# Dairy Goat and a Pig



## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

I have three goats (one milking) in a 2 acre pasture. They don't eat any of the grass and weeds just the trees and bushes, and I don't have a brush hog to mow it.
What animal can I safely add to the group that will eat all the grass, but not cause a problem for my milk quality?


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Go with a sheep, they love grass but don't care much for the brush. Plus they should get along fine with your goats. Cows work great at eating the grass down, but they could hurt the goats very easily....so I say sheep


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

I hadn't thought about sheep! Thank you.



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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

There is a potbellied pig for sale in our area, is the only reason I was thinking about a pig, I'd thought about getting a meat calf, but like you said I don't want it to get bigger and hurt the goats!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Sheep, mini cow, donkey, horse, mini horse, llama, I know a lady who has a zebra with her goats, so there's lots of different options


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

Zebra!!!! Ohhhhhhhh!!!!


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Zebra? That's a new one! It would make your backyard look like a safari  .


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

It would be so awesome to look out and see one LOL

I have heard there is someone in the area who has a few... Maybe in need to look into that deeper ;-)


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Be careful with those zebras, I've heard some can be real biters


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## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

There was a farm with zebras and ostrich where I lived in FL, we try end to feed them grass from our side of the fence and they had very bad attitudes, but I never saw anyone interact with them, so that might not always be the case


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

Do you suppose a small flock of turkeys would keep the grass down?



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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Poultry don't keep the grass down well, because they're more interested in bugs and berries! Grazing animals work best like sheep, cows, horses etc.


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

I didn't know if the scratching for bugs would kind of cut the grass as they go.


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

I know there is zero grass in the chicken coop LOL


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try...so do you want short grass, or no grass at all?


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

Short grass would be preferable, but my husband just informed me I can't get anything that is going to cost too much more in feed... So that drastically limits my options. no Zebra :-(


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Oh shoot  . That's when sheep are good, they eat the same foods that goats do, and are the same size. 
The only problem is minerals, sheep can't eat goat minerals and goats don't do as great on sheep minerals...so that makes it difficult.


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

Oh yeah, that would get complicated. 

Thank you all for your advice though!!!

I'll find something to eat that grass down. Help keep those snakes from hiding in it!!!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

I probably wouldn't keep turkeys with the goats, they are messy and gross... chickens would be a bit better, but poultry in general will constantly be giving coccidia to your goats.


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

I don't want that :-/


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Geese are grazers, they eat grass, I don't know if I'd want them with my goats but they are grazers.
And instead of a zebra get a zonkey, we have one that lives fairly close to us and he is total sweetheart.


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## anawhitfield (Jun 9, 2013)

I would definitely go with a grazer. Pigs and (too many) birds will destroy your grass. Horses are rough on pastures too. Although your goats are more interested in the shrubs & bushes, I am sure the want grass, not dirt.
Be careful when getting sheep. Goats require copper but sheep get paralyzed and die if they get copper. Also, come breeding season, your buck will be after your ewes and your ram after your does so you will forever have to keep an eye on them or put them in separate pens during breeding season. I don't think a successful cross-breed is possible, but from what I have read, if the female does get pregnant it ends up in miscarriage or still born and you don't want to waste a good breeding season !
just some stuff to think about ....


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I wouldn't go with the pig. I got two pot bellied pigs last year thinking it would be great to have them run free and clean up the grain the kids spilled and basically disk up their pen. BAD idea. They did good on that but when my does started to make a bag they would chase the does around trying to nurse them. 
For sheep the only difference is the copper. Goats thrive on it and it kills sheep. You could put sheep minerals out and copper bolus the goats. Or if you could some how separate them at night have the goat minerals in the goat night pen. I also wouldn't do a calf. I put my bottle baby in with the goats since she was small and couldn't hurt them. But she ran around like a moron and I'm not sure if she butted the doe or not but the next day one of my does aborted. The calf was not meaning to be mean at all. Another animal to think about is a llama or alpacas. I have alpacas and have the goat minerals out and they have never touched the minerals. They are also super funny and cute 


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

Thank you, you wouldn't think it would be such a complicated situations, animals living together LOL
Finding someone to pay to brush hog it isn't sounding too bad about now :-/



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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

It would be cheaper in the long run... you don't have to feed a brush hog through the winter, and pay vet bills.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

I would get sheep as well. Find one that is easy to maintain on grass only (blackbelly sheep come to mind, but that's bc I live in Barbados and they're everywhere  ). If they're going to share space, give really good quality all purpose minerals and bolus your goats.


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## mcd311 (Feb 16, 2013)

Thank you!


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I got sheep to keep the grass down along with my goats. I didn't know about the "sheep can't have copper thing" and was feeding them calf manna that has a high copper content when they 1st started eating grain. They are still alive, and in fact our ground is so copper deficient that I do occasionally sprinkle the goat mineral on their feed as well, but mainly I just copper bolus the goats every 3 months and feed them the goat sheep sweetlix mineral to them free choice. Strange though, these sheep eat grass, thistles, blackberries etc....., and my goats will keep the grass down as well... It's kinda strange really.


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