# Forest for meat goats?



## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

Sigh... Even after 6 years of raising dairy goats, I am still finding myself asking the dumbest questions about meat goats.  But here's my question! The farm I'm looking at has 20 acres of forest (plus 10+ acres of open pasture, but I need that for sheep/cattle) and all I can think about with that forest is running hogs and goats in there. It's a dense, overgrown forest that would be utter heaven to any goat, so I'm wondering... Can I run Boers in there (I would probably rotate them through so they're always getting fresh forage) and would they fatten on that? Do Boers need supplemental feed (i.e. "grain") or would good quality hay + endless forage be enough to put weight on them?


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Hon, we could be doing this a thousand years & still come up with new questions.
The only time we grain the Boers is from kidding through lactaction. And right before breeding for a few weeks.
They also get free choice alfalfa. 
So send em on out! Things are probably dying off right now out there in forage land.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

If they have good forage, you probably don't need to give them much supplemental feed other than good minerals.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Our Boer wethers fattened up on just blackberry bushes.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

What is your plan with them? If you want to eat them or sell them to make some money would be worth graining them. If you are going to be breeding them I dont think you need to. I dont grain the does except if they need it or after kidding, but since the kids are sold they get a creep feeder with all they can eat hay and grain. In the kids case is so worth it, I usually get top dollar at the sale and if anything else it makes me proud


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

Boer goats love the forest just as much as dairy goats do. Since I like goats and don't have a very high opinion
of hogs, I vote for leaving the hogs out of the goat's forrest! The nasty things will just ruin it. Ha. 
If you haven't already, you should consider whether there might be a preditor problem with this new set up and
if so, how you propose to deal with it.
Like Nancy D said, feed the momma's while they are nursing kids. There are just *so* many variables that it's
hard to say what you should be doing, but it's quite possible the Boer does won't need anything besides clean
water, minerals and that forest for a lot of the time. Boer does can get fat on you without much sometimes.
Packhill has that story where she put some weaned wethers in a black berry patch and they *thrived*. 
Ha. I guess the main point is, they will get a lot of use out of that forest probably. Got any pics of it?


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## AlecBGreen (Jul 7, 2009)

Yes, forest browse is good food for a goat. I would offer free choice hay as well. Be careful to UNDERstock the property for a full year and see how well the understory regrows. You can very quickly run out of forage in these situations. Trust me, I learned the hard way  I had forest paddocks that I thought would last a month run out in a week!


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## AlecBGreen (Jul 7, 2009)

p.s. one other possibility is to turn hogs loose and let them root it up and thin it out and watch the lovely grass grow in the freshly turned dirt. Joel Salatin does this on Polyface farms with great results. All his scrubby forests are volunteering into ryegrass!


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

Thank you for the advice everyone!
Jessica84, I would probably buy does for breeding and use the kids for meat to sell to local restaurants. Cabrito is becoming all the rage in my area. 

Tenacross, no pics yet! I'm going back to the farm next week though, to take pictures of everything so I will get some forest pics then and perhaps y'all can help me figure out a stocking rate.

I figure with 20 acres (actually, it's 22 acres if we want to be specific...) I could split it into either halves or thirds for the goats and hogs. I won't do very many pigs since I don't want them to do too much damage, but since it's old growth in there, it could use some rejuvenating. 

Alec, I would seriously LOVE to let the hogs begin the changes of turning the forest into pasture! Alas, the landlord of the farm wants to keep the trees there... Sigh. But yeah, but Joel has done with his acreage is awesome. I helped him clear a few acres of wood that he had cut, and I got to take care of some of the hogs that were wintering out in the forest. It's pretty cool how he manages his forest so well.


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## redtailgal (Mar 29, 2011)

I have two boer does that have been in dense brush since they were weaned almost a year ago, and I also have two boer wethers that are meat, but they have only been on the brush for a couple months.

Mine do well on brush in the spring and summer, and dont need grain at all, and only need hay on rainy days.

However, in the winter they need grain and hay 24/7


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good advice given, just watch their condition, if they are losing weight, then you know, they need more, such as good quality hay added. Don't forget the loose salts and minerals.


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