Running boer goats with your cattle?

[FarmGirl10]

If anybody does this, I would like to know if you have had much luck with it. I'd like to know if it was worth trying.
Thanks.

 

[andybob]

I ran Boergoats to controll encroaching acacia thorn scrub, the cattle and goats co - existed without any problems between the species. The cattle stayed out in the paddocks while the goats were always corraled at night to protect them from predators.

 

[CKC1586]

Is there a problem with different feeds? Nutritional needs??

 

[Keren]

No problems at all with running them together. It can be beneficial because we all know cattle cant graze right down to the ground, but the goats can. So the cattle leave enough pasture for the goats to eat. Also, if your pastures contain quite a few weeds, especially woody weeds that are unpalatable for cattle, the goats will preferentially eat them before eating the pasture. You can effectively increase your stocking rate and improve your pasture by doing this. We have found that the goats camp and graze away from the cattle, so we are able to muster a paddock and tell the dogs to only get the cattle or only get the goats. Another way you can do it is to rotationally graze, you send the cattle in first, then you send in a mixture of sheep and goats - the sheep eat the grasses down lower than the cattle could reach, and the goats eat the browse and weeds that the cattle and sheep do not like. Note that for this rotational system to work you have to have fairly browsey and weedy pastures, otherwise the sheep will out eat the goats.

 

[novatech]

No problems at all with running them together. It can be beneficial because we all know cattle cant graze right down to the ground, but the goats can. So the cattle leave enough pasture for the goats to eat. Also, if your pastures contain quite a few weeds, especially woody weeds that are unpalatable for cattle, the goats will preferentially eat them before eating the pasture. You can effectively increase your stocking rate and improve your pasture by doing this. We have found that the goats camp and graze away from the cattle, so we are able to muster a paddock and tell the dogs to only get the cattle or only get the goats. Another way you can do it is to rotationally graze, you send the cattle in first, then you send in a mixture of sheep and goats - the sheep eat the grasses down lower than the cattle could reach, and the goats eat the browse and weeds that the cattle and sheep do not like. Note that for this rotational system to work you have to have fairly browsey and weedy pastures, otherwise the sheep will out eat the goats.

I agree with this. The only problem I can see is the price of the fence. I have herd of electric fence doing a pretty good job. Is this true? A man told me he puts one hot wire about 6 in.'s off the ground and that is all he needs.

 

[KNERSIE]

No problems at all with running them together. It can be beneficial because we all know cattle cant graze right down to the ground, but the goats can. So the cattle leave enough pasture for the goats to eat. Also, if your pastures contain quite a few weeds, especially woody weeds that are unpalatable for cattle, the goats will preferentially eat them before eating the pasture. You can effectively increase your stocking rate and improve your pasture by doing this. We have found that the goats camp and graze away from the cattle, so we are able to muster a paddock and tell the dogs to only get the cattle or only get the goats. Another way you can do it is to rotationally graze, you send the cattle in first, then you send in a mixture of sheep and goats - the sheep eat the grasses down lower than the cattle could reach, and the goats eat the browse and weeds that the cattle and sheep do not like. Note that for this rotational system to work you have to have fairly browsey and weedy pastures, otherwise the sheep will out eat the goats.

I agree with this. The only problem I can see is the price of the fence. I have herd of electric fence doing a pretty good job. Is this true? A man told me he puts one hot wire about 6 in.'s off the ground and that is all he needs.

I think the man was telling porkies, where daylight shine through a boer goat and a dorper sheep will also find a way through.

 

[Keren]

No problems at all with running them together. It can be beneficial because we all know cattle cant graze right down to the ground, but the goats can. So the cattle leave enough pasture for the goats to eat. Also, if your pastures contain quite a few weeds, especially woody weeds that are unpalatable for cattle, the goats will preferentially eat them before eating the pasture. You can effectively increase your stocking rate and improve your pasture by doing this. We have found that the goats camp and graze away from the cattle, so we are able to muster a paddock and tell the dogs to only get the cattle or only get the goats. Another way you can do it is to rotationally graze, you send the cattle in first, then you send in a mixture of sheep and goats - the sheep eat the grasses down lower than the cattle could reach, and the goats eat the browse and weeds that the cattle and sheep do not like. Note that for this rotational system to work you have to have fairly browsey and weedy pastures, otherwise the sheep will out eat the goats.

I agree with this. The only problem I can see is the price of the fence. I have herd of electric fence doing a pretty good job. Is this true? A man told me he puts one hot wire about 6 in.'s off the ground and that is all he needs.

