primitive wants to know how much goats eat

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x728

Oh my.

Caution, however: the original post is more than two years old, but for some peculiar reason this bonfire got re-ignited only yesterday.

AZDemDist6  (1000+ posts)         Tue Aug-22-06 07:16 PM
Original message
 
how much does a goat eat every day?

I have so many weeds after all this rain I need something

The mike_c primitive showed up here two years ago, but as his comment is simply about the weather, no point in quoting it.

China_cat  (1000+ posts)       Tue Aug-22-06 07:21 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Would depend on the weeds.
 
Goats are really a lot more picky about their food and water than most people believe.

Tanuki (958 posts)      Tue Aug-22-06 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. since you asked...

http://www.goatconnection.com/articles/publish/article_...

"How many goats can I place on my property?

A general recommendation is 6 to 10 goats per acre for stocking year-round. This rate will vary with the quantity and quality of forage and browse available. Browse includes shrubs, woody plants, weeds and briars. "

AZDemDist6  (1000+ posts)         Tue Aug-22-06 07:59 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
6. ooo I forgot about flies

what I don't need is more flies. they are better now that the old owners have removed their horse, but my neighbor has goats and hogs and there's still flies

maybe I can borrow my neighbor's goats eh?

The Arizona primitive lives on a choice piece of rural real-estate--better real-estate than what most of the world live on--and rather than being grateful, the primitive whines.

I'm getting fed up with the sheer ingratitude of the primitives, especially those primitives who have it better than much of the world, but still whine about things.

enufalready  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-22-06 07:37 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Oh, I want a goat

I did bookmark that page mentioned so I can do real research when the time comes. But I visited some people in Oregon once who had a goat. He was so intelligent and friendly. And he ate up the weeds in their yard like crazy. Plus they had a she-goat for milk and cheese. What a good idea. So, goats for all, I say. They can even pull a cart.

wakemeupwhenitsover   (1000+ posts)        Tue Aug-22-06 08:29 PM
Response to Original message
 
8. Don't go there!

Seriously, we had a goat that jumped on everthing. He jumped on my car. I didn't realized it at the time, but when he jumped on it he jammed the windshield wipers. So, I'm driving down the highway, minding my own business when it starts to pour. I flip on the wipers & nothing. Nada. Zip. I can't see jack squat & am finally able to pull over to the side where I figured out what happened.

Of course we got the goat from friends because they were sick & tired of him. When he began to kill their favorite apple tree they called & asked if we wanted it. Not having a favorite apple tree, we said yes. Big mistake. I'll never have a goat again.

pinto   (1000+ posts)        Tue Aug-22-06 09:13 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. (I hear the males are especially mean and, stink to high heaven.)

wakemeupwhenitsover   (1000+ posts)        Tue Aug-22-06 11:30 PM
Response to Reply #9
 
10. Just like a few men I know. (The smelly part. lol)

I don't remember him stinky & he wasn't mean. Just got into everything. (Again, like a few men I know.)

Horse with no Name (1000+ posts)        Wed Mar-21-07 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #9
 
16. Not if you have them fixed

Our vet charged me $5 to fix our goat.

One is suprised Ms. Ed the unappellated eohippus just didn't have the goat aborted.

hipneck (11 posts)      Fri Nov-14-08 03:52 PM
Response to Reply #9

17. Not necessarily

The males are generally more aggressive, but goats of either gender will be more friendly the more human interaction they have. Many people keep wethered ("fixed" - castrated) males as pets, or even draft animals.

Intact males ("bucks") tend to be a bit rougher, and they do stink - largely because they perfume themselves by peeing on their legs. We had a buck visit for about half an hour to service our does, and you could smell him for a couple of weeks, both on the girls and on the grass where he peed.

LWolf  (1000+ posts)        Wed Aug-23-06 06:01 PM
Response to Original message
 
12. I'm working on that, too.

I don't have a good answer for you, since I've never kept goats. I know that goats are really hard on fences, and will eat brush and trees as well as grassy stuff.

I have 6 acres of weeds, cheat grass, and other grasses. I picked up some lambs in July, way too late to help this year but the first that were available. I was picky; I wanted sheep, because they are easier on fences. I wanted hair sheep, because I didn't want to have to shear them. Hair sheep are rare in these parts. I had to get on a waiting list and drive 4.5 hours one way to pick them up. They spent the first week in the front yard while I was finishing the pasture fence, and here is what I learned:

These sheep (I don't know about ALL breeds) browse shrubs as well as eat grass. If the grass and weeds are dry, they want nothing to do with them. They pruned my roses and lilacs for me, which was fine. They left the bark alone.

If it's green, they eat it down to bare stubs in the ground.

Right now I have them out on two pastures; boys in one, girls in the other. I got a ram, so I can have more without the drive. I got him a wether to keep him company. They browse the really poor stuff out there all day, and I give them a small ration of grain in the evening, plus an all-in-one mineral lick. The grain is to get them used to being handled. They come to grain, and have learned to be touched and brushed, although I can't say they like it. I have halters on them and can catch them if need be; leading them anywhere is a 2-person job. They need someone behind them; they don't go forward with a tug.

My family is highly amused; they sit on the front porch and watch me head out to the pasture in the evenings, with lambs trotting single-file behind me, bleating all the way.

