Raising Goats

3 posts
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 11:32 #1

Member for

12 years 9 months
Cairnburnie
Last seen: 03/12/2019 - 13:52
Joined: 01/16/2012 - 14:34

Raising Goats

Hi,

I am a new member and would like some advice on raising goats for milking. I am venturing into organic goats milk soap, and would like to know the following:

  • How many goats I would need to make soap for monthly/fortnightly market stalls as opposed to commercial sales
  • Land requirements per goat (I have 280 treed acres)
  • Best fencing and rotation schedules

I have read many books on the subject so any other practical suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Tue, 01/17/2012 - 23:56 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi,

I will try to answer your questions as best I can. Regarding how many goats you will need to produce the milk for your soap. The answer to that is it depends on the breed of goats you intend to run. If you are going to run dairy goats such as Saanan or Anglo Nubian, then they will produce more milk than other breeds such as feral or Boer Goats. You could expect around 4lt per day from each of these when they are lactating. However, they will need to be bred from time to time to keep up their milk supply and will need to be left unmilked to allow them to deal with their pregnancy for the last few months (about 2 and a 1/2 ) of their pregnancy.

The land required for each goat will depend entirely on the type of pasture and feed available to them. In general you should be able to run 5 goats where you would run one cow. I suggest you ask the local cattle graziers how many head they run to the hectare and that will give you an idea of how many you can run

I would recommend that you use cell grazing, which means splitting up the property into five or six paddocks , each with access to water. When the pasture is down to 8cm high and no lower, it is time to move them to the new paddock: Usually keep them no more than 2 months in each cell. 

Before you move them to the new paddock they must be drenched (wormed) with one of the broad spectrum drenches and not let into the new paddock for 24 hours afterwards to allow the drench to do it's work. This prevents contamination of the pasture in the new paddock with worm eggs. As worms ar a major problem in goats it is imperative that they be kept under control if you are not to suffer heavy losses due to them.

The most suitable fencing is probably hinge joint 8/90/30: that is 8 horizontal strands, 90cm high x 30cm apart vertical strands to form the rectangular mesh. the 30cm mesh allows the goats to get their horns and heads out of the mesh without being caught up.  Or you  could use ring lock mesh, but this is expensive. My property is set up with electric fencing which is cheaper, but is high maintainance because it must be checked frequently as if it has a twist in it for example from kangaroos hitting it when they jump over it, it shorts out. I have found that the most effective fencing is a barbed wire fence for cattle that is converted for goats by adding a plain wire earth at the bottom 6cm from the ground, then a plain live wire 10cm above that. In between the first, second and third barbed wires add 1 plain live wire. Never under any circumstances energise the barbed wire  itself.

Full explanations and diagrams for most of the requirements for set up and fencing can be found in my book Farming Meat Goats: Breeding, production and Marketing by Barbara Vincent. The book deals with goat breeding and husbandry in general and not just meat goats. You will aslo find quite a lot of info. on dealing with health problems in it.

Please let me know if you need any more info, as I'm only too pleased to help someone who is in the same position I was 20 years ago.

Regards and best of luck,

Barb

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Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:43 #3
Cairnburnie
Last seen: 03/12/2019 - 13:52
Joined: 01/16/2012 - 14:34

Dear Barb,

Thanks so much for your helpful start up advice. This certainly points me in the right direction. I think I will prepare the paddocks and begin with a small herd of about 6 goats, probably Anglo Nubians, and see how we roll.

Thanks

Petra

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