I think the man was telling porkies, where daylight shine through a boer goat and a dorper sheep will also find a way through.

hee hee hee I like that one Knersie. The two that are often quoted around here are:

"Throw a bucket of water at your fence. If the water goes through, your goats will too." - Goat farmer

"Good fences make good neighbours" - Goat farmer's neighbour

But seriously, we havent had much trouble keeping ours in. Most fences here, be they for sheep or cattle, are made of ringlock/hingejoint with one or two plain or barbed wires on top. This keeps my angoras in quite happily. For the boers, all you need to do is run a hot wire about 6 inch off the ground and about the same distance away from the fence. They will push under rather then go over. Make sure the goats have been trained for electric fences. And make sure anything that consistently gets out is culled. This modification is not a great expense. Another modification which I have found handy is to add chook wire to the bottom 1/3 of the fence, so it is attached to the hingejoint but also laying on the ground. When the goats try to push under the fence, they cant because they are standing on the chook wire.

 

[dun]

Helped a neighbor put up 4 strand of high tensile hotwire, the bottom wire was 6 inches from the ground. He goat a pygmy to give his buck company but she was terrified of him so he turned her in with the does. No problems with the fence, until....... He was advised to make the bottom wire a grund wire and to eliminate the problem of the voltage drain of the fence shocking through the wet grass. The pygmy figured it out so she just scoots under the bottom wire. Now she has a couple of the Boers doing the same thing. He was wringing his hands trying to figure out what to do. DUH, put the juice back on the bottom wire. No more problems.

 

[dun]

Helped a neighbor put up 4 strand of high tensile hotwire, the bottom wire was 6 inches from the ground. He goat a pygmy to give his buck company but she was terrified of him so he turned her in with the does. No problems with the fence, until....... He was advised to make the bottom wire a grund wire and to eliminate the problem of the voltage drain of the fence shocking through the wet grass. The pygmy figured it out so she just scoots under the bottom wire. Now she has a couple of the Boers doing the same thing. He was wringing his hands trying to figure out what to do. DUH, put the juice back on the bottom wire. No more problems.

 

[KNERSIE]

No problems at all with running them together. It can be beneficial because we all know cattle cant graze right down to the ground, but the goats can. So the cattle leave enough pasture for the goats to eat. Also, if your pastures contain quite a few weeds, especially woody weeds that are unpalatable for cattle, the goats will preferentially eat them before eating the pasture. You can effectively increase your stocking rate and improve your pasture by doing this. We have found that the goats camp and graze away from the cattle, so we are able to muster a paddock and tell the dogs to only get the cattle or only get the goats. Another way you can do it is to rotationally graze, you send the cattle in first, then you send in a mixture of sheep and goats - the sheep eat the grasses down lower than the cattle could reach, and the goats eat the browse and weeds that the cattle and sheep do not like. Note that for this rotational system to work you have to have fairly browsey and weedy pastures, otherwise the sheep will out eat the goats.

I agree with this. The only problem I can see is the price of the fence. I have herd of electric fence doing a pretty good job. Is this true? A man told me he puts one hot wire about 6 in.'s off the ground and that is all he needs.

I think the man was telling porkies, where daylight shine through a boer goat and a dorper sheep will also find a way through.

hee hee hee I like that one Knersie. The two that are often quoted around here are:

"Throw a bucket of water at your fence. If the water goes through, your goats will too." - Goat farmer

"Good fences make good neighbours" - Goat farmer's neighbour

But seriously, we havent had much trouble keeping ours in. Most fences here, be they for sheep or cattle, are made of ringlock/hingejoint with one or two plain or barbed wires on top. This keeps my angoras in quite happily. For the boers, all you need to do is run a hot wire about 6 inch off the ground and about the same distance away from the fence. They will push under rather then go over. Make sure the goats have been trained for electric fences. And make sure anything that consistently gets out is culled. This modification is not a great expense. Another modification which I have found handy is to add chook wire to the bottom 1/3 of the fence, so it is attached to the hingejoint but also laying on the ground. When the goats try to push under the fence, they cant because they are standing on the chook wire.

What you are describing is already some serious fence or at least a costly fence.

What might interest you in the breaking out patterns of goats...

I boarded a few alpine milk goats for some time and the paddock they were in was made for sheep with the mesh at the bottom (about 90cm high) and three strands of barbed wire on top of that. The alpine goats actually tried to go over instead of crawling underneath the mesh. I have seen a few go through between the mesh and the barb wires as well.

These little smelly dwarf goats often seen at a petting zoo is probably worse than a boer goat for breaking out.

 

[Keren]

The fence is really not that big a deal here. As I said, most fences here already have the ringlock/hingejoint topped with barb. All you need to add is the hot wire. Also, most farms in this area have got piles of old chook wire laying around. So its not a big deal here, but of course I cannot comment about other areas.

Its interesting you say that about the alpine does. In my experience, dairy breeds of goat will go over fences, while boers will go under. Never had anything to do with pygmies, so I cant comment on them. Angoras seem to do a combination of over and under, but generally are the easiest to keep in. I;ve also found it is only the dairy goats that will climb up the diagonal stays on a strainer assembly, and use that to jump over the fence.

