Ken Andries Kentucky State University College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems

Goats are Ruminant Animals Efficient at converting high fiber diets to high

quality protein.
Cost of production Grazing cost less per pound of gain than

concentrate.
Marketing opportunities Markets for grass or forage fed meat products on

the increase.

 Forage

quality is the key to improved performance. Goats prefer a variety of forages in their diets. Goats do not readily graze some forages. Browse and forbs as a forage:
Some have good nutritional value.

 What

will grow in your area?

Cool season or warm season? Mixed forage stands tend to do well Warm season forages are needed
Season

of growth Mixed forages to meet nutritional needs and seasonal slumps

 Cool

Season Forages

Fescue Orchard Grass Legumes

Warm

Season Forages

Native Grasses Lespedeza

Annuals

Sorghum-Sudan Millet Brasicia Small grains

Browse

 Forage

harvested by the animal is the most cost effective nutrition. Forage, in vegetative state, can meet the nutritional needs of the animal. Mature forage looses its nutritional value rapidly. Stocking density, carrying capacity, can be increased with proper management.

Forage Warm Warm Fescue Fescue Warm Warm Warm

Date 5/2006 7/2006 5/2006 7/2006 5/2007 6/2007 8/2007

CP 18.7 9.7 11.8 6.4 13.3 8.8 5.4

ADF 30 42 36.8 44.9 41.4 42.3 46

NDF 49.8 65.7 62.4 75.9 67.3 75.8 79.1

TDN 62.6 47.1 53.8 43.4 47.9 46.8 42.0

Fescue

5/2007

11.5 13.5

40 40.2

66.8 67.3

49.7 49.5

Fescue + N 5/2007

 Carrying

capacity is the stocking rate that is economically and environmentally sustainable for a particular grazing unit throughout the grazing season. Carrying capacity is largely determined by four factors: 1) annual forage production, 2) seasonal utilization rate, 3) average daily intake, and, 4) length of the grazing season.

Annual forage production Carrying Capacity =

Seasonal utilization Rate

______________________________________ ____ Average daily intake X Length of grazing season Grazing period Utilization Rate

Available Forage

Stocking Density

______________________________________ ___
Average Daily intake X Length of Grazing period

8 0 7 0 6 0 5 0

g r a z i n g p e r i o d u t i l i z a t i o n s e a s o n a l u t i l i z a t i o n r a t e

U(%fotirlazgaeticoonnRsautmeed)

4 0 3 0 2 0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 3 0

L e n g t h o f G r a z i n g P e r i o d ( d a y s )

Weight 3% 3.5% 4% 4.5% 5% 90 2.70 3.15 3.60 4.05 4.50 100 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 125 3.75 4.37 5.00 5.62 6.25 150 4.50 5.25 6.00 6.75 7.50 175 5.25 6.12 7.00 7.87 8.75 200 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 225 6.75 7.87 9.00 10.12 11.25 250 7.50 8.75 10.00 11.25 12.50

Pasture Species Bluegrass/ Clover Perennial Ryegrass/ Clover Orchardgrass/ Legume Tall Fescue + Nitrogen Mixed Pasture

Stand Condition, (lb./acre/inch)* Fair Good Excellent 150-200 250-300 300-350 150-200 250-300 350-400

150-200
100-150

250-300
200-250

300-350
350-400

150-200

250-300

300-350

 If

we have a 7 day rotation with 100 lb does consuming 5% of BW, Fescue pasture with Good stand. 69% season and 45% period utilization rate. 5 lbs of DM per day 200 lbs per acre inch and 8 in. starting height = 1600/acre of DM.

 Carrying

capacity = (4800*0.69) / (0.04*200) Carrying capacity 3312 / 8 = 414 lbs of animal per acre (4 100 lb goats per acre) Stocking Density = (1600 * .45) / (0.04 * 7) Stocking Density = 720 / 0.28 = 2571 lbs per acre (25 100 lb goats per acre)

 Estimate

using the Forage Stick available from NRCS.

Need one for your region to be accurate Need to be able to estimate stand density

Clip method Take several (min 3) samples. Use a 1 sq ft square to clip samples from. Weigh samples and calculate dry matter. Use estimates from Extension, NRCS,

or

publications.

