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November 20, 2008, 02:42:22 PM

Permaculture Forums | substance | critter care | Topic: browse vs. Graze for goats

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browse vs. Graze for goats

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Leah Sattler
Administrator
Posts: 593

July 05, 2008, 06:18:01 AM

Goats are naturally browsers. They prefer leafy vegetation over grass..but...I have personally seen how quickly they can devastate large areas of browse that will not recover, and seen in comparison how they can repeatedly graze down pasture and it will fully recover quickly. In making my future plans I am torn between the effeciency of grass forage over the health benefits for the goats of browse. Can I really develop a herd (genetically) that can tolerate the higher parasite load inevitable in a grazing situation? (which is far more sustainable) Would it be worth it to utilize much more acreage to maintain a sustainable browse situation? what are your thoughts on this?


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Put a bit of sunshine in each day;
Others need its cheer and so do you-
Need it most when outer sky's dull gray
Leaves the sunshine-making yours to do.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1338

July 07, 2008, 08:58:43 AM

Where goats wipe out an area - that's a sign of too many goats and/or too little space. I think the best thing to do is to have four or more paddocks. The goats spend a week in a paddock and then move to the next paddock. The first paddock then gets several weeks to recover (preferably at least 30 days - but that might require more paddocks).


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Leah Sattler
Administrator
Posts: 593

July 08, 2008, 06:40:22 AM

yes, I agree rotational grazing is key and you should never let your livestock completly eat down your grass or defoliate all the brush (unless your intention is to use them to "clean out" an area). but my observations lead me to believe that if you have grass paddocks they could be about 1/4 the size or less of browse paddocks to be able to maintain the same stocking rate. For instance 5 goats on 1/2 acre of bermuda grass for 3 months will never get it eaten all down. 5 goats on 1/2 acre of browse such as ivy, brush and honey suckle will have it eaten all down in a week. The forested and brushy areas harbor more diversity of plant and animal life, result in far less parasitsm and often better quality forage but the acreage requirement is many times that of what is neccessary for stocking pasture. Grass thrives when it is cut/eaten, browse often dies or is at least set way back if it is defoliated. I would like to find....

avg. lbs of TDN yearly yield (total digestable nutrients) per acre of bermuda pasture vs. an (avg.) north american browse acre which is probably impossible....

even more impossible would be to determine whether the loss from parasitism and slightly lower quality of forage on grass is worth the reduced expense and resultant reduced impact on the enviroment than lower stocking rates in a larger area.

the near impossibility of acheiving those figures leaves me to collecting anecdotal evidence from like minded producers regarding the browse vs. graze issue for goats.


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Put a bit of sunshine in each day;
Others need its cheer and so do you-
Need it most when outer sky's dull gray
Leaves the sunshine-making yours to do.
-"scatter sunshine" Jaunita Stafford

kelda
Posts: 263

August 12, 2008, 12:29:58 AM

in creating forage for goats, either in paddocks or along fence edge (with leaves hanging over) or best would be to have both methods combined, what are some favorite forage for goats?

I read today that honey locust and mulberry are much loved by goats. What else?


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Leah Sattler
Administrator
Posts: 593

August 12, 2008, 06:31:08 AM

they love....
blackberry
creeping jenny
poison ivy
honeysuckle
willow
this list goes on!

They are often used to control invasive species. I have been told they are being used to clear the under growth in some areas to reduce the fire danger. (something of course that would have been naturally taken care of if people didn't have the misconception that all forest fire is bad)


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Put a bit of sunshine in each day;
Others need its cheer and so do you-
Need it most when outer sky's dull gray
Leaves the sunshine-making yours to do.
-"scatter sunshine" Jaunita Stafford

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