Having said that, one of my poddy boers is so good at jumping he could be an olympic hurdler :lol:

 

[sandman]

I run about 100 head of boer goats with my 7 head of Registered Angus cows. I started in the goat business and have been slowly migrating towards cattle.

First about fences. It takes more then a barb wire fence to keep a goat in. I manage to keep mine in without a problem with a 5 barb fence with 2 hot wires, one between the ground and 1st barb and a second between the 1st and 2nd barb. As long as the fence is working, the goats will learn it and stay away from it. Until then you will have a few get through during the learning process.

Predetors is a concern with goats. Coyotes WILL take goats! I've had goats dissappear in the night. A good fence is not only required to keep the goats in, but just as important to keep the predetors out. And that takes an even better fence. The electric/barb combo seems to do OK, as long as it is truly working. Guard dogs, llamas and some use donkies to protect their herd. I have a llama and haven't lost a goat sense I got him. Lost several to coyotes before him. I've been told a GOOD set of dogs is even better, but I didn't want to deal with the problems of having them get along with my pet dogs and having to feed them seperate from the animals, the llama eats whatever the goats eat. I have witnessed my cows chase a coyote out of the field. It was shortly after they calved last year and they was ganged up on this coyote and he was wanting out of the field bad. So maybe cattle will provide some protection, I guess it depends on the situation and if they stay close to the goats.

Goats are good for a pasture. They eat all the shrubs and weeds first, leaving the grass to last. They are not grazer by nature, they would rather browse eatting shrubs and trees up high. Forcing a goat to graze will cause the goat to have a very high worm load in most climates. Which brings me to my next bit of advise.

Goats are a lot of work!!! I have cattle and goats and can say without a doubt taking care of the same $ amount of goats compared to a cow is about 10 times the work! They need wormed several times a year. They need their hoves trimed a couple times per year. Depending on your location, the worms can be a real problem. The good news is they don't share worms with cattle, so it doesn't pose a health problem to run them with cattle.

The other good news is you can feed the goats and cows the same food. They don't eat full size range cubes very well, because they are so big, but do well on smaller pellets. Someone mentioned sheep. Sheep can NOT have copper, so cattle mineral will not work for sheep. Also sheep tend to graze more then goats, which might put them a little more in competition for the grass with the cattle.

All and all I recommend a small herd of goats for pasture improvements. With the right mixture of goats, you shouldn't have to spray for weeds and if you have trees, they will be bare as far as they can reach on their back legs.

James

 

[MissouriExile]

I run 40 +- head of boer goats along with cow calf pairs on our small place. They get along well.

I have two paddocks that we feed in (cattle creep for both, every third or fourth day). One for the goats the other for the cattle. There is some jealousy about who gets how much when. Some of my time is spent each evening working the cattle out of the goat paddock.
I once had a tiny bottle doeling sqeeze by a gate and get in among 20 huge cows and their calfs in a small paddock. I figured she was a goner but watched as the 1000 lb cows delicately stepped around her. The cows even let her eat a small amount of feed.

As someone has noted; Goats are more work than Cows. Worming, bringing them into a secure paddock at night against predators, providing a place for them to get in out of the rain. Trees just won't do (ask any goat...) some straw for the shelter. Cleaning litter from the shelter. fencing, Worming again etc etc.

They will get out. Our fences were old and in terrible shape.

I have had success spraying the fence lines to kill off any woody plants (shrubs, saplings, bushes) on or just outside of the fence line. Beware! The initial results of spraying fence lines are to expose holes under the fence that the goats will use to push your hold on sanity close to the edge.
We have just about rebuilt and/or repaired the entire outer fence line. Problem was bad enough that it threatened our marriage at one point. We haven't had them get out for a while now. Knock on Wood.

Weeds; Don't count on goats controlling weeds. They are picky about weeds. I haven't experienced any weed control from goats grazing. I am told that sheep are better for weed control.
They will devour leaves on almost any woody plant and kill to get to them... They improve pasture by eating low leaves which causes the woody plants to die off and new ones to not start. They do not eat the woody parts of bushes. These must rot or be cleaned off.


Jon

 

[andybob]

As I used a herdsman for my Boer goats on my own farm, it was a sharp learning curve having to use fences when I stayed in England. As I was utilising overgrown fields surrounded by well manicured gardens in the Chalk Valley in Wiltshire, I could not afford any mistakes. I bought 5ft plastic 'step in' posts used for horses, the braided wire was put at 6" from the ground and 12" thereafter, no Boers ever escaped, some Saanen does I was given as rescue goats, managed to jump the fence and needed training behind a higher fence on a mains electric unit, after which they remained in with the Boers.
This system was ideal as I had access to several properties which were overgrown, and the fencing could be moved in a matter of hours on a weekend.