Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons \ CC BY 4.0 \ no changes made

When it comes to goats, they’re entirely different animals — pun intended — and those differences carry over to putting together a forage plan for them. Foraging provides similar benefits to cattle or horses, but goats feed on different forages, making it easier (in ways) to incorporate them into existing pastures with other livestock.

So, let’s talk about all things forage-related for your goat herd!

Benefits of Grazing Goats

Allowing your goats to forage or graze on pasture offers several benefits for the animals and your operation. 

Digestive Health

Forages contain fiber, which aids in digestion and maintains a healthy gastrointestinal tract in goats. Proper digestion reduces the risk of digestive disorders such as bloat and acidosis.

Nutritional Balance

Forages like grasses, legumes, and browse provide a balanced mix of proteins, fibers, vitamins, and minerals essential for goat health. They help meet goats' dietary requirements, promoting overall well-being and productivity.

Disease Prevention

Forages, particularly legumes like clover and alfalfa, contain compounds with potential health benefits for goats. For example, tannins in some forages have been associated with parasite control and improved immune function in goats.

Rumen Function

Forages are essential for developing and maintaining a healthy rumen, the largest compartment of a goat's stomach. The rumen's microbial population breaks down fibrous materials, facilitating the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Natural Diet Mimicry

Forages mimic the natural diet of goats, which are browsers by nature. Offering forages allows goats to exhibit their natural feeding behavior, which can contribute to their psychological well-being. This helps prevent boredom and reduces stress-related behaviors.

Reduced Feed Costs

Lastly, we can’t ignore the cost-benefit of grazing your goats. Forages can be a cost-effective feed option, especially if they are locally available or can be grown on the farm. Compared to concentrated feeds, forages can reduce feeding costs, contributing to more sustainable goat farming practices. 

Pasture Management

Grazing goats can help manage pasture vegetation, reducing the need for mechanical or chemical weed control methods. Additionally, well-managed grazing systems can improve soil health and water retention.

Qualities to Look for When Choosing a Forage

Nutritional Value

A high-quality forage can make up most, if not all, of your goats’ diet when pasture is well-managed. This makes choosing forages that meet the animals’ nutritional needs important. 

While goats will select various forage types, forage quality requirements remain the same as those of other livestock. Nutritional requirements range from 7% crude protein (CP), and 54% total digestible nutrients (TDN) for mature bucks and dry does to 15% CP and 66% TDN for yearlings and does in late gestation or early lactation.

Forage Yield & Consistent Growth

Beyond nutrition, you also want forages with high dry matter yields and consistent, persistent growth habits. Goats consume a minimum of 1 to 3% of their body weight in dry matter daily.

To meet these needs, it is crucial to provide high-yielding plants for your herd and plants that offer consistent growth all season long to maintain pasture productivity. 

Ideal Forages For Goat Herds

Goats forage completely differently than other livestock. They are very active foragers and exhibit high selectivity. They’ll gladly graze shrubs, brambles, and saplings over leafy grasses and legumes. 

Goats' ability to graze on browse species is unique compared to larger, heavier, less agile ruminants. They will frequently stand on their back legs and stretch to reach tree leaves or even pull down saplings to reach the crowns. Their small mouths and split upper lips allow them to pick small leaves, flowers, and fruits tucked among woody stems while avoiding thorns or brambles. 

 

Photo Credit: Tasmin Cooper | Flickr | CC BY 2.0 | no changes made 

If they can choose freely, they’ll opt for about 60% browse, 30% grasses and legumes, and 10% weedy plants. They’ll first select the most palatable forage to eat, choosing plants with the youngest tissues high in readily available plant carbohydrates. 

Browse Plants

Browse plants refer to woody or semi-woody plants, including shrubs, trees, and vines, typically consumed by animals through browsing, which involves selectively feeding on leaves, shoots, twigs, and other above-ground parts. These plants are often characterized by their resilience to grazing and ability to regrow after being browsed. 

• Blackberry and raspberry leaves are relished by goats and offer additional nutrients.
• Mulberry leaves are highly palatable to goats and are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals.
• Willow and poplar trees provide browse material that goats enjoy, especially in the form of leaves and small branches.
• In areas where it's not invasive, kudzu provides high-quality forage for goats.
• Another leguminous shrub, sericea lespedeza, is known for reducing internal parasite loads in goats.

 

Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture | Flickr | CC BY 2.0 | No changes made

Forbs

Forbs are essential in providing diversity and nutritional balance in a goat’s forage diet. These broad-leaved herbaceous plants grow naturally in grasslands, meadows, and pastures and have broader leaves and diverse flowering patterns than grasses. 

