Free Ranging

[Chuck]

Since our homestead is a remote fly in area all of our animal feed has to be flown in, so basic economics dictate free ranging. When we moved out we were told goats could not survive with grain and hay. That did not make sense because goats were by nature browsers not grazing animals. No matter what the weather none of our goats ever went hungry. When the snow would get to deep they would follow our trails for food. I would also bring the tops of trees I cut for fire wood or building logs. These guys thrived on spruce boughs and birch branches, they loved the moss that lived on the dead spruce that was hauled to the wood pile.
Our goats were a little smaller and didn't give as much milk as their grain fed city cousins, but were I believe healthier heartier goat.

[Freeholdfarm]

The big downside to free-ranging is that you could lose some animals to predators, but if you are able to shut them up at night, that will prevent most of those losses.

As far as the goats are concerned, you are right. I have Kinder goats (Pygmy X Nubian) and they are supposed to do just fine without grain, though they don't give as much milk as the larger breeds even with grain. Folks who pack with their goats usually don't need to carry feed for them (one of their big advantages over horses), as the goats are able to feed themselves just fine with browse. Above tree-line, they will even scrape lichens off the rocks (too much of that isn't going to be very good for their teeth, though). I have been giving my Kinder goats a little grain, partly to keep the one doe I'm milking quiet while she gets milked, and partly because their hay is straight alfalfa. Alfalfa is high in calcium, and needs to be balanced by the phosphorus in the grain. But if they had access to plenty of browse, they really wouldn't need the grain. On the other hand, if you bought a really high-milking doe and didn't give her grain (and probably alfalfa), she would probably die on you, as she is producing more than can be supported on a 'wild goat' diet. I don't want high-milking animals, as they are much too prone to serious health problems. A few years ago, I was searching the internet for some nice registered Nubians. If you've looked at breeders websites, you know they usually consist of pictures of some or all of their animals, with a little information about them. Well, I kept seeing a picture and information, which would include a statement like, "Regretably, we lost this lovely doe last spring to milk fever (or whatever illness she died of), but, we have two of her beautiful daughters still in our herd." Okay, but I didn't want to buy daughters, or granddaughters, of a doe that died of something like that -- I wanted hardy, healthy stock, not critters that have to be pampered like hothouse roses. I am very happy with my little Kinder goats! And they give wonderful milk, even if it isn't in huge quantities.

Kathleen

[Jenny]

I agree. On a homestead, you really need healthy, harty animals. You certainly have to look at production, but you also have to make sure they're going to be healthy. When we bought goats, we always tried to find out as much as possible how they'd been raised. Once we bought a 2 year old boer buck. He was so fat and lazy. Our girls were the picture of health. He'd never run with does before. It was quite a site that first day. He tried to chase them, but only made it once around the goat house then had to take a nap. He was very indignant those first few weeks after learning there was no welfare at our homestead. WORK for food Our girls gave him a run for his money, but they did teach him how to find food. We were amazed at how healthy he bacame. Before that we had pack goats when we moved to our homestead. They weren't used to browsing for most of their food, but they were in good health when we got them, so it wasn't too big a shock. Pack goats can be lots of fun.
Once we made the mistake of buying 2 kids from a breeder we knew nothing about. She never let the kids nurse. Instead she started them from day one on milk replacer. What we didn't know was that she used lamb replacer because she said it was cheaper. Both died within a month. We heard that several of her kids she'd sold died very quickly that year. At the exact time, on our same trip to town, we got 2 other kids from another breeder. They were the healthiest little things, and just thrived the way we raised them.

By the way, we're not goat experts. Tell us more about Kinder goats. Do you do the crossing, or are they a sort of "breed"? How big do they get, are they harty (sounds like it)? How much milk do you get? etc....

Thanks,

Jenny
Alaska HOMESTEADING Journal

[gardenlady22253]

Our chickens free range, at night they head for the coop, during the day they lay their eggs there. I have one that seems like she lays at night.

[Terri]

We used to free-range our chickens during the summer: that was before we had too much of a predator problem. They didn't lay QUITE as well, but their consumption of bought feed fell in half. I figured out eggs were costing us just under 25 cents a dozen.

IT was funny to watch the rooster in the morning. The hens would want wild food BEFORE they ate their pellets, and while the rooster tried to entice them into romance the hens would head for the tall grass without even LOOKING at him! He would dance, he would chase, and any hen he caught up with would evade him with an indignant squawk and keep on going.

I could just about hear them saying "Not now, it's time for breakfast!"

[Washkeeton]

It is funny when we let our chickens free range all but one lays somewhere in the coop. the one is a pain we have found her eggs under the heating fuel barrell in with the goose and around my sons toys in the yard.

As far as goats go I was told that goats like the big dairy ones were made to be fed because their milk bag is so big they will tear up their milk bags if they forage. Vs breads like the boer where their milk bags are smaller and they are more able to move around and forage. Is what i hear right or not.

[Freeholdfarm]

It looks like I never got back to reply to Jenny's questions about Kinder goats, LOL!

Kinder goats are a breed, with their own registry. They are a new breed, started in the 1980's, and can't be registered with the American Dairy Goat Assoc. because of being half Pygmy. They are very hardy and healthy, about midsize between Pygmies and Nubians (the two breeds you cross to get Kinders), and can give over a gallon of milk a day, though I don't have any who give that much. My seven-year-old doe had quads this year, and peaked at about three quarts of milk a day. It's very rich milk, and has at least double the cheese yield compared to milk from cows or regular sized goats. Right now, I have two bucks, three does in milk (though two of them are nursing their kids unless I want to milk them), a wether (who will go in the freezer this fall), and four doe kids. I've already sold a doe kid and a wether, and put one wether in the freezer.

In addition, last year I bought a registered Oberhasli buck, who is now a year old, and he sired triplets on my Ober X Boer doe. I'm keeping the two buck kids for packing (they'll be wethered this fall, after the first hard frost, so I don't have to worry so much about flies), and will probably also keep the doe kid for a milker.

Kathleen, who is still in Klamath Falls, OR