You need to know about how to set up farm land for goats if you want to start a new goat farm. This guide is very helpful for the beginners.
Before starting goat farming, you have to prepare and make your farm land suitable for goats. Goat farming is absolutely an interesting experience.
Figuring out how to prevent goats from escaping and indulging in general mischief are the common parts of setting up your farm land for goats.
You have to provide your goats a better shelter and have to protect them from all types of harmful animals and predators. You also have to ensure a constant supply of sufficient amount of clean and fresh water.
How to Set Up Farm Land For Goats
Read the step by step process below about ‘ how to set up farm land for goats’.
Fencing
Goats are excellent escape artists. They always tend to escape from the farm. As a result, for preventing them from escaping, you have to make a strong fence around your farm.
Make the fence suitable enough for keeping your goats safe inside, and strong enough for keeping all types of predators or harmful animals outside.
Woven wire topped with board and electric fencing are suitable to keep goats in and predators out. But they are quiet expensive, and using electric fencing is not recommended for goats.
You can use electric fencing, if you keep equines in the same pasture with goats or if you rotate your goats to different browse areas. You can use barbed wire for goats, and it is less expensive.
Pasture
Make a suitable pasture for your goats. Divide the pasture into different parts. And if possible, rotate the pastures where your goats graze on, for avoiding overuse and the overgrowth of less desirable forage (that means, allow your goats to graze on a pasture while other rests).
Plant various types of pasture plants or grasses. Doing this will increase the food value and help to meetup all types of necessary nutrient requirements for goats. You can plant various types of plants and grasses that goats prefer. See best grass for goats.
Predator Control
Both domestic and wild animals can be dangerous predators for your goats. For example, some domestic dogs (even your own), wild coyotes, bobcats etc. are sometimes become very dangerous for goats.
There are some other large carnivores too (depending on your area or region) that can harm your goats. Good fencing works as the first line of defense.
So make your fence strong enough for preventing all types of predators. You can also use a guard animal for protection.
There are certain dog breeds available which work as guard. Komondor, Great Pyrenees are such dog breeds that guard livestock, if brought up with them as puppies.
Adding a donkey to your herd can provide protection from wild animals, because they hate canines. Llamas also provide protection against various types of predators. You can also try your own method for controlling predators.
Shelter
Goats require a simple shelter for protecting themselves from rain, snow and the sun. A run-in shed or similar structure fills the bill. Although kids are the exception.
You can allow the kids to nurse from their moms or hand-raise them. Make four sided and draft free shelters for your does and kids. Add some dry straw or wood shavings inside the shelter during cold weather.
These are the common steps for setting up your farm land and making it suitable for your goats. Follow the steps very carefully and always take good care of your goats. Thus you can make your goat farming business highly profitable.
Great article thank you to the writer for putting it so clearly. I just love it! Thanks a lot and stay blessed!
Good luck!