So with the layout of our farm where we will be building the goat housing/holding area (this will primarily be for night time and those rainy days when the goats will not go out on "pasture") and one of the main browsing/grazing areas (overhead power line area currently full of brush and brambles) are about 1/2 mile apart. The area through which we would be walking is unfenced and all wooded. We would be walking down our dirt/gravel driveway through the middle of our 37 acres. My question is can you reasonably move goats this far from one area to another? And if so, how difficult is it? What techniques have worked for y'all in moving your goats around your property?
One of the goat books I have read mentioned teaching goats to follow you and even to walk and stop based on how you hold a stick but it gave no information on how to go about actually teaching the goats to do this. When moving the goats I will primarily be by myself. I do have an English shepherd puppy that I hope will grow up to help with moving livestock.
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Our goats don't go nearly as far, but they get to learn the way over time, and race in at sunset! Have you seen the film "Winter Nomads"? Won't be much help to you, but it's AMAZING to watch - it's a Swiss shepherd with 800 sheep, an apprentice, some pack donkeys and some sheepdogs. The skill set is incredible, how they can keep control of all those animals as they move around through towns, roads, villages etc looking for grass in the snow. Fabulous film/documentary.
The number of goats you get really depends on how much milk you want. You definitely want two does so they have company and then either two bucks or a buck and a wether, so they have company. However, if you want a decent amount of milk year-round, then 4-5 does is a good number. You can spread out kidding at different times of year so that you have continuous milk. If you keep doelings, you can easily wind up with a much bigger herd!
Since two bucks don't eat any more than a buck and a wether, and since you'll probably want to keep doelings, and you'll probably want to breed them to a different buck than their father, you might as well start with two bucks (rather than a buck and a wether).
Thank you for the great info! Just got your "Raising Goats Naturally" book from Amazon in the mail yesterday. I know it will be a often read resource as we start this goat adventure. I have just started it and am looking forward to real diving not it.
I am going to visit a farm here in South Carolina that has Nigerian Dwarf goats on Tuesday to talk to them about getting some of their doelings in 2017 and to see how they manage their goats. You mention above that you assumed I would start with 4-5 goats, is that a good number to start out with? Is that 4-5 does or some other combination of does or wethers?
We rotate our girls all over our property, and sometimes that means walking down our driveway to the area that we have fenced in with Electro-Net across the yard from the barn. We put a pan of alfalfa pellets and grain in the area where we want them to go. Then we put alfalfa pellets and grain into a feed pan, open the door to their stall, and hold the pan in front of them so they can see that it's grain. Depending upon the goat, you might have to let them nibble a bite or two before they'll start following you. You walk slowly holding the pan of grain where they can see it, sometimes letting them take a bite or two, if you need to do that to keep them following you. If one is falling behind you may not be able to keep them in a group. (The ones in front might eat everything in the pan when you're halfway to your destination.) Go ahead and take the ones who are following you and get them into the area where you have the pan of grain and alfalfa pellets waiting. Show them that pan of grain, and they'll start eating it while you go back with your pan of grain to get the other goat(s) that fell behind.
We've been doing this for years with 15 to 22 adults and up to as many as 40 kids. The young kids are the hardest. If we didn't have so many, we'd just pick them up and carry them! But even the littlest kids get it figured out in a few days, especially if they're dam-raised because they learn to stick to mom. Getting them back into the barn at night is much easier because they want to go into the barn at sundown. If you try to do it earlier, they won't be as eager. After doing this for 3-4 days, you won't need to use the pan of grain to get them to follow you. They'll know that there is a pan of grain waiting for them in the grazing/browsing area in the morning and in the barn at night. Don't be tempted to stop leaving the pan of grain there. For the number of goats we have, we put out three pans of grain, but I'm assuming you'll be starting with 4-5 goats, so you can just put one pan of grain there.
In each pan of grain I put 5-6 cups of alfalfa pellets and 1 cup of goat feed, so the actual amount of grain that each goat is getting is almost nothing -- 2-3 tablespoons. If your goats are not milking, you can use grass hay pellets, such as orchard grass or timothy pellets. They are made by the same company that makes the alfalfa pellets in our area. If you don't have a lot of goats or a long distance to go, or if you can run as fast as your goats, once they get the drill, you may not need to use much for hay pellets. I just use that much because I'm really slow, so that's how much I need to have in the pan for them to still have their noses stuck in it by the time I get there to close the door of the barn stall or close the gap in the Electro-Net.
