Goat Feed Idea

Beef11 · #1 08/17/10, 02:23 PM

So I've been thinking about ways to stretch my pasture. I'm looking at getting about 20 boer nannies and would like to not hammer my pasture with just goats and have enough to help feed odds and ends cattle that are around and maybe a mare if she has a foal. So I got the idea of getting a riding lawnmower with a bagger and green chop a couple loads of feed in short order right off the side of the road. I would keep them in a Drylot and keep the feed in with them until it was cleaned up then cut another load.

FunnyRiverFarm · #2 08/17/10, 02:58 PM

You have to be really careful because green chop tends to mold easily...moldy feed kills goats.

Alice In TX/MO · #3 08/17/10, 04:00 PM

Road sides are also full of aluminum cans, dirty diapers, and dead animals which shred when you mow them. Not good goat feed.

Beef11 · #4 08/17/10, 06:15 PM

I'll watch for trash, I think it will work grandly

KimM · #5 08/17/10, 06:43 PM

Besides trash there is residue from winter chemicals and pollution from vehicles. I wouldn't use the roadside for a feedsource, no way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Road sides are also full of aluminum cans, dirty diapers, and dead animals which shred when you mow them. Not good goat feed.

CaliannG · #6 08/17/10, 06:57 PM

Mmmmmm... vehicle exhaust soot, chemical fertilizers/weed killers/whatever-else-is-poured-out-of-windows-or-drips-out-of-trucks, ancient roadkill, bits of asphalt if it is a paved road, oil if it is a gravel road, all chopped up into God-knows-what kind of plants. Sounds yummy!

Would you feed that to your mare in foal? Then don't feed it to your goats!

Besides, Boers can have very delicate digestion, depending upon the bloodlines. Not only that, some of the stuff that sloshes out of vehicles going down the road can KILL your goats, even in small quantities.

Non-potable water that someone is carrying to fill their stock pond? Pretty harmless, right? Yeah, it's sloshing and dripping, but it's just water.

No, it's NON-POTABLE water that has been reclaimed from sewage, and it carries bacteria that can kill your livestock.

But if you already have decided to do it and think it is a good idea, I doubt anyone here will talk you out of it. Although I have to wonder why you posted if you had already made up your mind.

Alice In TX/MO · #7 08/17/10, 09:30 PM

You might find this interesting. This article is about the dangers of using roadside hay and forage, specifically in reference to the herbicides used by road maintenance crews.

"Herbicide labels for products containing picloram and clopyralid may have slightly different warnings or recommendations based on the product formulation and/or active ingredient concentration. Because of this, it is important to read and understand each herbicide label. Some examples of warning and recommendations for these products include: do not allow lactating dairy animals to graze treated areas within 7 days after application; meat animals should be withdrawn from treated fields at least 3 days before slaughter; do not harvest or cut the forage within 30 days after application; and do not plant sensitive broadleaf crops in treated areas until a sensitive bioassay shows that no detectable herbicide is present in the soil. Always refer to the label for specific restrictions and recommendations."

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...ems/M1197.html

motdaugrnds · #8 08/17/10, 11:09 PM

Beef11, I must agree with others who have posted. If you do go ahead and take the grass from the sides of the road, I suspect you might be presenting yourself with unexpected problems.

Laverne · #9 08/18/10, 12:01 AM

I'd think about giving the clippings to a couple cattle and feed lot them instead of the goats. Here is a thread about feeding cattle clippings Can you feed grass clippings to a cow? They aren't as delicate as goats plus some people make silage with the clippings in garbage bags for the cattle. It would be dangerous to give this to goats. Dryloting a couple cattle would be equilivent to quite a few goats and may be a good trade off.
Goats are a whole different ball game and takes some study and knowledge and proper management to avoid goat morts.

fitwind · #10 08/18/10, 02:07 AM

I would be scared to do that so many things on the roadside grass.....small pieces of glass plastic etc... some so small you can hardly see... not including the oil and anti-freeze that sometimes leak on it....

sammyd · #11 08/18/10, 09:07 AM

There may be some nasty weeds in a ditch.
Green chop from a field or lawn is far different from just clipping a ditch.

Beef11 · #12 08/19/10, 06:54 PM

Often people make hay from the ditch banks around here. i'm this practice would have been discontinued if they had an problems with it. I'm not talking about a highway but a back road in the middle of nowhere. Trash pickup first would only take a few minutes and not need redone for a few years. Very Very Little traffic. I do like the garbage bag silage idea.

CaliannG · #13 08/19/10, 07:01 PM

Have fun with that.

Alice In TX/MO · #14 08/19/10, 07:09 PM

Silage is an iffy thing for goats, and I'd tell you why, but you wouldn't listen.

Let us know how your experiment works out.

I wish you the best.

Laverne · #15 08/19/10, 07:35 PM

If you did the silage for the cattle instead of the goats, like I mentioned, the silage may work out. Cattle can handle some mold usually. Mold will kill a goat.

haphaz_farm · #16 08/19/10, 08:24 PM

i was reading your blog, you have already lost two batches of kids with your first goats. maybe you should read up a bit more on goats and listen to the fine folks on here who are and have been successful with their own herds. i know i have learned a ton from these forums.

Creamers · #17 08/20/10, 02:06 PM

Mold will kill a goat - period. Silage is NOT for goats. It is an awful death, that which can come being being exposed to molded feed/hay, and the treatment for Listeriosis is one I do not think you would both with if you will not listen to sound advice here.
If you've already lost goats, I highly advice really listening to those who have success with
raising them before trying more.
"your experiment" will almost certainly fail, but sometimes you just have to learn the hard way.
If you were actually cutting clean grass type forage on a back, backroad. . . and it was not molded and eaten right away it MIGHT be okay.

motdaugrnds · #18 08/20/10, 02:45 PM

I would never feed silage to any of my goats!

Lizza · #19 08/20/10, 02:55 PM

I'm not sure where the idea started that goats can just be given anything and be fine and healthy.

No, I would not feed this, period, unless you don't value healthy live stock. I would sooner feed it to the cattle.

I too read on your blog that your first two sets of twins died, what were you feeding the mother's? I read that you had started a mineral program (maybe too late) but that can be an incomplete picture, you also must look at their main diet.

RiverPines · #20 08/20/10, 03:21 PM

Ok I have done this but not with toxic road side growth. I mowed clean open pasture.

But you can not store it for goats. You can cut and bag only enough they will eat up in one day.
You also have to spread it out for them and not pile it. If you pile the clippings they will heat up fast, to fast and thats bad for the goats.

Fresh green cut chop heats period. That heat is the beginning of the decomposing process. In just 24 hours that process has advanced to the point that it can be toxic to the goats.

So if you feed green chop, feed only what can be eaten within 12 hours. Spread it out and do not put in piles so it can breath better.

What you describe that you want to do is best for cow as many have said. Honestly goats can not tolerate what a cow can.