Winter Care/Feeding of Goats/Donkeys

[jimmyj]

if feedstuff goes away.. provide hay.. last seasons old hay is fine for donks, cows and sheet/goats ( watch copepr on sheep / goats, and watch urea based feeds for the donk.. while not a s sensitive as a horse.. urea based feeds will still cause laminitis to donks.. and watch out about silage around the donk.. eventhe treated silage is dicey ).

mineral lick, some hay.. even if low quality.. and a lil supplemental feeding just to keep them friendly and following a bucket will do if ya love them.. then a horse safe protien lick or molassis wheel / lick.

soundguy

100% agree. Then need some sort of shelter too.

 

[Mousefield]

When they look hungry ... like bleating, braying, standing there looking at you like "Hey I need something to eat" Then supplement them ... keep an eye on them and don't let them come "off" before you supplement them. Its difficult to put it back on.

Goats and Donkeys don't need a shelter ... unless your in sub zero temp's with snow and ice a.h. deep.

Will have to disagree on that, goats, like a lot of livestock need shelter from wind and rain. We even have a goat palace :laughing: :licking: for ours.
The mineral block is a great idea as different vegetation will or will not have enough mineral diversity for them.

 

[redlevel]

100% agree. Then need some sort of shelter too.

Will have to disagree on that, goats, like a lot of livestock need shelter from wind and rain. We even have a goat palace :laughing: :licking: for ours.
The mineral block is a great idea as different vegetation will or will not have enough mineral diversity for them.

Do you think there might be a little difference between shelter requirements between Vancouver Island or Ontario and South Georgia? I do provide shelter from rain, and the natural lay of the land provides a barrier against the northwest wind.

Don't goats have hollow hair, like whitetail deer, that provides insulation?

Remember, my climate is such that I wear short-sleeved cotton polo style shirts and khakis 350+ days per year.

 

[blueriver]

Will have to disagree on that, goats, like a lot of livestock need shelter from wind and rain. We even have a goat palace :laughing: :licking: for ours.
The mineral block is a great idea as different vegetation will or will not have enough mineral diversity for them.

Very nice ... and I also said ...

unless your in sub zero temp's with snow and ice a.h. deep

And thats excatly where your at ... here I don't have a shed for the Horse's, Mules, Donkeys, Cows ... no goats. Pigs and chickens have a shed!!

 

[Mousefield]

Very nice ... and I also said ...

unless your in sub zero temp's with snow and ice a.h. deep

And thats excatly where your at ... here I don't have a shed for the Horse's, Mules, Donkeys, Cows ... no goats. Pigs and chickens have a shed!!

How you look after your animals is up to you. We have housing for our chickens, calves and goats. Last year the most snow we got was about 6 inches, we really don't have that bad a winter on the coast usually. In fact some winters we may only get a inch or 2 that melts within days.

 

[Mousefield]

Do you think there might be a little difference between shelter requirements between Vancouver Island or Ontario and South Georgia? I do provide shelter from rain, and the natural lay of the land provides a barrier against the northwest wind.

Don't goats have hollow hair, like whitetail deer, that provides insulation?

Remember, my climate is such that I wear short-sleeved cotton polo style shirts and khakis 350+ days per year.

I'm sure you occasionally get storms and it would be nice to provide basic shelter for the goats. Even a 3 sided shed works, most animals don't like the wind and rain. In your climate they may need more in the way of shelter from the sun.

 

[DennisArrow]

Just a few thoughts from someone that has a few dollars and hours invested in these things.

For me, with your browse, plan on perhaps a 3 to 4 year program to clean up your pasture. I don't know how much acreage you are talking about; but 3 to 5 goats will easily clean up that many acres and keep it that way.

Goats will eat the kudzu stems in winter as well as the privet. Depending on what you have, type of goats, you really dont need to supplement if you dont want to. Kudzu is high in protein and the privet is excellent browse.

CHECK FOR WORMS...............CHECK FOR WORMS.............WORM THEM REGULARLY

THEY NEED SHELTER.........nuff said.....nothin fancy but dry in the rain........

You can pick up brush goats, sometimes called Spanish Goats for perhaps $35 at the sale.........It is good to start with these and then make investments in higher dollar after you learn about them............

You need to do some maintenance..........WORM and other diseases will go right through a herd and totally kill a goat in 24 hours.......They need innoculations for several diseases yearly......PNEUMONIA is a killer for them........READ AND LEARN ALL YOU CAN.......I bet in the first year, you will loose half your animals to ignorance of what needs to be done.........YES, you must trim their hooves perhaps every 6 weeks........

The donkey will keep predators away.....Good to have one at least or else 2 pasture guard dogs..........We find that dogs are less of a pain and if we invest in a great breeder easily pay for themselves..........

Your fence is good?...........A strand of electric will help a lot as they love to rub on woven type fence and bow it out..........

A GOAT IS NOTHING BUT A CRITTER LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO DIE

On and on..........God bless.............did I mention.......WORM THEM........Dennis

 

[weldingisfun]

I agree with everything said by DennisArrow. We have been raising goats for nearly 14 years. They are hardy critters, but they do need shelter from harsh weather and clean fresh water. If you want your workers to be happy and get the job done, you have to do your part and DennisArrow laid it all out for you.

One more thing, you said you had two donkeys. If the donkeys tend to hang together and not spend their time with the goats, get rid of one of the donkeys. Donkeys are herd animals and prefer to be with their own kind. One donkey alone will adopt the goat herd and be more protective of them. Then too, you may be lucky enough that two donkeys will work for you. We were not.

If you have a buck in your herd, get rid of him, unless you want your herd to double or even triple in size come spring. But then, it is too late to worry about that now. He will have already done his job.

And, be careful, goats will grow on you.

 

[Soundguy]

not only will they grow on you.. they will walk on your vehicles too!



soundguy

 

[Mousefield]

not only will they grow on you.. they will walk on your vehicles too!



soundguy

So now I know why we have fences. :laughing: