Download Commercial Goat and Sheep Production

Forage Diversity
and Goats
Jodie Pennington,
[email protected],
Region Small Ruminant Educator,
Lincoln University,
Newton County Extension Center,
Neosho, MO—417-455-9500
Goats Eat Lots of Things
• Select good parts
of plant
• Can tend to
balance diet
• Adapt to cospecies grazing
• Like diversity of
vegetation
• Keep it simple
• Browse with
conventional OK
Can be a problem
Flowers, garden
Weeds
Poisonous plants
Used to clear land
Kikos adapt well to
diversity
Need fiber
No One System Fits All
• Need TDN, CP,
Fiber, Minerals
• Greatest concern
is consistency of
forages and
availability of
enough to eat
• Watch bad plants
• Want at least 4
inches tall if
possible
• Browse essential
• Need good
variety (buffet)
Plan for Year-Round Conventional Foragesas much as possible-January??++Browse
Nutrient Requirements
CP
TDN
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Buck
10 %
60 %
Dry doe
9
55
Late gestation 11
60
Lactating doe
11
60
Weaned kid
14
68
Yearling
12
65
Higher demand—greater requirements
Browse may or may not meet needs
Browse plants:
% CP
% TDN
% Ca
%P
Acorns, fresh fruit
4.8
47
n/a
n/a
Honeysuckle buds
& leaves
16.0
72
n/a
n/a
Honeysuckle
leaves, late
10.0
69
n/a
n/a
Hackberry, mature
14.0
41
4.00
.13
Oak, shin, early
17.4
72
n/a
.31
Oak, shin, late
7.5
n/a
n/a
n/a
Sagebrush, sand,
early
12.2
66
n/a
n/a
Sagebrush, sand,
mature
7.2
60
.48
.12
Sumac, early veg.
13.7
77
n/a
.20
Feeding Preferences
Forb
Goats
Sheep
Forbs
Browse
Cattle
Grass
Grass
Goats &
sheep can
decrease
weeds
Yearly Forage Production++Browse
100 days
100 days
100 days
65 days
Hay
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Hay
Browse and Forbs as Pasture
• Goats are browsers
• Best to have some
access to browse
and/or forbs to
supplement high
quality, conventional
forages
• Increase
performance
Browse and forbs—need more
mineral supplementation varies??
•
•
•
•
•
•
Oak
Greenbrier
Honeysuckle
Persimmon
Mimosa
Others
• Pigweed,other
weeds
• Kudzu
• Sericea lespedeza
• Peas, soybeans
• Alfalfa, clover
• Others
Feed Prices
Grain
Commodities
Hay??
Save money with forages!!!!
PLANT TYPE
TDN %
CRUDE PROTEIN %
Fescue hay
48-53
7-9
Bermuda hay
47-50
7-9
Alfalfa hay
50-63
13-20
Honeysuckle, leaves and
buds
70+
16+
Honeysuckle, mature
68+
10+
Sumac, early vegetative
77
14
Oak, buds and young
leaves
64
18
Persimmon leaves
54
12
Hackberry, mature
40
14
Kudzu, early hay
55
14
Juniper, leaves
64
6
Acorns, fresh
47
5
Curled dock
74
13
Mimosa, leaves
72
21
Mulberry, leaves
72
17
Grazing Systems for Sheep/Goats
• Continuous—most popular
---Individual species, i.e. sheep or goats
---Multi-species grazing, i.e. goats with
cattle, etc
• Management Intensive Grazing-atypical
---Individual species, i.e. sheep or goats
---Multi-species grazing, i.e. goats with
cattle, etc
Benefits of Multispecies Grazing
• Increased utilization of forages (??maybe
10-20%)
--Greater total lbs per acre
• Weed control
--Goats eat weeds, can
clean up pasture (2-3 yrs)
• Reduced parasite
loads
--Goats graze higher
• Diversified production
--Goats and cattle
--Cattle and sheep
--Goats and horses
--Start at 1 goat per cow and can go to 3 goats per cow-vary
Complications with Multi-species
Grazing—fencing and predators
• Sheep need a lower copper mineral than
cattle or goats
• Additional fencing is needed—goats more
fencing than sheep
Exterior
Interior
Problems—food and feeding
dogs
Animal Unit Equivalents
Kind/Class
AUE
Intake/day
Air dry lbs.
Intake/year
Air dry lbs.
Cow with calf
1.00
30
10,950
Bull, mature
1.35
40.5
14,782.5
Horse, mature
1.25
37.5
13,687.5
Sheep, mature
0.20
6.0
2190
Goat, mature
0.15
4.5
1642.5
What Stocking Rates of
Cattle and Goats?
Pasture Type
% Brush
Canopy
Cows
Goats
Cows + Goats
Excellent
Pasture
< 10%
1
6 to 8
1 + (1 to 2)
Brushy
Pasture
10 - 40%
1
9 to 11
1 + (2 to 4)
Brush
Eradication
> 40%
8 to 12
.5 + (6 to 8 per
acre)
Sustainable
Browse
Management
Maintaining 10
to < 40%
1 to 3 per acre
.25 + (1 to 2
per acre)
Sheep/Goats Require
Good Feed
• Browse/brush—young shoots, leaves
• Forbes—weeds, bushy plants
• Prefer plants in the vegetative stage of
growth where nutrients are lower in fiber
and higher in energy and protein
• Goats need more fiber than just “grass” and
grow 10-15% better if browse is available
compared to grass only
• Goats are better at selecting “good” parts of
plant than sheep (and cattle and horses)
Forage Availability Can Be A Concern
% Grass growth
30
25
Warm-season
forages
20
Stockpiled w.s.g.
