Goats will eat near anything. Years ago a family we knew had some goats and one day after coming home they found two goats which had climbed up a tree next to their house and were laterally eating their roof - cedar I believe.🤣🤣
We are located in North Texas just across the border. We worked with Dr. Rohla on our Pecan Orchard. You guys are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for sharing.
Twist, tilt and shove ! That’s what you need to know about goats and fences . You can put the goats out to pasture and go inside and come back out 30 minutes later and and they’ll be on top of your pickup and other high places lol
"Goat Wrangling"! Knowing what little I know about goats and having had the thrill of briefly herding a small 75 - 80 herd, I do know that goats have an uncanny proclivity for trouble. They can go from " everything's OK" to complete chaos in a blink of an eye. I didn't have the luxury of a lot of electric fences but I did have some fairly decent Shepard dogs. Sure looks like these here are working out good for you.
We added goats to our small ranch to keep the pastures clean of brush. They did a good job and what started out as nine does and a buck wound up as 200 breeding does and 6 bucks. We rotated the breeding so we would have several kid crops a year. We found a market through a local butcher shop that liked our clean animals (free of desease), and they bought all we could supply. A good supplement to our cattle production.
I remember way back when we used to deride "Goat Herders" as not being real cowboys. Here from an old hand I am saying these boys are just as busy and just as concerned for their charges as any cowboy of his herd. My apologies my friends I have been shown the error of my old ways. Well done and keep up the great work !
Thank you for this video, we really enjoyed it! So similar to our experience over the past year, figuring out hot fences and paddock sizes. 11 kV sounds just perfect 🤣
oklahoma goat ranchers.. whoed a thunk.. im just teasinnn.. weve raised goats, sheep, even camels and llamas with our cattle.. well done yall.. doc johnny vmd texas and italy
I've got a little herd of 29 San Clemente Island goats that I'm using for fire hazard mitigation in the Napa/Sonoma/Lake County area of Northern California. They are wonderful in steep brushy terrain!
That's fantastic! Were you already having problems with fire and then starting using them to solve that issue, or did you know it could become one and got them as a preventative?
We've had major out of control wildfires the past several years throughout this whole North Bay area. I'm getting cranky about having to evacuate and decide which things are precious and which things I may lose forever. I'd heard the phrase "regenerative agriculture" several years ago and the concept of making sure there are animals on the land as well as plants. That lack of balance pretty obvious here in this human populated part of the world...with super high land values. It seems like herds of goats if carefully managed can do something like the large herds of deer and elk did for hundreds of not thousands of years. It's my small start in solving a big problem. I need to learn how to manage all aspects of this business; the goats, the dogs, portable electric fencing, truck and trailer and finally the customers! It's all good and very interesting :-)
Y los políticos en el gobierno (Pedro Sánchez y sus seguidores) están al servicio de Soros y otros en el "deep state" o el cabál...Existe mucha corrupción e intervención para separar a Cataluña de España...No tienen bastante de haber hecho tanto daño que lo siguen haciendo todavía...Espero que los españoles despierten...Ya es hora de protestas y de defenderse...
I read somewhere that goats turned Three pounds of feed into one pound of meat and cattle are like 8 pound's of feed to one pound of meat. Not really sure about the numbers for cattle but you get the idea
Goats are way to smart for their own good. They will sit there and study an issue and work out a solution. Watching them work a fence line to find a way out will amaze you. That said, you got a field of crap and briars, put goats on there and you will end up with a great pasture field in no time.
Sheep won’t be able to get into thorny bushes as they do get stuck and need to be saved by human, which often happens in Australia. Also they need to be sheared professionally and that is costly unless you are doing that primarily. Are you going to process the wool? Totally different profession. It’s not like they shed their fur naturally. These guys aren’t doing for meat but to get green pastures for their cows. And sheep won’t be appropriate. Why would they get sheep when they have cows for meat? Have you been to Texas? You don’t see sheep there mostly cows.