I'll know better what kind of help they can be next spring, when they are full grown and the new grass is just coming on.

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Response to Original message

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[Chris]

Someone (it may have been some British paper) posted an article abut how goats are good for weed control a couple days ago.

He lives in Arizona and wants a goat.  Isn't that state mostly desert?

[Rebel]

Here's an idea, get off the f'n DUmp and cut your f'n grass.

[mamacags]

Here's an idea, get off the f'n DUmp and cut your f'n grass.

THAT"S RACIST!!!!!!!!

[DumbAss Tanker]

They are relatively easy to care for, like any animal you have to be around every day (though with goats, if you make sure they have water and forage, and there isn't much predator threat, you have more freedom that with most anything else).  Unless you are trying dairy goats, in which case you might as well forget the rest of your life and get used to muttering "Dammit, why the HELL did I ever start this?"

Downside is that will indeed climb on anything they can, they will screw up trees in their pasture unless they don't like the taste of the bark, and they are very curious and will escape to find the any outdoor pet food dish within a quarter mile as soon as your back is turned.

Upside is that they really will eat just about any vegetation once they eat down the good stuff to a closely-mowed level, they are rather mild-mannered, even affectionate, they do pay attention to electric fences once they learn what they are, and if you are not the sort that gets too attached to your critters, they are easy to butcher at home and pretty tasty (a lot like venison).

[delilahmused]

I have goats...they don't particularly like to graze on "grass" type weeds though they'll do it if that's all they have. It's not the ideal food for them either as it doesn't supply the minerals and other nutrients they get from grazing on shrubs, etc. They should also be grained, given a "protein" like handful or so of sunflower seeds, and a good quality hay like alfalfa or timothy...this is especially important if you have dairy goats. I have pygmies and Nubians (the 2 Nubians have a date with the very handsome and horny Boer buck at the next farm over because they're only "fertile" until January). The quality of the milk is dependent on the quality of the goats' diet. Boers are the best grazers and also quite tasty.

Cindie

[BEG]

Speaking of goats, I got a "gift catalog" from World Vision the other day and you can buy a goat, cow, chicken, etc. for starving children around the world.  My husband read it last night and asked me if I wanted to buy a goat through World Vision and I figured what the heck, let's do it.  You can also help build a well through donations as well as other things.  I have donated money to world vision before but never specifically for an animal, clean water or immunizations. 

Here is a link for anyone interested in helping:  http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/give/ways-to-give

[JohnnyReb]

Goats are like DUmmies. They're cute when their little and their antics quite comical. But then they grow up to be stupid, hardheaded, destructive, stinking things and you need to worm them often.

[franksolich]

Goats are like DUmmies. They're cute when their little and their antics quite comical. But then they grow up to be stupid, hardheaded, destructive, stinking things and you need to worm them often.

You know, even though a lad of the Great Plains, the very first time I observed goats first-hand and up-close, was in the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants.

I could be wrong, but it seemed to me that the assholes of goats are inside-out.

Another similarity between these innocent animals and the primitives on Skins's island.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Goats are like DUmmies. They're cute when their little and their antics quite comical. But then they grow up to be stupid, hardheaded, destructive, stinking things and you need to worm them often.

Unlike DUmmies, if all else fails, they can at least be reduced to tasty goatburgers, with the addition of some suet.  Add suet to DUmmies and all you get is fatter DUmmies.

[JohnnyReb]

Let me tell a little goat story here.

Back in the early 50's, my great uncle David bought a swamp. He got prison labor to cut a right-of-way thru it and build a fence. He filled the swamp with goats to clean it up so he could see what he had bought. Wound up he had a nice place to build on. My daddy built a large pond to cover the swampy area and cleared off the high ground for a house, shop and large yard/pasture. That was where I really learned to operate a bulldozer at age 8.

Years later, uncle David still kept a couple of goats or more on the place to clean those areas that he couldn't get into. We had a family reunion there by the lake one nice June day. There was this half grown little brown and white goat running around in the crowd. He was cute as he could be. He'd get in the hammock and watch the crowd. He'd look at whoever was speaking like he understood everything they were saying. His head was just a turning this way and that all day. I mentioned the goat to uncle David and he half laughed and half cursed the little rascal. Seems that if he didn't drive his car or truck completely into the carport, the goat would use them to get on top of the house.  ....along with other miscellaneous things the goat got into. Then he'd have to get Jake (lived on the place) to help him get the goat down.

Oh, about September, uncle David called all the family down for a big BBQ. Everyone brought a pot of something from home and he furnished the BBQ. I had had my fill of BBQ and other stuff when I asked uncle where the little goat was. He looked at me and laughed, "You just ate that little son-of-a-bitch".  ....and I must admit, he was damn good too.

[Chris_]

[youtube=425,350]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cdFRm1y5tAE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cdFRm1y5tAE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
[/youtube]Don't ask me why, but this thread reminded me of this.

[delilahmused]

Unlike DUmmies, if all else fails, they can at least be reduced to tasty goatburgers, with the addition of some suet.  Add suet to DUmmies and all you get is fatter DUmmies.

I have goat meat tacos for dinner just last week...delicious!

Cindie

[Duchess]

Goats are like DUmmies. They're cute when their little and their antics quite comical. But then they grow up to be stupid, hardheaded, destructive, stinking things and you need to worm them often.

ROFL