15
10
5
Stockpiled fescue
Winter annuals Cool-season
forages
Spring
Spring
Summer
Summer
Fall
0
Jan. Feb Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug.Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Prior to drought in pastures
Rest pastures
1. Maintain good soil fertility
2. Practice effective weed control with
goats
3. Practice improved grazing
management—not too heavy, come
Always Maintain Pasture Production
Inventory-Know When Need More
Pasture ID
Spring Summer
Fall
Winter
Bermuda/mixed
Poor
Good
Poor
None
Bermuda/fescue
Fair
Good
Fair
None
Fescue/mixed
Fair
Fair
Poor
None
-/+
+ -
--
Identify the forage type and average productivity for each pasture and
add them up. Doing so will tell you where the “holes” are in the
production system and where you need to make improvements.
Nutrient Needs: Cattle>Sheep>Goats
Goats are selective browsers, eat best parts
Possible Forage/Grazing
Systems for Small Ruminants
• Must provide nutrients for mature herd
• Must plan for adequate quantity and quality
• Can decrease feed costs (from 60% to 40% of
total costs), decrease grain costs
• Vary with goals of farm
• Usually continuous (most popular) and simple
but can be management intensive grazing
(MIG), especially with hair sheep
• Can utilize weeds/brush with especially goats
• Assist with parasite management
Goats Can Grow & Control Brush Control
Sheep and goats can change conventional
pastures also, economical weed control
Cattle Only
Cattle and Hair Sheep
Adequate Nutrients are Needed
for Growth Of Sheep/Goats
• Goats work better than sheep on brush
• Both sheep and goats eat weeds
• Studies show that goats do better with
grass & browse than with grass only
• Goats are better selective grazers on
plants; sheep are better than cattle
• NOTE: Cannot starve profit
More Quantity of Feed=More ADG
Goats do well on browse but will do better
with more balanced diet--????may not be
competitive in the feedlot????
Cannot starve profit from goats
To Control Brush and Weeds
•
•
•
•
Graze them early
Defoliate every 6 weeks or less
Defoliate in the fall
Ask---What are we going to graze after the
brush and weeds are gone?
To Manage Brush as a Renewable
Resource
1) Get on it later in the spring,
2) Long rotation > 8 wks rest, and
3) Do not defoliate late in the fall
Can Use Conventional Grazing
Systems (grasses/legumes)
• Forages can decrease feed costs
compared to grain
• Vary with goals of farm, better with sheep
• Needs less equipment than stored feeds
• Must plan for adequate quantity and
quality of forages
• More competition with cattle with grass
than with brush
**Aid in Internal Parasite Control**
Plants with Condensed Tannins
(potent antioxidants--dewormers)
•
•
•
•
•
Sericea Lespedeza
Annual lespedeza
Birdsfoot trefoil
Arrowleaf clover
Berseem clover
(white, not hardy)
• Crown vetch
• Chicory
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Oak leaves/acorns
Walnut leaves
Mulberry
Mimosa
Acacia (thorn tree)
Autumn olive
Multiflora-rose
Plan to Use Forages You Have
• Soil test and fertilize & lime accordingly
• Plan for different seasons, plan for a drought,
consider over-seeding with legumes
• Have browse available (accessible)
• Rotate pastures to keep forages in
vegetative stage of growth
• Cut excess forage for hay as a reserve for
winter or a drought
• Monitor body condition score and
supplement as needed
Watch Feed Inventory
Concerns—
• Quantity—not enough forage (need
forages or fiber if drought or overstocked)
• Quality—must consider if energy, protein,
fiber, or minerals
change
• Use what you have or
buy what you need
The Yield - Quality Compromise
Availability
Protein/energy
Fiber/lignin
Optimum
grazing
Conventional Forage Production++Browse
100 days
100 days
100 days
65 days
Hay
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Hay
Browse and forbes—use what you
have or what your neighbor has and
will give to you
• Oak
• Pigweed,other
• Greenbrier
weeds
• Honeysuckle • Kudzu
• Persimmon • Sericea lespedeza
• Mimosa
• Others
• Others
All farms differ for forage
diversity for goats
•
•
•
•
Fescue + woods
Bermuda + woods
Fescue/clover + woods
Brush land + clover or
lespedeza
• Fescue/clover + weeds
• Mixed grasses/clover +
honeysuckle (others)
• Maintenance diet can
be brush and weeds
• Conventional forages
are more reliable
• Brush and
undergrowth are
usually a waste
product and can be
20-30% of the diet
• Fresh undergrowth
can be almost all of
the diet for growing
goats
Summary for Conventional Grazing-Plan for fluctuating forage supply—
--Vary forages to ensure supply-•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Browse/forbs=almost essential with grass
Fescue, orchard grass with legumes
Lespedeza
Native grasses, annual grasses
Fescue/lespedeza
Clovers/supplemental legumes
Good hay from excess pasture and use
if drought/snow/trees for goats
Questions??
Goats & Sheep
Require
Good & Timely
Management--Prevention &
Planning
Is Always The Key