Forage Management and Goats Bob Woods Area Extension Agronomy Specialist Photo by Dr. Claude Evans

What’s required to keep her fed? Meet “Average” Doe! 150 lbs of grace and beauty! What’s required to keep her fed?

What does she eat? That depends on what’s available and what tastes best to her! Average Seasonal Diet Composition of Goats Season Spring Summer Fall Winter % Browse 34 33 53 % Grass 49 37 42 % Forbs 17 14 10 5 From: What Range Herbivores Eat- and Why. TAEX Pub. B-6037

“Goats have a greater tendency to adapt their dietary habits than other kinds of livestock” “As long as there is adequate browse there is apparently little competition between goats and cattle” CRC Handbook of Pest Management in Agriculture

Goats can graze a multitude of forages (and brush) Native range Bermudagrass Bahia Fescue Legumes cool season warm season Small grains oats wheat rye ryegrass Sorghum Forbs

How much forage will she eat? (Dry Matter) If she weighs 150 # she will consume: On average = 4% of body weight (Texas A&M) 6 lb/day If she weighs 175 # : On average = 4% of body weight 7 lb/day If she gets 1 lb of supplement, she will need to forage for 5 lbs each day.

Forage for the year? 6 lbs x 365 = 2,190 lb or 1.1 tons/ Doe BUT We may only get 50% utilization on continuous grazing, we’ll need 2.2 tons. Or With rotational grazing we might get 65% utilization, we’d need about 1.7 tons. On Cattle we see anywhere from 50 to 70% utilization of the forage grown, the above utilization for goats is not reported well in the literature.

Average Doe’s hay needs. When we feed average Doe hay, at best we are going to get 70% utilization. If the hay is somewhat rotted and fed on the ground, we would expect only 50% utilization. For 30 days, average Doe would need 257 lb of hay @70% utilization. For 150 days (Dec.-April) she would need 1- 1,200 lb round bale to herself. 30 Does would need 30 bales. Assumes Doe gets all her dry matter intake from hay! Or if only feeding 3 lbs hay/head /day: 30 Does would need about 12 bales for the 150 day feeding period.

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/ http://www2.dasnr.okstate.edu/

Fact Sheet 2584 Forage Budgeting

Fact Sheet 2584 Forage Budgeting

10 acres 25 Does No Browse Bermudagrass Cool Season Grass Hay http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

10 Acres – All Grass 25 mature goats 25 goats X 30 days X 6 lbs./day = 4500 lbs of D.M./Month Cool Season Grass - November, March, April 3 months X 4500 lbs/.6 harv. Eff. = 22,500 lbs. of D.M. or 11.25 tons Hay – 3 months 11.25 Tons Bermudagrass – May –October 6 months 25 goats X 30 Days x 6 lbs./Day =27,000 27,000/60% Harvest Eff. = 45,000 lbs or 22.5 Tons

25 goats – 10 acres, no browse, all grass 6 acres Bermudagrass – 22.5 tons/6 = 3.75 tons/A 4 acres Cool Season Grass – 11.25 tons/4 = 2.8 Tons/A P, K, and Lime as recommended by a soil test

Goats for Brush Control Cattle and Goats Stocking Rate is Important Need an estimate of biomass Need to determine structure of biomass Limited Research! How much biomass and how much is useable by the goats and the cattle?

Thousands of acres in central and eastern Oklahoma are just like this – unmanaged and unproductive Control – no treatment 1 Doe/ 22 acres

Mechanical means may be necessary to lower the browse on some sites.

Harvest pine-thin hardwood- burn every 3 years 1 Doe/2 acres Harvest pine-thin hardwood- burn every 3 years Maximizes wildlife objectives Or Plenty of browse for Goats?

Goats that are overstocked on brush land can kill out one of their preferred forages, browse!

An approach for allocating for both cattle and goats

NRCS Web Soil Survey 80 Acre Example

Vegetative Productivity Estimates

x = 920 = 26,789 = 87,931 = 13,475 = 28,140 = 549 Total 211,319 = 53,515 40% Canopy Closure? x x x x x x 60% grass and Forbs = 126,791 lbs. 40% browse = 84,527 lbs.

Harvestable Estimate Typical harvest efficiency on a NR site is about 30% How much of the browse is accessible to the goats – (For example 30%) grass and Forbs = 126,791 lbs x .3 = 38,031 lbs browse = 84,527 lbs x .3 = 25,358 lbs.

Cattle – year round 12 months Or 8 cows or 16 stockers ½ season Goats – 6 months 180 x 6 = 1080 lbs. Browse Component 25,358/1080 = 23 does Or 46 kids Cattle – year round 12 months 1 AUY = 9360 (1000 lb. cow) Grass component 38,031/9360 = 4 cows Y.R. Or 8 cows or 16 stockers ½ season

Or 8 cows or 16 stockers ½ season Browse Component 25,358/1080 = 23 does Or 46 kids Grass component 38,031/9360 = 4 cows Y.R. Or 8 cows or 16 stockers ½ season All Goats - no cattle 59 Does or 120 kids

Your Local Extension Agriculture Educator Can Answer Your Forage Questions!