A general idea of goats per acre

[Guest guest]

Hello! My husband and I are considering the purchase of a small plot

of land near his parents. We hope someday to farm his parents' land,

but in the meantime, we'd like to have our own goats on our own land.

It's a partially wooded 4-acre plot. How many dairy goats could we

realistically raise on 4 acres? (mostly pasture-fed, we're assuming)

We're hoping it's enough for our family's milk needs.

Thanks,

Katharine

[Guest guest]

Stocking rates can be extremely variable but somewhere between 4-6 per acre might be a reasonable estimate. I get a lot more than that with my mini's, though. : ) Shery

Sunspring Ranch

Utah

A general idea of goats per acre

Hello! My husband and I are considering the purchase of a small plot of land near his parents. We hope someday to farm his parents' land, but in the meantime, we'd like to have our own goats on our own land. It's a partially wooded 4-acre plot. How many dairy goats could we realistically raise on 4 acres? (mostly pasture-fed, we're assuming) We're hoping it's enough for our family's milk needs. Thanks,Katharine

[Guest guest]

How many dairy goats could we

> realistically raise on 4 acres? (mostly pasture-fed, we're

assuming)

> We're hoping it's enough for our family's milk needs.

>

> Thanks,

> Katharine

>

Katharine,

You don't say how many are in your family, but management practices

come into play. Goats like browse and variety, so if the land is

bare, you'll have to import lots more hay than if your land has a

lot of trees and shrubs. Breaking the land up into smaller pastures

or pies that you can rotate where the goats graze will increase the

number of goats you can keep also.

For just your family's needs, one goat per person is sometimes the

advice, but starting with 2 good milkers is where many begin. I

started with 2 so-so milkers and found a good buck. I'm now milking

the daughter of that pairing and she's definitely doing better than

her mother already. I loved having the first two so much that I

bought some bottle-babies from another place and raised and bred

them and milked them last year. I didn't have a budget really for

ANY milk goats, but a good friend was having to move and helped me

with the first two and buying bottle does (at $10 and $20 each very

young) was the cheapest way for me to increase my herd.

I have my max for my small property (2.4 acres but the goats are on

one acre) at about 12 animals. I have to bring in hay during the

summer and over the winter, while fall and spring there's plenty for

them to eat. Some people keep their goats in even small spaces, but

bring in all their hay and feed. In that situation you end up with

having to worm a lot more frequently. I clip browse for them from

other parts of the property. The goats get clean veggie scraps from

the kitchen, tree trimmings, apple peels, and herbs and weeds I know

they like.

hope this helps!