# How much will goats utilize wooded pasture?



## Eric (Jan 5, 2013)

We don't have the goats yet but are seriously planning to get some. We might start with a doe and wether. We own 18 acres and it is all wooded. Mixed hardwoods and some Hemlock and a few Pines. Not poison hemlock but the evergreen. We already have a fence made. About half is filled with young trees and the rest is Goldenrod and Blackberries. The fence consists of posts every 8 feet with 3 rails made of hemlock boards. There is also three strands of wire with a decent charger. It is about 4 feet tall. I would say it is about 1/2 acre.

I want to know if the goats will thrive on the browse that the trees supply and how much hay/grain I will have to provide. I know it depends a lot on the individual goats needs. Lets just say they are adult wethers.
Will I be able to cut down trees and let the goats have at it? What about winter time, do they eat branch tips.

My overall goal is to clear the land and have pasture that would be good for other picky eaters. Once 1 area is set I would want construct another fence around another wooded area.
We already have one fenced in area all cleared out. We used pigs and branch cutters. It worked good.

I don't want to "starve" the goats either. I would have to say that the overall welfare of the animals is always my main concern. We even butcher our own pigs on site so they don't have to get transported someplace strange and be handled by someone not caring as much as we do.

Thanks in a advance for any help


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## Pearce Pastures (Jan 5, 2013)

Goats would LOVE a wooded pasture!  They are not grazers but browsers, and any weedy, woody, even picky plant they can have at would make their day (blackberries=YUM!).  You will still need to provide them with good hay and minerals, not necessarily any grain or feed, but letting them munch in the woods will reduce how much hay they consume.  Note though that they might ruin trees so if there are any you don't want the bark eaten off, you might need to wrap them in wire or make a protective barrier around those.


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## lilhill (Jan 5, 2013)

Pearce Pastures said:
			
		

> Goats would LOVE a wooded pasture!  They are not grazers but browsers, and any weedy, woody, even picky plant they can have at would make their day (blackberries=YUM!).  You will still need to provide them with good hay and minerals, not necessarily any grain or feed, but letting them munch in the woods will reduce how much hay they consume.  Note though that they might ruin trees so if there are any you don't want the bark eaten off, you might need to wrap them in wire or make a protective barrier around those.



When I read the heading, my first thought was, "They will utilize it until everything is gone.". . You will need some kind of predator control for the goats.  Dogs and coyotes can jump a 4' fence.


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## Eric (Jan 5, 2013)

Pearce Pastures said:
			
		

> Goats would LOVE a wooded pasture!  They are not grazers but browsers, and any weedy, woody, even picky plant they can have at would make their day (blackberries=YUM!).  You will still need to provide them with good hay and minerals, not necessarily any grain or feed, but letting them munch in the woods will reduce how much hay they consume.  Note though that they might ruin trees so if there are any you don't want the bark eaten off, you might need to wrap them in wire or make a protective barrier around those.


So should I limit the hay they get so they go after the browse or are they going to go after the browse first? Maybe offer hay in the evening only. Yeah I have read that they like blackberry canes. I still don't get it, I just have to look at them and they sink their thorns in me. They are wickedly armored! 

All the trees in the pen are going to be gone by my hands or their mouths. We do have a young orchard of apple and pear trees. I hope they don't get out and make me regret getting goats!


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## marlowmanor (Jan 5, 2013)

Eric said:
			
		

> Pearce Pastures said:
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Yep, blackberry bushes, thorn bushes, rose bushes, goats love thorny things. It's amazing that they enjoy them so much but they do. The goats will love the wooded pasture.


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## Eric (Jan 5, 2013)

lilhill said:
			
		

> Pearce Pastures said:
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Really? I thought the electric part of the fence would do. A few years ago we had a problem with dogs and our  two220 lb pigs. The fence was just 3' and not charged. Just wire. It was in January and we had a little snow. I got a call from my girlfriend( fiancee now) that 3 dogs attacked our pigs. She had already called the cops and they caught 1 dog. I was 1 hour away at work so I couln't do much.  That night I had to slaughter the pigs. They were due three days latter anyhow. One of their ears was all torn up. It was a horrible experiance.


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## Eric (Jan 5, 2013)

since we have an electric fence we don't have any problems. Those dogs came through the woods about 2 miles.  We do have some coyotes in the area but not many. I see their lone tracks in the winter time. I thought that when a dog/ coyote would encounter a fence with treats inside that they would first investigate at nose level and get zapped.  My thinking that this would turn them away. Now you guys have me worried.


