home grown goat fodders questions

[bee]

Looking for some goat fodders to grow. I don't have fields(or equipment) to grow hay and alfalfa, so am looking for other options. I have 5 acres mostly open wooded but NOT fenced for free ranging.

Deer eat my jerusalem artichokes plants, will goats?
Ditto my sunflowers..can I feed goats the plant as well as the seed?
Mangel beets or swiss chard leaves?
Mimosa tree prunings(I know mimosa is in the legume family)
Multiflora rose( huge clumps of that here)
Bramble fruit canes? Dewberries and wild blackberries everywhere!
Autum olive bush(birds have spread it everywhere!)
Black locust and honey locust(I get nice green root suckers all growing season from the black locust)
Deer eat the sumac is it ok for goats?
Wild grapevine?
Spent pea and bean plants?
Corn husks and stalks(both green and dry?)
Fallen tree leaves? I had a nubian doe that would eat the dry leaves that I tried to use as bedding as fast as I put them down and that doe was never out of hay....)

I know fruit tree prunings are good with the exception of WILTED cherry

If you grow something not on my list that is good for your goats and they like it please tell me about it.

soon-to-be goat momma, bee

[Creamers]

Hey- I am not sure what to suggest above, but I'm in WV, too - near Huntington! Nice to see another WV future goat member If you're still looking to buy, I know basically every quality breeding the area - PM me

[bee]

Thanks Creamers, I have already purchased my goats and will take delivery end of this month.Trying to do all my homework before they get here. I got nigerian dwarves..one bred doe, one spring doe kid, one spring buck kid and one spring wether kid. A mini starter herd! All registered but the wether. I can't wait! bee

[coso]

Mine love multiflora rose and Blackberry briars, same on the grapevine, and about any leaves they can get to. I have fed mine corn stalks after, we harvest the corn. Just feed a little at a time of that though, it has a lot of sugar in it and can cause problems.

[Ellie Mae]

We recently ordered and planted Comfrey plants from Christie Acres, she has a write up about it and Comfrey can be used in other ways besides feed for goats.
I found comfrey to be a great poultice for bumps and bruises when our kids were little. They & their young friends got quite the kick out of having "green stuff" put on their shins and elbows, lol
I like the type Christie sells as it doesn't spread via seeds and we plan to have it as a supplement and back up to hay.

[Bearfootfarm]

I have 5 acres mostly open wooded but NOT fenced for free ranging.

I'd be worried more about that than what they are going to eat

[prairiedog]

They love the sunflower plants corn husks both green and dried. Mine love dried carrot and parsnip tops. They loved the spent pea vines. The like watermelon the last ones we had liked eating pumpkin too. and squash. They love roses, blackberry, apple trees and pecan branches.

[bee]

Bearfoot..I gave the acerage information mostly so folks could know what to suggest that I plant and so they could know I CAN'T let them just wander and nibble. They are being built a secure pen/lot divided for the does and the buck with wether companion. An open field type shelter in each and a larger shed for feed storage, milking and kidding stall. I even have plans for an artificial climbing rock in each pen to help with hoof trimming and keep them intertained.

[Ellie Mae]

I love the climbing rocks, we have some that would work great for that.

another plant our goats seem to love is swiss chard, it takes the heat and the cold and is a cut and come again, our girls will chase me down for some swiss chard, so it's a race to get it back to the house at times, as we love it too!

[Creamers]

I raise Nigis, too. Where did you buy from? Are you more northern, WVa?

Sounds like you're doing a great job researching and giving the herd a great start

[bee]

NE WV, just outside of Cumberland Md.

A local Lady not even 5 miles down the road...makes great for additional information/help if anything crops up!

[Creamers]

Oh, way up north Congrats on the incoming additions - you'll love them, I'm sure.

[motdaugrnds]

Bee, congratulations on such a nice start-up herd; and welcome to the world of goats.

We discovered "chicory" to be helpful as goats loved it.

Let me tell you about their favorite though. It is a plant we use as a "boundary". It works great keeping goats out of areas you don't want them to be in (as long as you prepare it for that usage). It is bi-color lespedeza "shrub". [Plant it just a few inches apart, protect it for the first 5 yrs, then mow it down to the ground. It grows quickly and what comes up is an impenatrable hedge.]

The goats LOVE this plant and it spreads its seeds nicely all around the pastures as long as the shrub itself is protected. We fenced some off where it could not be touched and just let it throw its seeds everywhere. Each year, up it sprang for nice treats.