I've heard several times over the years that goats, as opposed to sheep, need shelter (from rain?). What is your experience not using shelter? Death loss % every year? Thanks
Goats don’t like getting wet feet and get foot rot if they are are in areas where they are getting wet feet a lot of the time.And they do like shelter out of the rain as well. Where as sheep can handle being out in the rain a lot better and can handle cold winds a lot better than goats. But a new born goat is a hell of a lot tougher and gets to its feet a lot quicker when it’s born compared to a new born lamb. And goats do not like electric fences and soon learn what they are and tend to stay away. We ran both goats and sheep here in New Zealand and these are things we observed.
Goats hate rain, I have shed all over the place and protect them in winter also Use electric water tanks heaters in winter and salt blocks I feed corn and wheat planted for winter
Great job and great video, hey would it be possible to use a 18" plastic drain pipe, 20' long, cut it vertical in half, seal the ends, and have a long water troft?
That’s a cool solution. With 500+ goats currently, this has been the best solution so far that we have tried, especially when they all want to water at the same time. But we are always looking for better solutions. Thanks for sharing!
Is your buddy Joe interested in replicating the portable fence charger? I have not been real successful in telling a dog which band of livestock to guard. Some of their decision making process seems to be preference! the other option is that they see problems you haven’t…yet. It is never a good idea to assume why a dog does something.
Hey Becky, our fence doesn't really keep our dogs inside it. they can jump it pretty easily. One thing we did was we bought our first group of goats that came with the dogs. That helped at the start, and then when we added dogs, it helped there too. When we weaned our wethers two of the dogs did wonder back and forth for a while.
Do you know the breed of guardian dog shown at 5:24 in the video? I know the Turkish kangal breed is also shown in the video. I am curious about the pure white short hair dog. Thanks!!!
Hi, do you try and harvest goat milk and create cheese etc ? How do you monetize the upkeep cost of so many goats ? I know you said that they clear the paddock for more cattle grazing but how does that increase revenue ? Thanks from a City Slicker
Hey! All great questions. All of our goats that are sold are usually meat goats. Because goats have a higher bred and birthing rate then we can determine how many we want/need to sell and how many we want to keep as replacement animals. With goats usually the highest cost for us is for our guardian animals (dogs in this case), for food, heart worm meds, ticks etc. We usually don’t have to feed them much if any during the winter months because there is usually something around they will eat. Sometimes we bring in some alfalfa for extra protein if needed. A lot of the fencing we had because of our cattle. Because they move so often we usually don’t have any kind of medical/vet issues. When the goats clear out the brush in a paddock, it allows more grass to grow for the cows. That allows us to possibly add more cows to our herd because there is more to eat or utilize that extra forage in another way, like stockpiling the forage (leave it standing instead of grazing it.) and that becomes a great winter forage that we can use instead of buying hay, which is an added cost. It all depends on the context of your ranch and what would benefit it the most.
Watched this video and your sheep video, and now I’m hooked. New sub to follow the journey! I was actually just studying regenerative landscapes for my landscape architecture major and found a ranch here in OR that uses bison to restore soil systems. Have y’all considered getting bison in the future?
Awesome! Thank you! We actually have some employees that have their own bison ranch, but we do not run them ourselves. Who knows what the future holds. There was a time long ago we said we wouldn't run anything but cattle, and look at us now!
@@NobleResearchInstitute very true, who knows and with the amount of land y’all manage, maybe that’s something that could become a possibility. Either way, I’ll be along that journey to see it through with you all.
Yes, they use them like edible toothpicks. Funny to say for an animal that eats almost anything they are kinda picky eaters. If you give a goat an acorn they will pop the top off and spit it out before eating the rest. If you give them a leaf they will eat the leafy part and smartly nip the stem off, letting it fall to the ground. They mostly only like to eat young bark unless it's a cedar or cypress tree. They shake their heads and make a snort/honk sound when eating something tart. Unsweetened apple sauce is fun. Some eat it slowly but most chomp at it and get it on their snouts, coming up looking like Tony Montana, but applesauce. The snort/honk thing is like goat language. One way is saying they like it and the other is saying they hate it. Anyway, back to Briars, my goat pen is part field and part woods. Very quickly my goats ate up all the big briars growing there. Now there are just shoots here and there the goats keep grazed back. They nibble the stems of the bigger plants until they can get around the briars and smash them. The biggest briars get clipped off like a mature leaf stem. They also took care of a big poison ivy patch. They seem to treat poison ivy, pine needles, and the green foliage on cedars and cypress like it's candy but a Flintstone vitamin of sorts. They will eat some every day but not gorge on the stuff.
