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Possom
02-09-2014, 02:03 AM
Raising meat goats

Raising goats for meat can be a lucrative endeavor with proper planning and a little work. This article will cover the basics of getting started in the meat goat business. Some of the finer points I have learned the hard way raising meat goats and market show goats.

Before you purchase a goat you will need a few things on your property. It doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective.

First goats do not like rain and rain does not like goats. If you do not have a shelter for your goats to get into out of the rain soon you will have a bunch of sick or dead goats. Goats do not require an elaborate barn with stalls and heat. A simple lean to shed will work just fine. I use an open sided shed boxed in on three sides with cattle panels. During the winter I wrap plastic sheeting around the shed on three sides to give the goats a wind break and the cattle panels keep the goats from punching holes in the sheeting with their horns. During the summer I remove the plastic sheeting to give more air flow in the shed. The open sides on the shed also help cut down on flies and smell from goat urine. Goats will and do urinate and defecate wherever the urge hits them. So expect to have to rake out the goat shed from time to time. The bonus to having to clean out the shed is your goats have provided you with a great natural fertilizer.

The next thing you will need on your property is fencing. Not only is the fencing to keep goats in but also to keep predators out. A dog can kill an entire herd of goats in a matter of minutes. Where as a coyote will kill a single goat and drag it off to eat. The biggest predator you will ever face is that annoying neighbor that refuses to put up his dog. Please check local laws before killing the neighbor’s dog for chasing your goats. This is the fence that I use to keep my goats in.

http://www.redbrand.com/Products/SheepGoatFence/SquareDealKnot.aspx

I have a single strand of electric fence wire connected to a solar fence charger on top of the goat fencing. Goat fencing is not cheap. However, it will save you a lot of work and losses in the long run. It is also a long term investment in your property. Red brand fencing will last a lifetime with no issues. I use plastic t-post electric fence clips that extend the wire about five inches inside the perimeter of the fence. I have never had an issue with predators getting into my goat pasture or goats getting out. These are the fencing insulators that I use:

https://www.horseloverz.com/product/other/306431-na.html?sku=5-257331&gdftrk=gdfV27555_a_7c1161_a_7c2883_a_7c5_d_257331&gclid=CM64m9iGvrwCFVFk7AodDnAAmA

Do not worry about hurting your goats with an electric fence. Goat hooves are excellent insulators and their hair keeps them from getting shocked very hard. Do not try to use the poly rope electric fence. It will not work and your goats will walk right through it. Steel electric fence wire is your best bet.

This is a great article concerning building goat proof fence. http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/81-2/jackie_clay/

Something I learned the hard way when I first started raising goats in welded wire fence (dog wire) fencing is worthless. Within six months you will be replacing welded wire fence if you attempt to use it. Dogs have no trouble breaking through the wire to get into your pasture and goats have to no trouble breaking the welds on the wire while rubbing your fence scratching their sides. Braided wire saves so much trouble. Also clean your fence rows out and spray them with a ground clear product that kills all plant life under and within twelve inches of the outside of your fence. If there is nothing for a goat to eat directly on the other side of the fence it greatly reduces the likelihood of a goat climbing on your fence to reach what is on the other side.

Once your property is ready to receive goats your next step is deciding what kind of goats to purchase. This can be a daunting task. Meat goats come in a variety of types.

I personally raise boer goats. Boers are a hardy breed originating from south Africa, they produce kids that gain weight quickly. However, there are a few drawbacks to raising boer goats. Boer doe, especially full blood doe are prone to issues producing enough milk to feed multiple kids. Boer are also susceptible to excessive worm loads when placed in a feed lot type setting. I personally have boer goats that have not been wormed in well over a year with no sign of an excessive worm load. However, I do not practice intensive management in my herd and give them plenty of room to roam, this alleviates much of the parasite problem. I also have a full blood doe that is currently raising triplet kids. However, she is an exceptional doe and I do not expect all of my does to carry triplets on their own. Several of my does are mixed breed boer. They are 75% boer and 25% toggenburg. Toggenbrug is a dairy goat breed and greatly increases their milk producing ability without sacrificing the meat goat attributes in their offspring.

Please do not be drawn in by the ABGA or USBGA “full blood is better and the only way to go” mantra from a bunch of stuck up rich people who raise animals under ungodly intensive management practices strictly for the show ring. A registered show goat is as far from a meat goat as you will ever get. Show doe will never make good breeding does. However, full blood bucks if purchased early on can be a great addition to a meat goat herd. In my opinion your does are not nearly as important as your buck is to your herd. Your herd buck is responsible for half of your entire crop of kids. I find that high percentage boer goats mixed with either toggenburg, or saneen dairy goat produces exceptional meat goat kids.

