our basic operation

I thought I would take some time and explain what our operation looks like and how it functions on a daily basis.  As I have stated before, our goats started out living in our small barn which had a large fenced area attached to it.  They were almost 100% grain/corn fed before we owned them so we had to go through a weaning and transition process.  Our ultimate goal was to go to the opposite extreme and raise 100% grass fed goats.  I think I must clarify that statement a little bit because goats are not grazers, in other words, they don't want to eat 100% grass like cattle would.  They are browsers and foragers; they enjoy clover, weed and leafy types of plants and bushes.

Liberty Pastures consists of 10 acres,  most of which is open and is broken up into 3 different fenced pastures.  One of those areas is a perfect grass area which is ideal for horses or cattle, we have neither so it does not get used.  The other two pastures (approx 6 acres) have an excellent mixture of various weeds, shrubs, and grass.  I plan to plant some more clover and a few other plants, in hopes of providing a greater diversity and mineral content for our animals.

Early on we decided that we wanted to rotate our animals on a regular basis, based on the Joel Salatin model; this meant I had to build a mobile shelter for our goats.  We started out with a wooden 8'x8' structure on 12" pneumatic casters.  I later added the chicken hutch to this structure, but more about that another time.  For various reasons, I decided to build a different shelter that would be more suitable for the future of our animals.

The goats, chickens, and turkeys live surrounded by an electrified mesh fence (of course the birds can go over and through it at their leisure) and have the mobile structure for shelter.  They start their "cycle" in a paddock which is approximately 1800 square feet.  For each of the next two days, I add an equivalent size to the paddock without moving the shelter.  On the 4th day, I move the shelter to fresh land and the cycle starts over.  This system allows the goats to have fresh vegetation each day, and keeps them from eating on areas they have defecated on, but minimizes the labor for my family and me.

As our flock grows I anticipate having to use a more fencing and a larger paddocks, but we will deal with that as it becomes necessary.  I also hope to add a couple Dexter cattle to the mix at some point, but I am not sure how that will develop.

More about our operation to follow...