renting a goat herd. (update)

[chicamama03]

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well, they were unaltered adult males. That should make you laugh even more!

 

[chicamama03]

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actually, not a bad idea. I'm putting the fencing up anyway and going to get two wethers after this heard clears most of it. I think I just want it faster though with another fire season coming up again. I'm in Topanga Canyon, California.

 

[jason_mazzy]

I can not see how you can justify 2400 to rent the goats. The guy is getting free feed for 2-4 weeks and you pay that much? By 5 goats for 2-400 bux and they will in no time clear your area.

 

[chicamama03]

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you guys are really making a good point. Although, I don't want more than two goats. Hmm...

 

[The Funky Chicken Dunce]

Good gosh I would be glad to lend you my lil herd for free for all that free food they would be getting, but of course you have to be on the opposite coast

And if you're going to buy, wethers are definitely the way to go, much friendlier, less fighting among themselves, you can have them pull little goat carts

, they eat more underbrush, are cheaper AND most people just end up culling wethers if they can't sell them just because they are not a doe

Just a warning, goats are notorious scape artists! so beware if you have a garden, or special plants. If there is a weak point in your fence they WILL find it, and one of mine can jump 4 foot fences

There are always the pygmies and dwarfs, less likely to get out if you don't have a tall fence. Of course, the bigger the breed the less time it takes, I have 3 dairy breeds (a doe and 2 wethers) they can clear out and acre in no time.

 

[Kansaseq]

That seems like a LOT of money to rent some goats. If you are going to put up the fence anyway, why not just buy some goats, let them do the clearing, then sell all but 2 when you are done? Way cheaper and you get some of your money back.

 

[chicamama03]

Ok. I've come to my senses. My DH said let's just do the fencing ourselves and get some wethers on our own. I had one woman today at my daughter's school tell me she knows someone who is looking for homes for 7 goats. (Boers?). I was thinking of using those rigid 16' x 5' cattle panels and forming a big
ring (that I can add on to). Do you think if I get wethers I'll still need a hot wire or?

tips?

 

[Kaitie09]

We have 2 Boers and they have cleared about 1/4 and acre is less than a couple months. The boers are really good meat goats and you could sell the ones you did not want for a really good price, but not so good for milk. Also, they are pretty big (100-200 lbs) and are about 3-4ft tall. They can easily hop a 4ft fence with a little bit of a running start, or if they can just reach the top with their legs. A hot wire around the bottom and top of the fence would be your best bet to keep them in. I don't know if you care about this but any goat will strip tree bark. We have about 20 young trees that are dead (but we wanted that) because they will strip the bark up to about 4-5ft off the ground.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Boers are awesome little goats. They look gorgeous in a group together out in a field or fenced in area. They are on the smaller side too! (ETA: The poster above me mentioned they are pretty heavy goats, but I guess I'm comparing them to the nubian whethers we used to have, who were HUGE!) Worse comes to worse, you sell off a few after they are done with the clearing and keep the ones you really want.

 

[TMNTCkins]

My parent's have a big boer goat, and he mows his whole yard (very big area) down to nothing. He eat's everything. He is a very big goat.