaitlin
So, everyone else's goats go in and out and eat wet leaves with no ill effects?
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Yup
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04/16/09, 08:05 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Texas
Posts: 573
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Yes, plus goodness what if they drink water after eating dry leaves?
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04/16/09, 08:11 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Worcestershire, England
Posts: 474
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Okay, Okay! 
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04/16/09, 08:12 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 24,108
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I love these kinds of questions because the same kind of wondering thoughts go through my head too about things 
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Teach only Love...for that is what You are
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04/16/09, 08:29 AM
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TMESIS
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Zone 6 - Middle TN
Posts: 1,220
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Mine go out rain or shine. Funny when we first got them years ago, they would run as fast as they could to the barn if they felt one rain drop, now they'll stand outside eating until they are a soaking wet mess!
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04/16/09, 08:31 AM
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Pook's Hollow
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,570
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoatsRus
Mine go out rain or shine. Funny when we first got them years ago, they would run as fast as they could to the barn if they felt one rain drop, now they'll stand outside eating until they are a soaking wet mess!
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Ditto! We always used to joke that they'd melt in the rain. 
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Half Caper Farm - breeding Saanens, Boers and Nigerian Dwarfs
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04/16/09, 09:16 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Northern Ontario
Posts: 1,713
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I don't know about rain but I did read that you should feed hay and let the morning dew dry when the grass first starts to grow and is very lush to prevent bloat. Could this be what your are thinking of? Does anybody follow that advice?
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04/16/09, 09:56 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas
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It's more than just preventing bloat. As foliage dries, parasites move back down closer to the ground, where goats don't usually forage unless the grass/browse is very short. So they pick up fewer parasites on dry forage.
Madfarmer
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04/16/09, 11:11 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Worcestershire, England
Posts: 474
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Madfarmer
It's more than just preventing bloat. As foliage dries, parasites move back down closer to the ground, where goats don't usually forage unless the grass/browse is very short. So they pick up fewer parasites on dry forage.
Madfarmer
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Perhaps this is what I'm thinking of? I'm pretty bsure I've read somewhere as well that if you pick browse, it's best to leave it to the next day to feed if it's wet.However, just because it was in a book doesm't mean it's right and I'd raher go by everyone's experience.
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04/16/09, 05:26 PM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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Browse is higher than the worm larvae crawl. We feed browse right away so that it doesn't wilt.
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04/16/09, 08:07 PM
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Gimme a YAAAAY!
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NC Arkansas
Posts: 5,327
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Qvrfullmidwife
Yes, plus goodness what if they drink water after eating dry leaves? |
That's what DH said. "What's the difference if they eat wet leaves or eat dry leaves and then drink water?"
Kaitlin, we don't mean to make fun at your expense. It's just that goatios are such funny critters, and I mean that in a good way. Mine are positive that rain is acid... and they think I can make it stop!
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Before you marry someone, ask yourself, "Will they be a good killing partner during the zombie apocalypse?"
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04/17/09, 04:43 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Worcestershire, England
Posts: 474
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That's ok - I did think it was probably a silly question.It's a bit like when you have your first baby - you're convinced that the slightest thing will kill them. By the time you've had your fourth, you don't panic quite so much. I promise I'll go away now and stop panicking! Thanks for all your kind words.
Kaitlin
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04/17/09, 07:24 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: PA
Posts: 5,387
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaitlin
Perhaps this is what I'm thinking of? I'm pretty bsure I've read somewhere as well that if you pick browse, it's best to leave it to the next day to feed if it's wet.However, just because it was in a book doesm't mean it's right and I'd raher go by everyone's experience.
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Careful with feeding any just wilted stuff.... Generally this is when any toxins will be highest. If you cure it for hay or feed fresh any risk is much less. So if you wilt don't ever feed the wrong thing.
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04/17/09, 11:45 AM
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Katie
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Twining, Mi.
Posts: 19,930
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Maybe you were thinking if it had frost on it still like sometimes this time of year here there will be mornings with frost on the greenery growing around. My goats won't eat it if it has frost on it so maybe they know something we don't.
If's rained too much mine don't like that either. They don't want to walk through anything puddled up or mud. I think they are spoiled.
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