How many goats?

[sbemt456]

I hope this is the right place to post this question, so here goes, but with a little explanation. Our garden is 150' X 50', how many goats would I need to keep to provide enough manure to use as compost on that size garden? I am totally unfamilar with goats and their needs and manure production. I can provide a barn of sorts for shelter and protection at night and they could be in a pasture in the day time. With the price of fertilizer at 20.00 for a 50# bag 800.00 a ton, we wont be buying much here on this place in Kentucky. I got sticker shock real bad. Kind of looking into other options for the garden and herb beds as far as fertilizer goes. Also about how much hay would an adult goat need per day to winter over? Any ballpark answers would be appreciated. :-/

[bee_pipes]

...garden is 150' X 50', how many goats would I need to keep to provide enough manure to use as compost on that size garden?


Well, that's a tough one - how fast do you want it to fill up? How deep? ;D

I sympathise with you about the price of fertilizer - everything is getting more expensive. Are goats the only answer you have been able to come up with? What about kitchen scraps? Do you throw out anything that's bio-degradable? That can go into the compost bin too. There's also yard waste - grass clippings, leaves, anything except wood - takes too long to break down.

If you get livestock for the sole purpose of manure , you're going to go broke. The only good reason for having livestock is for food - eggs, meat, dairy, etc. How about chickens? Put them in a house for the night, cover the floor with straw, and you have a dandy compost cover material in no time. Rabbit berries can go straight into the garden without composting. The offal from slaughtering your own meat can go into the compost bin - heck - even your own manure can be composted.

http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html

I know folks that prowl the streets looking for bagged grass clippings during the summer and leaves during the autumn. That's kind of risky - you don't know if they are coming from a yard using herbicides, etc. I'm on the lookout for someone wanting a break from mucking out their barn - I'll clean the floors for the manure. There again, I'm hoping the animals aren't heavily dosed with anti-biotics. I figure my chances are better than herbicides on lawns.

Sorry, haven't got a real answer on the number of goats. If you do have a use for goats - for milk and/or meat, be sure to get at least two - they are herd animals and need the company of their own kind. You are in the right place, I just don't know if there's a hard number on goats per square foot. I do like the way you think, though.

Regards,
Pat

[annabella1]

You'd be better off raising worms for the castings. Best fertilizer out there and a lot easier. Then there is also the possibility of a green manure cover crop. Just try googling that and see what you find. I never worried about buying fertilizer.

[sbemt456]

Thanks for your input Annabella1, the animals would also need to be used for sale and meat, so likely would be meat goats. As far as chickens go we will have chickens again this years, I get my babies the week of April 14, but I have raised 200-300 chickens per summer in the past for the freezer and wouldnt have enough manure to fertilize that size garden. Not really interested in rabbits to raise this year, maybe next, but I do like to eat them. My hubby works full time and is only home on weekends to help me so I was thinking goats would be easier for me to do alone than would cattle, they are big and intimidate me, really cant explain why, other than I have some physical limitations now. I am also starting a compost pile this year too, but no we have very little stuff to go there as we dont rake the yard, not enough table scraps to make the trip to the compost pile worthwhile. Would love to have hogs this year for meat, not sure yet but that is not a good source of manure. I have worked a public job for way too long to have the farm running effiencently.
We cleaned out both our chicken houses and didnt have enough manure to cover a third of the garden.
Some friends have goats and they are going to let us have a truck load this year, I was just kind of looking down the road. Hoping maybe someone out there used goat poop on their garden and could give me a ball park idea.

But thanks, you just gave me more varied ideas.
I guess I was a lot more angered by the price of the fertilizer than any thing when the hubby told me the price. We havent raised livestock in several years and I couldnt remember the amount of poop they produce.

[MooseToo]

could always invite some liberal political candidates to give a speech at your place -