• Chicory is a high-quality forage with 10 - 32% crude protein and a remarkable ability to withstand high grazing pressure. New plantings can produce 2-3 tons of DM/acre, and established stands yield 4-6 tons/acre.
• Plantain is highly palatable and high-yielding, at about 6 tons of dry matter per acre. 
• Dandelion, pigweed, and ragweed are other helpful forbs in goat pastures. Animals readily graze on them for the variety they offer.

Grasses

Cool-season grasses make excellent forages, providing early and late-season grazing with abundant spring and fall growth. They also typically retain their forage quality better compared to warm-season grasses.

• Tetraploid annual ryegrass is highly nutritious and recovers rapidly from frequent, close grazing. It establishes quickly and is tolerant of all soils and pH conditions. 
• Endophyte-free tall fescue (Kentucky 32, Fawn Tall Fescue, Cajun II)  is moderately tolerant of continuous grazing and has a good tolerance to weeds, diseases, and insects. It has excellent fall productivity. 
• Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) is clean and sweet-smelling, with excellent palatability. Deer Creek Seed’s Amplify Brand Orchardgrass has moderate winter hardiness and grows quickly for a highly productive grazing and hay option.
• Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) grows well in midsummer when other forages slow from the heat. It is full of fiber to promote gut health and has a balanced ratio of calcium and phosphorus to help maintain bone health.

Warm-season grasses are valuable forages, especially in northern pastures, because they better tolerate high temperatures and provide grazing material when cool-season varieties slow down or go dormant. They also usually have higher fiber content and lower crude protein and nonstructural carbohydrates than cool-season grasses.  

• Bermudagrass tolerates grazing pressure well and produces large amounts of highly nutritious dry matter. Some cold-hardy forage varieties are available that establish well from seed.
• Bahiagrass has peak production in summer heat, withstands drought conditions, and thrives in low-fertility soils.
• Crabgrass makes an excellent forage option for goats. While many consider it a nuisance weed, it typically has higher nutritional value and digestibility than Bermuda and Old World bluestems.

Legumes

Legumes are a great addition to goat pastures due to their palatability, nutritional value, and ability to adapt to different soils and growing conditions.  

• Alfalfa, white clover, red clover, and lespedeza make excellent forage choices. They’re high in protein, fiber, calcium, and carotene. Their nutritional value makes them especially valuable during periods of high nutritional demand, such as lactation. 
• Winter King II Alfalfa
• Transition DC Alfalfa
• 390 HyQual Brand Alfalfa
• Dutch White Clover
• Crimson Annual Red Clover
• 990 Elite Red Clover

Forages to Avoid With Goats

While many forages are okay for your goats to consume, some should be avoided due to potential toxicity. 

• All parts of the yew plant are highly toxic to goats and can be lethal if ingested.
• Rhododendrons and azaleas contain toxins that can cause digestive upset, weakness, and even death in goats.
• Certain species of lupine contain toxic alkaloids that are toxic to goats, causing muscle tremors, convulsions, and respiratory distress.
• Plants like black nightshade and horsenettle are poisonous to goats and can cause gastrointestinal irritation, weakness, and paralysis.
• All parts of the oleander plant are toxic to goats and can lead to severe digestive and cardiac issues.

Forages to Feed Goats in Moderation

• Sorghum and sudangrass can accumulate nitrates, especially when stressed by drought or frost, leading to nitrate poisoning in goats.
• Kale and rape can contain high levels of glucosinolates, which can cause gastrointestinal issues and thyroid problems in goats when consumed in large quantities.

Which is Better for Goat Pastures? Grasses or Legumes?

Growing mono stands of grasses or legumes has advantages and drawbacks, making it hard to say if one is better. 

Pros of Forage Grasses

✓ High fiber content

✓ Longer growing season

✓ Tolerant of frequent, close grazing

✓ Establish quickly

✓ Tolerant of a variety of soils

✓ Better drought tolerance over legumes

✓ Can be grazed or used for hay

Cons of Forage Grasses

✗ Lower crude protein 

✗ Less tolerant of trampling

✗ Lower yields

 

Photo Source: Jeffrey Surianto | Pexels

Pros of Forage Legumes

✓ High in crude protein

✓ Nitrogen fixation lowers fertilizer costs

✓ Improved palatability and digestibility

✓ Useful for grazing or hay

Cons of Forage Legumes

✗ Less tolerant of heat, cold, and drought

✗ Higher management requirements

 

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Benefits of Growing Mixed Species Pastures

Instead of growing single-species pastures, many plant mixed pastures, including multiple grasses or legumes or a mix of legumes and grasses. Some of the advantages of these mixed-species pastures include: 

• Increased dry matter weight 
• Higher crop yield 
• Reduced weed competition
• Consistent, steady forage growth through the season
• Greater adaptability to weather conditions 
• Reduced nitrogen fertilizer needs

If you’re looking for high-quality pasture mixtures, Deer Creek Seed offers the following fantastic selections for your goat herd.

