Goats on browse-WOW!

[PrettyPaisley]

We finally got the woods behind the house fenced off well enough to keep the goats in it. They have been out on nothing but 2.5 acres of thick, thick woods with tons of vines and fallen trees since Monday morning. This morning when I went to milk I was shocked! Not only at the amount of milk they gave but also at how their bellies were not sunken in and they didn't look hungry and boney. (Clearly they did still act as if they were starving but that's because they are goats. )

I thought they looked a little more shiny, too but it might be too soon to notice a difference in their coats. Maybe it was because I wasn't seeing their ribs and spines after a night without food but for now I am thrilled! I just have to figure out how long that small amount of space will work for my 14 milkers; as usual I'm worried about fall and winter when the pickens' will be slim.

[chewie]

14 milkers? wow. here i was feeling greedy getting 2 more to make a total of 4. mine have a good amt of browse too but without good alf hay they drop production perty fast. like now :/. i need to find a bale.

[PrettyPaisley]

I have too many goats. I know. Luckily I have customers who adore our GMO-free clean milk for their pets - so I am able to support my goat habit with milk and cheese sales. I have too many goats ... I just don't know who to get rid of. I love them all (mostly) and feel so stinking responsible for them .... and the multiply so stinking fast !! Several of them are over 5 years old so I feel I need to keep them around - because that's old for a goat, right?

And I do give them alfalfa/oats/BOSS on the milk stand so they do get more than just browse. Had to when I have them on pasture. That fescue was clearly not their dinner of choice.

[KSALguy]

brows in the south is very rich, Kudzu, Grape vine, Oak, Pine, its all very yummy and good to make milk and meat off of,

[bcadybug]

I don't think thats old for a goat PrettyPaisley! Well cared for does can live on into their teens...

Val

[Alice In TX/MO]

13 is old. 5 is not.

[Phil V.]

Pretty Paisley what you is not a lot. A friend of mine that has boer goats will have up to 120 goats at one time after all the kidding is done. There is a family that lives northwest of me about an hour away has 1200 plus goats and milk approximately 500 at one time. I had heard they are going to be adding to the herd and milking more goats because they have trouble keeping up with demand for milk. The last that I heard the goat milk was going $40.00 a hundred pounds. That could have changed by now though.

[southerngurl]

There is a family that lives northwest of me about an hour away has 1200 plus goats and milk approximately 500 at one time. I had heard they are going to be adding to the herd and milking more goats because they have trouble keeping up with demand for milk.

[ozark_jewels]

Browse, the most wonderful food for goats! My milking does are on nothing but browse and a few oats and they look great. One big reason I love this area, browse, browse and more browse.
Congrats on the new browse. I drive down the road just to look at other folks browse.

[southerngurl]

Lol Emily.. I look at the browse in fields and the side of the road and just think how my goats would love it!

[KSALguy]

I am always looking at browse and good grass on the side of the road or in empty pasture and think of things that COULD be done with it, after visiting other under developed countries and seeing how they USE the road side vegetation its another sign of how we waist so much of EVERYTHING here as a whole.

[Backfourty,MI.]

My goats LOVE their Browse & it really saves on the amount of hay I feed for the whole growing season. I do make sure they always have hay in their feeders but unlike the winter they don't eat a lot of it because they'd rather be out in the fields or woods. So instead of filler hay feeders daily I only need to do it every few days now.

Hopefully your 2.5 acres will hold your does' for the summer anyways. If you finds folks cutting tree's down, etc. though bring the leafy branch's home & give them those too(as long as it's tree's the goats can eat from) & that will help your browse last a little longer too.

[Pony]

Five isn't old, Pretty Paisley. A doe is just coming into her best years at five.

Browse is wonderful stuff. But my gals prefer to stay up here, where they can see us, rather than head downhill for the good stuff.

[DandeeRose]

So a doe will make good milk well past 5? I ask b/c I am new to goats and dh and I are looking at a 5 yo doe freshened.

[gracie88]

I am always looking at browse and good grass on the side of the road or in empty pasture and think of things that COULD be done with it, after visiting other under developed countries and seeing how they USE the road side vegetation its another sign of how we waist so much of EVERYTHING here as a whole.

Lol! I tether my girls along the outside of our fence by the road on occasion, because weed-eating perfectly good forage is a soul-killing chore. I have had quite a few people call and tell me my goats were out though.

[Pony]

Originally Posted by DandeeRose

So a doe will make good milk well past 5? I ask b/c I am new to goats and dh and I are looking at a 5 yo doe freshened.

Yes, she will. Five and six are when the production is really good (on average. YMMV)

[wintrrwolf]

Originally Posted by gracie88

Lol! I tether my girls along the outside of our fence by the road on occasion, because weed-eating perfectly good forage is a soul-killing chore. I have had quite a few people call and tell me my goats were out though.

I have thought of doing that but the way some people drive down our road scares the goats and they want to run away...not always a good thing.

[motdaugrnds]

I'ld never tether any of my goats anywhere...not even on my own land where my dogs would protect them...certainly not where they might be frightened by traffic!

Browse is fairly easy to set up all year round. Just talk with your local ag agent to find out which plants would grow during the different seasons.

Here I throw out a variety of seed every year and I keep a lespedeza patch sectioned off so it can throw its seeds every year. Catjung peas, Australian peas even a bird mix feed is good to throw out into a pasture.

I would suggest you make sure your trees are protected because goats will eventually kill the best browse trees. (Just wrap some chicken wire around the trunks several times to keep the goats from taking off the bark.) Since you have a nice browsing area, you sure want to keep it safe!

Another nice "browse" area here is the vegetable garden after I've harvested all I'm going to!

[copperpennykids]

Originally Posted by DandeeRose

So a doe will make good milk well past 5? I ask b/c I am new to goats and dh and I are looking at a 5 yo doe freshened.

4 and 5 are when a doe hits their PEAK lactation. We have a 6 year old doe giving about 6 quarts a day. Her 10 year old dam is giving a gallon a day...depends on the genetics and the management. But those older gals can be very productive (and their kids are worth quite a bit too).

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by DandeeRose

So a doe will make good milk well past 5? I ask b/c I am new to goats and dh and I are looking at a 5 yo doe freshened.

Oh yes. It depends on how the doe has been fed and treated. A well-taken care of doe can easily live a productive life into her early teens. Most does produce kids and milk easily until 9-10. I have many does I'm milking now who are well over 5. I'm milking a 10 year old, a 7 year old, and 6 year olds. It depends largely on the individual doe and how she has been treated.