Also, be sure that they've had hay pellets before you try this. They will only follow you if they really want the food you have. That's why I have to sprinkle some goat grain on top. Most goats are not immediately big fans of hay pellets. It takes time for them to start liking them. However, when there is competition for food, they are always more interested in it. So, they are more likely to want it if there are other goats around than if you simply offered it to them in a pan when they are alone.
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Our goats don't go nearly as far, but they get to learn the way over time, and race in at sunset! Have you seen the film "Winter Nomads"? Won't be much help to you, but it's AMAZING to watch - it's a Swiss shepherd with 800 sheep, an apprentice, some pack donkeys and some sheepdogs. The skill set is incredible, how they can keep control of all those animals as they move around through towns, roads, villages etc looking for grass in the snow. Fabulous film/documentary.
The number of goats you get really depends on how much milk you want. You definitely want two does so they have company and then either two bucks or a buck and a wether, so they have company. However, if you want a decent amount of milk year-round, then 4-5 does is a good number. You can spread out kidding at different times of year so that you have continuous milk. If you keep doelings, you can easily wind up with a much bigger herd!
Since two bucks don't eat any more than a buck and a wether, and since you'll probably want to keep doelings, and you'll probably want to breed them to a different buck than their father, you might as well start with two bucks (rather than a buck and a wether).
Hope you enjoy my book!
Thank you for the great info! Just got your "Raising Goats Naturally" book from Amazon in the mail yesterday. I know it will be a often read resource as we start this goat adventure. I have just started it and am looking forward to real diving not it.
I am going to visit a farm here in South Carolina that has Nigerian Dwarf goats on Tuesday to talk to them about getting some of their doelings in 2017 and to see how they manage their goats. You mention above that you assumed I would start with 4-5 goats, is that a good number to start out with? Is that 4-5 does or some other combination of does or wethers?
We rotate our girls all over our property, and sometimes that means walking down our driveway to the area that we have fenced in with Electro-Net across the yard from the barn. We put a pan of alfalfa pellets and grain in the area where we want them to go. Then we put alfalfa pellets and grain into a feed pan, open the door to their stall, and hold the pan in front of them so they can see that it's grain. Depending upon the goat, you might have to let them nibble a bite or two before they'll start following you. You walk slowly holding the pan of grain where they can see it, sometimes letting them take a bite or two, if you need to do that to keep them following you. If one is falling behind you may not be able to keep them in a group. (The ones in front might eat everything in the pan when you're halfway to your destination.) Go ahead and take the ones who are following you and get them into the area where you have the pan of grain and alfalfa pellets waiting. Show them that pan of grain, and they'll start eating it while you go back with your pan of grain to get the other goat(s) that fell behind.
We've been doing this for years with 15 to 22 adults and up to as many as 40 kids. The young kids are the hardest. If we didn't have so many, we'd just pick them up and carry them! But even the littlest kids get it figured out in a few days, especially if they're dam-raised because they learn to stick to mom. Getting them back into the barn at night is much easier because they want to go into the barn at sundown. If you try to do it earlier, they won't be as eager. After doing this for 3-4 days, you won't need to use the pan of grain to get them to follow you. They'll know that there is a pan of grain waiting for them in the grazing/browsing area in the morning and in the barn at night. Don't be tempted to stop leaving the pan of grain there. For the number of goats we have, we put out three pans of grain, but I'm assuming you'll be starting with 4-5 goats, so you can just put one pan of grain there.
In each pan of grain I put 5-6 cups of alfalfa pellets and 1 cup of goat feed, so the actual amount of grain that each goat is getting is almost nothing -- 2-3 tablespoons. If your goats are not milking, you can use grass hay pellets, such as orchard grass or timothy pellets. They are made by the same company that makes the alfalfa pellets in our area. If you don't have a lot of goats or a long distance to go, or if you can run as fast as your goats, once they get the drill, you may not need to use much for hay pellets. I just use that much because I'm really slow, so that's how much I need to have in the pan for them to still have their noses stuck in it by the time I get there to close the door of the barn stall or close the gap in the Electro-Net.
Also, be sure that they've had hay pellets before you try this. They will only follow you if they really want the food you have. That's why I have to sprinkle some goat grain on top. Most goats are not immediately big fans of hay pellets. It takes time for them to start liking them. However, when there is competition for food, they are always more interested in it. So, they are more likely to want it if there are other goats around than if you simply offered it to them in a pan when they are alone.