Our field

The southern plot of our property is about six acres of field, filled with grass, weeds, shrubs, and the like, and bordered by woods on the east and west borders. It really starts growing at this time of year, a fact to which Loki will testify.

He is not amused.

However, the goats have found it a delicious prospect. This morning, only Heidi and Maryanne were interested in going on a walk, and they enjoyed munching from the field, as well as the edge of the woods.

Goats need to eat a variety of food types to get the proper nutritional values they require, and grazing is a part of that balance. So when I am taking them on walks, we stop frequently for them to nibble on whatever it is they are finding tasty – pine needles, dried maple leaves, grass, weeds. I am watchful to try and insure that they don’t eat anything they shouldn’t, but I probably should carry a book to help me identify some of the things they choose to indulge in, just to be safe! Some people rent out their goats (usually castrated males, called wethers) to clear areas of poison ivy and other undesirable plant growths and brush. However, as I understand it, doing this with does is risky, particularly if they are in milk at the time, because you might end up with funky-tasting milk as a result! So we won’t be hiring out our girls services in that regard.

Last year, a neighbor hayed our field, but we aren’t interested in having them do it again this year. At the time, we did not have animals, so we did not ask for any share of the hay in compensation, but they were supposed to do some other work for us that was never performed. We eventually want our own tractor and haying equipment so that we can do it ourselves, and create a hay stash for our animals, thus cutting our reliance on outside suppliers. Until that time, we are still debating whether we will have someone come in and do it this year. If we decide to do it, there are plenty of folks on craigslist that are looking for fields. Anyone else have experience with doing this that they’d like to share? Advice?

Well, I need to go shut up the animal’s housing for the night and head out to our friends place, for a bonfire and mingling of homesteading minds! Have a great evening!

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