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## Pearce Pastures (Jan 5, 2013)

Gosh, even if you were going to be slaughtering them anyway, that is awful.  The electric fence will help to deter predators.  How many strands of wire are there?


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Jan 5, 2013)

Goats are browsers and not grazers like sheep are. They not only prefer leaves and the woods but it is also better for them and more natural to a goat. My Kikos are almost always in the woods and really don't get much pasture at all. You do, however, have to be VERY careful and it is best if you have many areas because when goats get in there they WILL kill and destroy everything in there. They will eat everything in there much faster than what you could think and you'll be sitting there kicking yourself for not having different areas because they will not have any more browse for not just the summer but then all of winter and if they did a good enough job then it may not grow back at all. Goats are good like that.

I would suggest that you have many areas and different "fields" so you can move them before they kill it all off, that way they still have browse and you have other areas still alive and areas that are growing back. That really is the only way you can do goats in the woods or you will end up having to feed feed and hay for 11 months of the year. Not fun.




> So should I limit the hay they get so they go after the browse or are they going to go after the browse first?


My goats get hay nearly all year round but in the summer I do limit sometimes. And my goats at least prefer browse over hay any day but sometimes when I see them being lazy and leaving the browse and only eating hay, that's when I take the hay to force them to eat the browse.

And yes they LOVE any kind of thorns. Do not pull them out because thorns give so many leaves and they love them. To goats they are like candy.


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## Eric (Jan 5, 2013)

Pearce Pastures said:
			
		

> Gosh, even if you were going to be slaughtering them anyway, that is awful.  The electric fence will help to deter predators.  How many strands of wire are there?


The fence consists of wood posts every 8' feet. There are 3 boards or rails, that run from post to post. The boards are actually random width pieces from the saw mill with " live edge" on both top and bottom. Live edge means the bark part of the tree is still attached to the board.  So the first board is about 5 inches from the ground. After that there is a wire and then a 2nd board in the middle. Next is a wire and the top board. The top board is at about 3 1/2 feet. lastly from post to post there is the 3rd wire at about 4'. 

So three board and three wire.   The posts and trees all come from my land. It's alot of work to cut them and bring them to the mill but for a small fee I have a decent fence.


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## Eric (Jan 5, 2013)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Goats are browsers and not grazers like sheep are. They not only prefer leaves and the woods but it is also better for them and more natural to a goat. My Kikos are almost always in the woods and really don't get much pasture at all. You do, however, have to be VERY careful and it is best if you have many areas because when goats get in there they WILL kill and destroy everything in there. They will eat everything in there much faster than what you could think and you'll be sitting there kicking yourself for not having different areas because they will not have any more browse for not just the summer but then all of winter and if they did a good enough job then it may not grow back at all. Goats are good like that.
> 
> I would suggest that you have many areas and different "fields" so you can move them before they kill it all off, that way they still have browse and you have other areas still alive and areas that are growing back. That really is the only way you can do goats in the woods or you will end up having to feed feed and hay for 11 months of the year. Not fun.
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Thanks that was very help full. I hope that they will kill everything in there. I also have another cleared area that I am going to try to establish some grass.


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## OneFineAcre (Jan 5, 2013)

This is what I would do.  You have a split rail fence.  I would add 4' tall welded wire to the existing split rail.  Would be much more secure as far as predators.  I have seen that a lot.  People who like the look of split rail, but have animals and need to keep them in and dogs out.  It would be really easy to do, and wouldn't cost a whole lot.  Digging the post holes is the real work.

I have 13 adult Nigerians and 7 kids on a little over an acre that is a wooded lot.  Mostly pine with a few gums and oaks.  Mine are essentially dry lot at this point.  The bulk of their roughage comes from hay.  Obviously I buy 4x5 round bales in bulk.

I think they will clean your browse pretty quick.  Not sure how much of their support you will be able to get on a hardwood wooded lot 1/2 acre in size. If you utilized the entire 18 acres with just a few goats then yes, a lot more.

 Depending on how big your trees are will determine if they will actually clear the lot totally.  Mine have stripped the bark and essentially killed trees as big around as my arm.  I don't think mine will ever kill the pines.

I would not limit their hay.


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