 Goats

are expected to consume 3.5 to 5 % of their body weight per day in dry matter
About 5 to 30 pounds of actual forage or feed

Grazing methods affect forage utilization Continuous 30-35% Slow rotation (3-5 paddocks) 40-50% Fast rotation (8+ paddocks) 50-60% Stocking rate is generally calculated by

animal units

 AU

- average annual amount of forage required for a 1,000 lb. mature cow of average milking ability with a calf less than 4 months old, expected to wean at 400 lbs. 1AU = ~ 10,080 lbs. of forage dry matter/year. Or ~ 840 lbs of forage dry matter/month Goats are considered 0.17 AU
1,713.6 lb DM/year 142.8 lb DM/month
Quality

and digestibility of the forage will greatly impact these amounts as will size of animal.

 Alternative

forages are forages that are not normally used in your area. They can be either cool or warm season, annual or perennial Includes many plants that are considered weeds by others Used to help provide better nutrition during some period of time or to provide a known benefit to the animals.

 Warm

Season:

Cool

Season:

Lespedeza Sericea

Cereal Rye or

or Korean Sorghum Sudan grass Pearl Millet Soybeans Corn Alfalfa for grazing Forage Chicory Kudzu

Ryegrass Wheat Oats Turnips

Browse

Multi flora rose

Blackberry brambles
Iron weed

 Multiflora

Rose: 18% CP and 72% TDN Kudzu: 14% CP and 55% TDN Jeruselum Artichoke: 20.7% CP and 62% TDN Blackberry: 8.2% CP and 72% TDN Greenbrier: 12.2% CP and 63% TDN Bush Honeysuckle: 10.3% CP and 69% TDN Pigweed: 22.1% CP and 80% TDN Common Ragweed: 17.4% CP and 75% TDN Sumac: 13.7% CP and 77% TDN

1.

2.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9.

Sorghum Sudan White Clover Turnip Red clover Chicory Sericea Lespedeza Tall Oatgrass Alfalfa Warm Season Grasses
(EGG, Switch, BB, Indian)

10.

11.
12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

Reed canarygrass Orchardgrass Annual Lespedeza Novel Endophyte TF Endophyte Free TF Infected TF Bluegrass Bermudagrass

Provided by David Ditsch

 Establishment

can be difficult for some

alternatives. Grazing management needs to be adjusted to fit the forage growth pattern. Annual forages can be issues some years. Because some are considered weeds, issues with neighbors related to growing these forages. Finding seed may be an issue.

 Must

control existing forage to get a stand. Some alternatives do not hold up to competition during establishment. No-till methods can be used for some but others do better with tillage. Seeding rates are critical to success. Seeding depth is also important, both to deep and to shallow can be a problem. Information is available on specific species of forages from your local extension office.

 Animals

need nutrition not tonnage to live. High quality forage can provide nutritional needs of goats, poor quality forage cannot. Quality varies with type of forage, stage of maturity, and season. Annual forages can be good alternatives. Legumes can improve quality and reduce fertilizer needs. Quality is useless if they dont eat it!!

Lot 1 2

Year 2005 2005

DM 89.3 90.5

CP % 5.6 7.1

TDN % 42 44.2

ADF 49.5 47.6

NDF 78.5 73.2

NEm 0.31 0.35

NEg 0.07 0.10

RFV 59.6 65.9

1
1 2 1 1 2 1 2 3 -old

2006
2007 2007 2008 2010 2010 2011 2011 2011

89.8
79.9 88.6 76.6 89.4 89.9 91.3 91.1 92.1

87
9.1 8.6 9.0 7.9 13.4 5.8 10.6 11.6

41.6
43.5 43.9 38.4 40.5 48.8 39.7 47.0 24.9

46.3
44.8 44.5 48.7 50.9 43.5 47.7 42.1 59.2

75.1
71.8 71.5 70.6 84.4 74.8 74.4 75.5 68.9

0.30
0.41 0.34 0.25 0.28 0.42 0.27 0.39 0.01

0.60
0.33 0.10 0.01 0.04 0.17 0.03 0.15 0.00

65.4
69.9 70.6 67.1 54.3 68.4 64.7 89.2 57.76

 Forage

is critical and a good way to reduce cost of production in most systems. Goats prefer a variety of forages so give them choices when possible. Proper grazing management is critical to success of alternative forages Goats may need to be exposed to some forages before they readily graze them. Establishment may be difficult in some locations. Soil test and proper fertilizer and pH are critical.

Ken Andries E-mail: Kenneth.andries@kysu.edu Phone: 502-597-5094 Cell 502-803-0031