Goats

[bamarob]

Any goat ranchers here? I'm thinking of pasturing a few goats next spring/summer. There's a patch of kudzu (~15 acres) on a hilltop on my dad's place that I'm considering doing this on. Here's my plan and questions. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm thinking of waiting until Jan/Feb when the above-ground kudzu is all dead. Burn the patch off, disc it up, and throw out some winter wheat/rye/oats to (hopefully) hold the soil until spring greenup. While it's clean, fence it in providing a tractor path on the outside of the fence to allow for spraying/mowing to keep the kudzu off the fence. Once things start to green up in mid to late March, put a few goats on it to keep the kudzu knocked down through the summer. Start selling the goats in late summer (Aug/Sept), eventually selling them all once the kudzu has died/dried up (after a couple of frosts in Nov). Then, in Feb/Mar overseed with pasture grass of some type. Once things start to green-up, put a few goats on it again and repeat the process. Eventually, I would hope to have pretty decent pasture with little/no kudzu that I can rotate goats on/off.

Problems/questions:

This area is on a hilltop with no permanent water. I've consdered using a back scoop on my tractor to dig out a shallow pond to catch rainwater. But, during the drier months it wouldn't be holding any water, I'm sure. How much water do goats require? Any suggestions on providing water on this spot?

How many goats per acre should I begin with? I have no clue how many head I can carry on this pasture.

We have coyotes around, so I've considered including a donkey with the herd for protection. Will the donkey do OK on kudzu pasture, or will I need to provide hay? For that matter, can goats do OK on just kudzu and what little other browse there will be, or will I need to provide hay for them?

Will the goats require any type of structure for shelter? There are no trees on this spot, just kudzu.

What kind of fencing/posts are recommended for goats?

What breed is recommended?

My dad and I have considered doing something like this for several years, we've just never "pulled the trigger" on this project. Does this sound like a workable project? How is the meat goat market? Will we be able to break even or clear a small profit doing this?

Thanks,

BR

[RichZ]

My wife and I have a goat dairy farm, so we know something about goats. I don't really think your plan is workable. I have no idea whether goats can live on kudzu alone, but I kinda doubt it. Goats perfer a varied diet, I doubt that they'd do well on just that. They also need fresh water everyday. In addition they need at least a 3 sided shelter to get out of bad weather, especially rain and they need shade. A lot of people believe that goats will eat anything, but that just isn't true.

[bamarob]

Thanks for the reply, Rich.

I'm thinking that I might just get a couple of goats to put on a small (~2 ac) wooded pasture adjacent to my lawn. This would give me a chance to get more familiar working with them. Dad plans to retire soon, and we might evaluate jumping into working with goats on a larger scale then.

Thanks for the feedback,

BR

[mysticokra]

Alabama has a pretty strong Boer Goat program. Contact the county Ag guys or someone at Alabama A&M. I doubt that kudzu alone would be enough and you didn't say what kind of fencing you have.

[bamarob]

Thanks for the reply, mysticokra. I've seen some publications out of the County Extension Service, AU, and A&M. Actually, I think I remember seeing an article about a gentleman in Fayette (not far from me) that had a pretty big Boer goat operation. I definitely need to do some more research before jumping in.

As for the fencing, we don't have any at the moment (aside from a little 3 strand barbed wire).

Thanks,

BR