# How much pasture do we need?



## Wags (Jun 2, 2002)

We will be getting 2-3 Nigerian Dwarf doe kids this spring. We will fence in a small area (about 50x100) for them to start with, but I know they will need more space as they grow.

Our goal is to feed them off pasture as much as possible. So the question is there a forumula that will tell me how much pasture per goat I need to figure on? We have about 3 acres we could dedicate to pasture - and I'd like to be able to plan ahead for possible herd expansion. 

I have searched but can't find recommendations specific to Nigerians - just notes that about 3 can be kept in the space of one larger dairy goat.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Give them all three acres, why not. Or rotate browsing pastures by fencing off three one acre paddocks...Most great ideas revolve around money...good luck with goats.


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## Rowdy (Jul 9, 2004)

There is no easy answer because no two pastures are alike. Is it all grass, all trees and brush, or a mix? What plants are in the pasture? I do not know OR well enough, I know there is part that is really wet, and another part that is really dry, so while in the rainy part an acre might sustain a bunch of goats, the dry part might not.

The rule of thumb is supposedly six regular sized goats per acre. With only three goats you should be fine no matter which way you go, but if it were me I would divide the pasture into two paddocks at least, probably three one acre paddocks. That would allow me to rotational graze each paddock, forcing the goats to eat everything, not just the "candy." Once they were finished I would rotate them to the next pasture, and then clip the first one, cutting down anything they missed. Of course there is the matter of fence. If I had a good, strong fence around the place I would just use electric between the paddocks.

If I were going to make money on the goats (and probably even if I were not) I'd look at what is in my pasture, and see if by planting some type of clovers if I could not approach year-round grazing.


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## Wags (Jun 2, 2002)

I'm in the "grass seed capital of the world" - we avg about 40 inches of rain a year. The pasture is mostly grass, with a few patches of black berries,some scrub trees and a few old fruit trees. It does stay green for a good portion of the year - although not year round. 

This was taken a couple of years ago in late Oct when we first bought the place. It slopes down to flat bottom land and ends at the creek.


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## Rowdy (Jul 9, 2004)

lol, with that rain I'd really try to get some legumes mixed in with the grass. The goats will really like them. Since I just suggested the book in another thread, check out Gene Logsdon's All Flesh is Grass.


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## Mountaineer (Jan 1, 2006)

Good book, everyone should have a copy.


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## Tam319 (Jan 6, 2007)

Hello!

Congrats on the goats. How lovely!! Very nice place as well!

Goats are a bit tricky as they are browsers, not grazers, so its not as easy to determine the amount of pasture needed as you would determine acreage needed per cow, for example. It all depends on the make up of the different plants in the pasture. Goats will graze if there is nothing else to choose, but grass isn't their first choice. 

Here is an article that looks at it from the point of view of worm load rather than available forage.
www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/goatsperacre.html

It sounds like you will probably have ample room for your small herd. Just keep an eye on their body condition and the pasture condition to assess how your system is working for you. Sorry I can't be of more assistance with a helpful formula for you!

Best of luck!! Sounds like lots of fun!


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## bunnylady (Jan 2, 2007)

Wags said:


> I'm in the "grass seed capital of the world" - we avg about 40 inches of rain a year. The pasture is mostly grass, with a few patches of black berries,some scrub trees and a few old fruit trees. It does stay green for a good portion of the year - although not year round.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I'd say fence it off so there is three pastures of about an acre each. When they browse one down, switch. For such a small number of goats, you could make housing that sits on cinder blocks but has removable wheels, so you can move it with a tractor, pasture to pasture on the wheels, find a level spot, and put cinderblocks on it. Then jack it up, take off wheels, and set the house down on the cinder blocks (or old car tires might work, too) Wouldn't be too hard to do. Or you'd have to rig up some way that all pastures can reach a stationary housing source. That's what I'd do if I had just a small herd. But with mostly grass pastures, you're probably going to have to feed at least a flake of ALFALFA hay per day per doe, and in the wintertime free feed the alfalfa hay.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

How much pasture you need per goat is highly variable depending on where you live. There are lots of management considerations when it comes to pasture carrying ability.

Here in Tennessee, I can run 10 goats to the acre if I want. I don't, though, because I always keep in mind that 10 to the acre is in prime-time for growth. Those 10 to an acre will need a lot of hay and supplemental feed in non-prime time, like a hot dry droughty summer or wintertime. I grow my own hay, which some would see as not maximizing animal production because those acres are not grazed. But it allows me to barter for cutting and sell off hay so I get my feed hay free.

It's sound advice that many here have given to rotate your pastures. If you paddock off your acreage so that your goats will graze a paddock then be moved about once a week, you can go very far toward eliminating worm and fly problems. If you take your 3 acres and fence it into 6 paddocks, and let your goats graze in a rotation at one week per paddock, you will not only have plenty of grass for them where you are, but also will be breaking the worm cycle. The paddock they just left will not be grazed again for 6 weeks, and the worm cycle is around 4 weeks. Your rotation is disrupting the worm cycle by eliminating from that paddock the goat, a component of that cycle, for longer than the natural cycle period. The benefit is that over time the paddock will have a reduced worm load when animals return to it. (This also works with cattle.)

If you combine rotational grazing with FAMACHA, using wormers only when necessary rather than on a schedule, you can disrupt the cycle, reduce worm load, and avoid selecting for worms that are resistant to your wormer.

You'll also benefit from lusher, greener pasture as the years of paddock rotation roll by.

Alternately, you could buy electric mesh fencing and fiberglass step-in posts and creat a new paddock every time you move goats.


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