For instance, this goat is roughly 85% boer and 15% saneen. This wether was 7 months old when this picture was taken and weighed 96 pounds live weight. He was shown in our county fair by my stepson and beat out two fullblood boer goats for grand champion market goat that a competitor purchased for who knows how much money and raised in a feed lot setting. After the fair we had him slaughtered and turned into burger. Excellent meat.
http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz87/cox-adam/goats/hayden_zps78cbaaaf.jpg (http://s816.photobucket.com/user/cox-adam/media/goats/hayden_zps78cbaaaf.jpg.html)

When you are ready to purchase goats, do not buy from a sale barn. You will only be buying someone elses problem goats. Always purchase from a reputable breeder. If you do not know of any breeders in your area speak to your local county extension office. They can get you into contact with breeders in your area. Another way to procure excellent market goats is at your county fair. Many times after the fair is over kids are done with their animals and will sell them fairly cheap. If you can purchase 2 or 3 does from a fair kid or from a breeder, you are well on your way to raising your own goats.

Selecting the right buck for your herd is an interesting and sometimes expensive undertaking. But, when it comes to good breeding bucks you get what you pay for. Even paying $500 to $1,000 dollars for a buck is worth it in the long run. A good buck will help your produce better quality kids that will gain weight quicker for slaughter or to sell. However, if you do not want to have a buck on your property another option is to have your does bred by a stud buck or to artificially inseminate them.

In many cases it might be more economical if you only have 2 or 3 does to have a vet inseminate your does from a good show buck. Semen is available for purchase year round from many great bucks.

When you purchase goats to start, do not purchase a single goat. A single goat is a noise maker that never stops. Goats are herd animals and stress when kept solitary. Constant bleating until you pull out your hair will follow.

Now, if you like goat milk I think miniature goats are the only way to go. They do not eat as much as a full size goat and produce almost as much milk. But be warned. Mini goats have napoleon syndrome. They can be mean little devils.

I will add more to this thread and get into a little more detail on a variety of subtopics concerning raising goats in the next for days. If there is anything in particular you would like to know please don’t hesitate to ask. If I don’t know I will do my best to find an answer for you.

bacpacker
02-09-2014, 03:54 PM
In regard to fencing, I was surprised to see you recommend only 48" high fence. I would have assumed 5-6'. Also the standoffs, I assume are for the electric only?
Great post, Thanks

Possom
02-09-2014, 04:01 PM
Yes the stand offs are for a single electric strand. 4 foot fencing is plenty high enough to keep goats in. The stand offs keep goats from standing up on the fence and stretching over it. When they start to climb it they will stick their nose to the electric wire. Once or twice with their nose in the wire and they learn to stay off the fence.

5 or 6 foot tall fencing is just overkill for no real reason. If you end up with an "escape goat" on your place no amount of fencing will keep them in. Your best bet with a goat like that is to sell it before it teaches the rest of the herd to get out.

bacpacker
02-10-2014, 12:27 AM
Around here we typically allow an acre per heifer for pasture and something around that for hay production as well. With goats being so much smaller I'm sure they would require much less. What do they typically require for pasture? What all kinds of feed do you use? What quantities?

Possom
02-10-2014, 12:34 AM
It is a 7 to 1 ratio. You can run 7 goats on the area one cow needs. At least that is the rule of thumb around here.

Possom
02-10-2014, 12:40 AM
However, goats and cattle don't eat the same things. A herd of goats will walk across 50 acres of good grass to fight over a single green briar. Goats like clover but it will bloat them. Tall fescue is poison to a goat (not the plant so much as the seed) I have fescue on my place in patches and as long as I keep it cut before it goes to seed it doesn't seem to bother them. Goats do prefer browsing broadleaf plants instead of straight grass though.

bacpacker
02-10-2014, 01:13 AM
Sounds like more research is in order on feeding. I have maybe 3 acres I could pasture on, but I'm thinking 2-3 does and regular kidding would probably serve us well for meat production.

Possom
02-10-2014, 01:34 AM
Goats will eat grass if that's their only option. Just saying if they have a choice they will go after broad leaf plants and trees first. 3 does bred once a year (they can breed and kid twice a year but it wears them out) bred once a year they would produce between 3 and 9 kids a year. Taking the middle ground of 6 kids fed out to 80 pounds each. Hanging yield (less head, hide, legs, and guts) is around 45 to 48%. So 6 x 80 = 480 lbs live weight. 216 lbs hanging weight of meat fat and bone. You can figure 15 to 18% as bone and fat. So 30% ground meat yield. 144 pounds of ground goat meat to last the year.

I figured it at ground but goat chops and roasts are always nice as well.

Caveman Survival
03-03-2014, 04:44 AM
I am sure that different breeds can handle different temps, but I am sure that cold Canadian winters would require more of a shelter than a lean-to, correct? Do you have any information on what temperatures are safe and accommodating for goats? I'm not looking for exacts, but more for a general idea

Possom
03-05-2014, 02:22 AM
I couldn't tell you off hand on their survivability up in canada but I bet these folks can point you in the right direction.

https://canadianmeatgoat.com