Misc Guerilla Grazing

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
there's pasture clearing companies that use goats for their biz - some of the operators live on the contract property while the goats do their biz ...

depends on your locale - but some BS like on that Utube wouldn't fly long around here >>> freaking cat takes two steps off it's property and the FB nit wits are posting about it - they absolutely freak when it's livestock on the loose ....
 
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This too shall pass.
Illini Warrior said:
there's pasture clearing companies that use goats for their biz - some of the operators live on the contract property while the goats do their biz ...

depends on your locale - but some BS like on that Utube wouldn't fly long around here >>> freaking cat takes two steps off it's property and the FB nit wits are posting about it - they absolutely freak when it's livestock on the loose ....
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I've seen some of the weed-clearing companies that use goats; thought about doing it myself, but was already having too much trouble with my back to manage it.

I think the guy in the video has an established route and has stayed in the same area for a long time, so people know him, and he knows where he's welcome to be, and where he isn't. A little more minimalist than I'd want to be, but I saw some good prepping ideas there.

Kathleen
 
O

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Freeholder said:
A very hippy-dippy guy who lives outdoors with a few sheep, grazes them around in various empty lots full of weeds, and gets at least half of his calories from sheep milk. Would work with goats, too, though he makes really good use of the wool from his sheep.

Kathleen
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Yes. I think the goats would be the way to go. The trade off are goats stay in milk longer than sheep and no wool unless angora. Sheep are grazers and prefer grass. Goats are browsers, like deer and prefer weeds and leaves. Meat goat wethers to pull the wagon and nannies to provide milk and replacements. Keep a buck till it gets too big, smelly and/or obnoxious and then when a replacement or two hits the ground: curry.

What I want to know is how he keeps them from wandering off at night?
 
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Old Gray Mare said:
Yes. I think the goats would be the way to go. The trade off are goats stay in milk longer than sheep and no wool unless angora. Sheep are grazers and prefer grass. Goats are browsers, like deer and prefer weeds and leaves. Meat goat wethers to pull the wagon and nannies to provide milk and replacements. Keep a buck till it gets too big, smelly and/or obnoxious and then when a replacement or two hits the ground: curry.

What I want to know is how he keeps them from wandering off at night?
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He may keep one or two of them tethered; the others won't leave the tied one. (I've done this with my goats to keep them in the yard -- tie one and the rest stay fairly close.) But also, he lives with his sheep, and is part of the flock himself. I suspect they won't leave him.

Kathleen
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
We have several goats. Only three babies this year, and we have 5 nanny goats. One young one had twins that were still born. DH sold one male that was a lone birth. We still have another set of twins, the female will replace one we lost a couple of years ago being named after her, April, her brother is August. These two stay together all the time and looked for the little fellow DH sold for a few days.

Our goats keep the grass cut down, so no lawn mowing for us.

We have a billy goat, Buddy, that we've had for a good 5 years or longer. He's a very big fellow and i can't see us getting rid of him (no curry) although he can be aggressive at times, DH took a 2x4 to him a few years back when Buddy rared up on DH, Buddy has not done that since then. We, however do not turn our backs on him.

Hell, I don't even know where I'm going with this, except that we have goats and love them. No milking though, two labor intensive and we don't drink milk.

God is good all the time

Judy
 
artichoke

artichoke

Greetings from near tropical NYC!
Freeholder said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U54HRmglYEA
Run time about 26 minutes.

A very hippy-dippy guy who lives outdoors with a few sheep, grazes them around in various empty lots full of weeds, and gets at least half of his calories from sheep milk. Would work with goats, too, though he makes really good use of the wool from his sheep.

Kathleen
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5:30 "I made this with her mom" holding a vest, pointing at one of his sheep.
 
artichoke

artichoke

Greetings from near tropical NYC!
Old Gray Mare said:
Yes. I think the goats would be the way to go. The trade off are goats stay in milk longer than sheep and no wool unless angora. Sheep are grazers and prefer grass. Goats are browsers, like deer and prefer weeds and leaves. Meat goat wethers to pull the wagon and nannies to provide milk and replacements. Keep a buck till it gets too big, smelly and/or obnoxious and then when a replacement or two hits the ground: curry.

What I want to know is how he keeps them from wandering off at night?
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Sheep milk tastes better.
 
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artichoke said:
Sheep milk tastes better.
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That actually depends on the breed of goat. Some breeds, such as the Kinders (and probably also the Nigerian Dwarfs, and I think Boers, but they are a meat breed, though crosses can be excellent milkers) have milk that is just as rich and sweet as sheep milk. One reason sheep are used for making some kinds of cheese is that you can get about two pounds of cheese from each gallon of milk, compared to -- normally -- one pound of cheese from a gallon of regular goat or cow milk. But Kinder milk will give you close to two pounds of cheese per gallon of milk because the milk solids are high. The milk fat is also high. I think this characteristic comes from their Pygmy ancestry, but very few people milk Pygmies. The Boer X Oberhasli doe I had years ago had milk that was about as rich as Kinder milk.

Kathleen
 
artichoke

artichoke

Greetings from near tropical NYC!
Freeholder said:
That actually depends on the breed of goat. Some breeds, such as the Kinders (and probably also the Nigerian Dwarfs, and I think Boers, but they are a meat breed, though crosses can be excellent milkers) have milk that is just as rich and sweet as sheep milk. One reason sheep are used for making some kinds of cheese is that you can get about two pounds of cheese from each gallon of milk, compared to -- normally -- one pound of cheese from a gallon of regular goat or cow milk. But Kinder milk will give you close to two pounds of cheese per gallon of milk because the milk solids are high. The milk fat is also high. I think this characteristic comes from their Pygmy ancestry, but very few people milk Pygmies. The Boer X Oberhasli doe I had years ago had milk that was about as rich as Kinder milk.

Kathleen
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Old Gray Mare said:
Haven't tried sheep's milk so I've nothing to compare. Goats milk is temperamental. Mishandling or poor sanitation can change goats milk barely discernible from cows milk into something nasty and totally undrinkable fairly quickly.
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I've had whatever kind of goat milk is sold in stores, or made into cheese and sold in stores. And it's much different from cow's milk. Maybe they ought to use the good stuff.
 
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I got some goat milk from a store ONCE, just to try it, because I'd talked to people who said goat milk was nasty, and that was the goat milk they'd tried. And yes, it was nasty. I think it's the processing that's the problem. The fatty acids in goat milk are more delicate than the ones in cow milk. Also, commercial goat dairies use Alpines and Saanens for the most part. If you can get fresh goat milk locally from someone with Nubians or Kinders (not Alpines, Saanens, or Toggenburgs), try that. I think you'll like it better.

Kathleen
 
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