Alan:
I'd suggest that it could be done, but success depends on how it's
done. I'll explain.
By way of background, I've raised goats of many breeds, but mostly
dairy, for about 18 years. For 10 years, we milked 200. Now we just have
a dozen. This is is southern Ontario, Canada.
By meat-type goats, do you mean Boer blooded animals? My take would be
that full or part-blood Boers would be somewhat hardier in an outdoor
environment than those with more dairy in them, especially if the meat
goat part was Nubian.
Our young stock and dry goats have always been winter housed in fairly
open barns or sheds (they're pastured in the good weather), including
three-sided, open-on-the-south-end lean-tos without any harm. As you'd
guess, they'd do better on the whole than the milkers who spent much of
the winter in a bank barn.
Don't get me wrong -- fresh air and exercise are key for all our
livestock.
Not knowing what your proposed situation is, I'd suggest that yes, meat
type goats would go into the bush and eat some browse in winter, as
would deer. But unlike cattle or even sheep, they won't be at all
inclinded to burrow through the snow to eat stockpiled forage.
They will need shelter at night and on wet, windy days. The cold has
never been a big problem for our goats as long as they have lots of feed
(read hay/browse). And we've had stretches of -30C in the day time on
occasion in Jan. / Feb. Unless they were used to going into the bush or
wherever for browse, they also won't be inclinded to go a long way
throught deep snow.
Mark Hall
Lover's Creek Farm
Grenfel Ontario Canada
>>Message: 11
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 10:26:54 -0400
From: Alan Fredeen <afredeen@nsac.ns.ca>
Organization: Nova Scotia Agricultural College
To: graze-l@witt.ac.nz
Subject: [Graze-l] overwintering goats
Reply-To: graze-l@witt.ac.nz
I'm looking for information (positive and negative) regarding
overwintering meat- type goats outdoors in Cape Breton.Browse is
abundant, temperature rarely falls below -20C, and is generally closer
to -5C; cumulative snow depth could reach 1 m.White-tail deer
population
in the area is steady.
