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DandeeRose
True Blue Farmgirl
1505 Posts
Alicia
Charlestown, IN
1505 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 25 2017 : 11:38:37 PM
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I asked Joel a couple of questions regarding mob grazing with Goats on the tour, for myself and my friend Shannon. I thought I'd share with everyone. :) It you haven't read much of Salatin's work (particularly Salad Bar Beef) this may not make a lot of sense why I'd ask, but if you have then you know where I was getting!
Joel Salatin on Goats-
Me- How do you figure how long to leave a goat in an area, is it the same as cows?
"Ya..How many animals to fit in a space for how long...One of the beauties of goats is that they are browsers, not grazers. Which means they want to eat 70% of their food up here, not down here like cows or sheep. If you allow them to express their goatness, give them a habit that allows them to utilize, they are very parasite resistant. They aren't grazing over their droppings like a cow or sheep, so that daily movement isn't as critical as it is for a cow or sheep. That's the silver lining over that fact that they are way harder to keep in. When you build your goat control, whatever it is, um, it is more elaborate than a single strand for a cow, but you don't have to move them as much.
"But here is the problem with Goats, the problem with goats is, remember what we said about the metabolism of grass vs shrubs. So the problem is when the goat defoliates the shrubs, because they are browsing in the brambles and everything a cow won't eat, right? They defoliate all this and its metabolic cycle is way slower than grass. If you come back in when the grass is right, the woody species and the brambles is not good and rested long enough to return the energy equilibrium. They are going to nip that and kill it. Eventually its going to be dead after a couple of years.
"So rule of thumb, it takes about 5 years to begin liking your goat, and in 5 years is right at the time they have destroyed their browse and eaten themselves out of their habitat."
Me- I have a second part to this question, is there a way to make it work running chickens behind them when the parasite levels are low?
"Oh no...Chickens are going to pick up...About 3/4 of what they eat are just pasture insects. A pasture grows way more pends of insects and worms than it does meat and milk. So what they are pocking up out of the cow patty is very little. Now, if you wanted to grow chickens on just that, you wouldn't have very many chickens. Which is fine, it just depends on if you want and enterprise or a holon. On computing the area to give the goat, I would want to move them at least weekly, just to be on the safe side. And what you'll do is convert everything to goat equivalence, was it too much? Too little? Everytime you are making your paddock shift, you are testing yourself.
"The problem is, in 5 years, the goat eats themselves out of habitat, then we turn them into grazers, now they are eating mainly below their shoulders, because the browse is all dead, and they have done the beautiful thing that goats do, and now we start getting retained placentas, mastitis, we get hoof problems, because now they are eating stuff that is too rich.
"That's the conundrum with goats. So the people who have long term goat success, that aren't using pharmaceuticals, a bunch of vets, and all that stuff, generally heal their own place, convert it to good grass and pasture, then they start taking their goats to neighbors places."
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
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Joel Salatin on goats, April 22