They do eat some of our briars. Because they have so much to chose from on our pastures it’s not always the first thing they go to. They will strip all the leaves they can get off of our honey locust trees, and sometimes break them down to eat them. (they sound nice, but they are pure evil! Haha give them a quick search) So we are glad that they do!
They have been doing pretty fantastic for us. A few bumps along the way, but they are contributing to the health of the land and to the financial side as well.
@@NobleResearchInstitute goats are the best, im happy for you. You can't put a cow in your minivan, you can't hold a cow down for a whatever reason by yourself. You can't butcher a cow in the afternoon and be all cleaned up enjoying Backstrap for dinner. I'd rather be kicked or ran down by not a cow. If a cow dies it hurts, one goat not so much. More goat farming throughout the world than cow because it makes sense.
Goats have twins or triplets, and they'll make you a meat animal ready to sell in only 5-6 months, for better prices than beef in the good markets. Aren't they making you more money than cattle?
I want time machines to call her Nature's cleaning habitats we got left and people don't realize the animals have a purpose in this world and machines are taking their job and then you notice that they have to go back to the old days to get rid of the problem because machines can do the take care of the problem kind of funny
That's how we started. We mechanically knocked it all down, but it will continue to come back unless you stay on top of it. That's where the goats come in. Better for the land, soil and pocket book in the long run, for us, anyways.
Hey Scott! I am guessing you are referring to the paddocks at 10:09, and yes, that was what the pasture looked like that they left and the one they went into.
Dry areas (mountainous, poor feed) in the Arab world. They have goat's like nobodys buissness. When i visited morrocco. Many Goat's hanging around. Up in trees and stuff.
Here in San Antonio they put about 500 goats in one of the parks down the street to do the exact same thing. It seemed to work. The park looked great afterwards.
Our city of Rocklin Ca uses goats and sheep every year to clear hills, wetland preserves, and every place that has brown grasses or weeds. So far, fire non-existent in our city. Plus, they are wonderful to watch when they attack those hills, etc. it’s been our eco-friendly way of not using herbicides to kills the weeds. Now, lots of neighboring cities are finally using them also.
Yup, same here In San Bernardino. Hills close to Downtown are currently being stripped by about 150 goats. The incline of the Hills doesn’t bother them at all. Lol.
Yep same here in Placerville.. Goats just mow down brush to reduce the flash fuels and reduce fire danger and lower rates of spread.. it’s a win win for all.
Wonderful! I have been shouting for years, "California needs to put goats out there! They'll deal with those fires in no time!" So happy to hear it's being done. And goats provide multiple benefits and streams of revenue. Not only can their controlled grazing reduce the spread of fires and regenerate the land, but their milk is delicious and can be sold as itself and used to make artisan cheeses. And more, if enough are bred, some could be butchered for meat, which is also delicious (and better than lamb, in my opinion).
It used to be more balanced... but selective hunting of species has left everything unbalanced... add drought and Global warming... and the western forests are going to GO AWAY...
As someone who lives in those states. Goats ain't gonna fix it. Controlled burns and government allowances for thinning harvests and maintenance are what's needed, but the USFS have their brains unplugged for the past four decades.
It would work, and does work in many places. Trying looking up some regenerative or permaculture ranches and farms in Australia. I've seen plenty of videos of Australians using goats for just that purpose.
Dog choice: A fantastic animal protection dog is a Kangal. We use one that is like a cruise missile at predators but kind and gentle to everything else. BIG. Hardy. Fearless. Dedicated. Gets along with chickens goats hogs and cows. Even the barn cats like her. And when strangers come to farm (delivery) no issues with her around new people.
Goats are an excellent tool for land management as well as a financial benefit as far as a livestock enterprise. We started with just a few and now run well over 250 head on primarily leased land and primarily utilizing electric fence. In areas as little as 2 acres all the way up to areas as big as 40 acres at one time. Moving them on to the next area as they clear it down. Keeping our land owners happy while the goats clear their brush that is other wise not utilized by their cattle. All the while keeping us happy while the goats pack on the pounds!
