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 it’s nutritional value
rapidly.
 Stocking density, carrying capacity, can
be increased with proper management.
Forage
Date
CP
ADF
NDF
TDN
Warm
5/2006
18.7
30
49.8
62.6
Warm
7/2006
9.7
42
65.7
47.1
Fescue
5/2006
11.8
36.8
62.4
53.8
Fescue
7/2006
6.4
44.9
75.9
43.4
Warm
5/2007
13.3
41.4
67.3
47.9
Warm
6/2007
8.8
42.3
75.8
46.8
Warm
8/2007
5.4
46
79.1
42.0
Fescue
5/2007
11.5
40
66.8
49.7
Fescue + N 5/2007
13.5
40.2
67.3
49.5
 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
=
Stocking Density =
X
Seasonal utilization
Rate
__________________________________________
Average daily
intake
X
Length of grazing
season
Available Forage
X
Grazing period
Utilization Rate
_________________________________________
Average Daily
intake
X
Length of Grazing
period
8
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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
250-300
300-350
100-150
200-250
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:
• Lespedeza – Sericea
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
or Korean
Sorghum Sudan grass
Pearl Millet
Soybeans
Corn
Alfalfa for grazing
Forage Chicory
Kudzu
 Cool
Season:
• Cereal Rye or
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)
Provided by David Ditsch
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Reed canarygrass
Orchardgrass
Annual Lespedeza
Novel Endophyte TF
Endophyte Free TF
Infected TF
Bluegrass
Bermudagrass
 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 don’t eat it!!
Lot
Year
DM
CP % TDN
%
ADF
NDF
NEm
NEg
RFV
1
2005
89.3
5.6
42
49.5
78.5
0.31
0.07
59.6
2
2005
90.5
7.1
44.2
47.6
73.2
0.35
0.10
65.9
1
2006
89.8
87
41.6
46.3
75.1
0.30
0.60
65.4
1
2007
79.9
9.1
43.5
44.8
71.8
0.41
0.33
69.9
2
2007
88.6
8.6
43.9
44.5
71.5
0.34
0.10
70.6
1
2008
76.6
9.0
38.4
48.7
70.6
0.25
0.01
67.1
1
2010
89.4
7.9
40.5
50.9
84.4
0.28
0.04
54.3
2
2010
89.9
13.4
48.8
43.5
74.8
0.42
0.17
68.4
1
2011
91.3
5.8
39.7
47.7
74.4
0.27
0.03
64.7
2
2011
91.1
10.6
47.0
42.1
75.5
0.39
0.15
89.2
3 -old 2011
92.1
11.6
24.9
59.2
68.9
0.01
0.00
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