Dairy Goat Handbook. History of Goats It is quite certain that the goat was one of the first domesticated animals in Western Asia. He is thought to have descended from the Pasang or Grecian Ibex, a species of wild goat found in Asia Minor, Persia, and other nearby countries. Old Testament verse mentions the goat more than 150 times. In Greek and Roman mythology, Pan, the god of shepherds was half goat. Capricornus, the goat, became the tenth sign of the zodiac. As of 1961, world goat numbers were 350,000,000 head (USDA figures). Dairy goats are not nearly as numerous as dairy cattle in the United States, but, for many other countries of the world, they are the leading milk producers because they are well adapted to limited areas and require less specialized feed, most of which can be produced by the small land owner.
Goats as a 4-H or Youth Project Goats make ideal 4-H and youth projects. Goat Breeds Keeping Goats Female goats are does and male goats are bucks. Tips for Buying a Dairy Goat The Dud. Diseases. Fias Co Farm: Goats- Edible & Poisonous for Goats. People have asked me to share a listing of edible & poisonous plants for goats, but I hesitated to make a list of plants you can, or shouldn't feed, to goats because there is no possible way I, as one person, could know all plants the are poisonous to goats. I may know most in my own area (East TN, USA), but there may be plants in places such as CA, England and Australia that I do not know, may would mistakenly not add to the list. I do not want the responsibly of a goat getting poisoned because I did not list the plant the goat was fed. I have seen many "Poisonous Plant Lists" on the Internet that listed plants that I know for a absolute fact are NOT poisonous to goats because my own goats eat them (such as English Ivy, which they love).
Someone said they had a list that said St. Although the goat's digestive system is similar to that of other ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, who are "grazers" and eat grass, goats are more related to deer, who are "browsers". Fias Co Farm- Feeding your goats. Goats are ruminants; they have four stomachs. Their stomachs act like big fermentation vats.
When you feed a goat, you are actually feeding the bacteria in this fermentation vat. The bacteria, in turn, make the nutrition in the food available to the goat's system. A goat's rumination method of processing food requires plenty of roughage and fiber to work properly. Although the goat's digestive system is similar to that of other ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, who are "grazers" and eat grass, goats are more related to deer, who are "browsers". As browsers, goats are designed to eat, and prefer, brush and trees more than grass. It is natural for them to nibble a little here, and nibble a little there. Never make big changes in the way you feed a goat all at once, or feed large quantities of a new food that the goat has never had before, if you do this, you can throw off the bacteria in the goat's rumen, which can cause the goat to bloat, or the rumen to shut down. Our feeding method. How much lawnyard do you need to pasture a sheep or a goat.
In multi-species grazing, with cows, goats, and sheep in the same pasture or paddock together, it can be seen that the cattle prefer the grass, sheep the forbs (broad-leafed herbs), and goats the browse (woody herbs and shrubs). Each species does eat of all three categories, but the animals select their respective plants first, moving to other plants later. My research has focused on miniature dairy goats on intensively managemed pasture (attempting a zero grain, low hay diet).
I live in subtropical Florida, so we have green grass all year round. Though my interest is in goats, the bulk of information available is on cattle, so most of my collected knowledge relates to grass rather than browse (and forbs least of all). My research has shown that, intensively managed, my 0.6-ac backyard with low natural fertility will be sufficient for a herd of between 6 and 8 goats (average weight of each miniture goat is 75-lbs).
What conditions does a goat require to survive. Answer: Goat survival A full grown goat just a food and water source, goats will eat anything weeds flowers ropes always use a chain to tie them up.Another Answer:The answer above sucks! Goats WON'T eat "anything", if they have a choice. Goats browse, like deer. They don't graze, like cows. A sure way to kill a goat is to provide it nothing to eat except grass. (Or just about any single food source) It messes their digestive system up. Yes, if it's not contained, a goat will eat a wide variety of plants. That's how they've evolved. Milk: the quality of the milk depends on what you feed the goat.