Do the goats get poisonous weeds etc too or only higher things like bushes and brush? We have wooded land to clear out as well as land that used to be wooded that no longer has trees but is still super full of all kinds of poison Ivy, brush, etc.
I recently say a an old saying... (I think author was unknown) It read: "Make your fences horse high, bull strong, pig root proof, and goat wire size... " meaning tall, strong, push proof and made to keep dogs out and small livestock in.
I've been trying to talk my husband into goats for Years! Now that we've moved onto 29 acres that was clear cut 5 years ago...and the 4 cows aren't eating down the brush as quickly as he'd like...he's entertaining the thought of goats. ...but I told him if he'd have gotten goats 5-10 years ago when I suggested we would have gotten them sooo much cheaper! What kind of goats are y'all running?
Hey Bonnie! Looks like you got a plan a brewin! They are becoming more and more popular and the great thing about them is that you can add small ruminants like goats to use the forage the cows won't, add another enterprise to the same acreage to help become more profitable, and do some great things for the land and soil as well. BTW we run Spanish cross goats.
@@NobleResearchInstitute , I was pretty sure those were the old fashioned Spanish goats. But I'm not expert enough to tell for sure. Here in Deep East Texas that used to be what people ran. It's kind of difficult to find them here, now.
@@NobleResearchInstitute ...and by the way, hubby is thinking of keeping the young, Brangus bull and one Angus/Jersey heifer for milking. Maybe trade the 2 older jerseys (one is ancient and quite cantankerous) for goats. We'll see.
It looks like the South African boer goat. Adapts well to almost any conditions. However, any goat will do a great job if you're only looking to control weeds.
Many people are using boer or boer cross goats. They have a meatier body frame and you don't have to milk them. However, boer goats are notoriously bad Mommas. You must cull, and sometimes drastically until you weed out the bad moms. Bad moms often produce more bad moms. One cross that I accidently found producing really good mommas was fainting goat x boer. If you don't cull the bad moms out you'll find yourself swamped with bottle babies. Cute, but very time consuming.
Nice. But, if you don't have enough brush, they refuse to eat the grass on their side of the fence. And, if they have horns, they can get in but not out. I wonder if a person could train a goat how to disentangle himself from the fence?
My mom didn't want me to take out one of our goats when I was little, but my dad overrode her . The goat took me out as I recall and I didn't have to be dragged very far before I let go of the rope. Ahh memories.....
You had a great Dad. I bet he gave your mom one of them looks "he 'bout to learn some let him do it" lol We had about a dozen goats when I was a kid. A turbulant kid. I was fitting right in with them. The buck would attack my sister and everybody else. But for some reason he liked when I came around fornsome trouble 😂
They work well, used to graze 1000 to 1500 on brush here in northern Alberta when we had the goat and lamb feedlot. Much easier to keep in with electric fences than sheep. Sure helped the grass production for the cow herd.
Hey Chad! Thats great to hear! We have sheep on one of our other ranches and are having some good success with them too. It's been fun adding these new enterprises to our cattle ranches.
@@roddraper9921 Yes, we will keep some of our kid crop as replacements, but we will sell off the wethers after weaning as well as some of the nannies. And just like any other livestock enterprise, we will cull any animals that are not thriving in our environment.
@@dirtymikentheboys5817 yep, we had good markets around any major cities where most immigrants are located. You want to eat what you are raised on it seems. Mostly cattle now as we we’ve gotten older and goats and sheep are very labor intensive. But they are a good way to start farming. That’s how I got started.
This is so amazing to see such great ideas flowing thru the cattle industry.. Locally I have seen goats below a canopy of trees.. The goats eat all the underbrush and other vegetation to completely reduce fire issues in central California foothills.. The grazing acts like and under burn and cleans up the flash fuels in way many thought was not possible.. When I see goats turning the vegetation back to grass and making great grazing for cattle is off the charts.. Many great things are happening with out herbicides too.. a win win situation.. great video guys.. keep them coming..👍😁
Did you add a ground wire during the drought? Keeping them in during this drought has been a problem. What will shock our calves won’t even shock the goats
We did run a ground wire in the 3 wire fence when it was super dry. We ran it on the bottom and did have success with keeping them in using that. After we got a shower we went back to grounding with a copper rod