 

• #4 Pasture Mix
• Pastureland Dry-Land
• Pastureland Over-Seeder South
• Premium Grass Base Forage Mix
• Premium Lowland Clover Mix
• Wetland & Waterway Mix

 

When crafting your grass-legume pasture mix, keep it simple by starting with two grass species and one legume. 

Forage Quality Analysis

Crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) are the three standard parameters used when evaluating forages for pasture, hay, or silage, regardless of the type of animal. 

When livestock rely heavily on forages to meet nutritional needs, total digestible nutrients (TDN), net energies, and mineral concentrations are also commonly analyzed and reported.

Understanding Crude Protein (CP)

Crude protein (CP) is plant material's combined percentage of true protein and non-protein nitrogen. Protein is critical in feed rations as it helps animals build and repair tissues. 

• Legume forages have 20 to 24% CP.
• Spring and summer grass pastures contain upwards of 20% CP. 

Understanding Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) & Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF)

Another critical forage quality measurement is the fiber in the plant material since fiber is the predominant factor in forage digestibility. Generally speaking, fiber levels and digestibility are inversely correlated. Lower fiber means higher digestibility; higher fiber means lower digestibility.

Higher digestibility typically means higher energy value for the animal and better forage quality. Low fiber values also suggest that forage is easier to chew and more palatable.

• Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) measures hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin levels and is typically used to predict intake potential. 
• In grasses, NDF < 50% is considered high quality; NDF > 60% is low.
• In legumes, NDF < 40% is considered good quality; NDF > 50% is considered poor.
• Acid detergent fiber (ADF) measures cellulose and lignin and is commonly used to calculate digestibility.
• Forages with less than 35% ADF are typically considered high-quality.

Grasses typically contain more NDF and ADF than legumes because of greater lignification. However, you see a wide variability of NDF and ADF within grass species. The hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin amounts also typically increase in all forages as they mature.

Understanding Moisture and Dry Matter (DM)

Dry matter (DM) is the non-moisture portion of a forage; the higher the dry matter, the higher the nutrients.

• Pastures typically contain 75 to 90% moisture content or 10-25% DM, regardless of the forage type. 

Understanding Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN)

Total digestible nutrients (TDN) predicts a food source’s energy content. TDN is the sum of the digestible fiber, protein, carbohydrates, and lipids — all components supplying energy to the animal. 

• Low quality usually contains 45 - 52% TDN
• Mid-quality usually contains 52% - 58% TDN
• High quality usually contains greater than or equal to 58% TDN

Understanding Energy Content

The energy content of forage can be tricky to understand. At the fundamental level, the energy content of a forage (or other feed source) is the energy available to an animal for activities like growth, breathing, lactation, etc. 

However, there are different ways to express energy content and some controversy surrounding this forage quality parameter. 

• Gross energy (GE) is the total energy content of a forage. Not all gross energy is usable by an animal because of digestion and metabolism.
• Digestible energy (DE) is the energy of a forage absorbed by a sheep, accounting for the energy lost in feces during digestion. 
• Metabolizable energy (ME) is the energy left after accounting for the energy lost during digestion from the production of urine and gases. It’s the energy available for maintenance, growth, and production. 
• Net energy (NE) represents the energy the sheep’s body utilizes for maintenance, growth, and production. It’s calculated by subtracting all energies lost to metabolic processes from the metabolizable energy.

In the US, a forage’s energy content is generally expressed as digestible energy (DE) and reported in mega-calories per pound (Mcal/lb). A forage's crude protein and ADF content reasonably estimate the DE. 

However, DE is considered quite archaic because there are significant differences in how digested energy is utilized from different forages and across livestock species. Keep this in mind and view DE values as an estimate.

Understanding Mineral Content

In your forage analysis, the total mineral content is reported as “ash.” Macronutrient concentrations are percentages (%) or grams per pound; trace mineral concentrations are expressed as parts per million (ppm) or milligrams per pound.

All minerals reported on a forage analysis are essential nutrients for overall health. Your sheep’s diet must contain adequate quantities to satisfy daily requirements, and some nutrients must also be balanced with others.

• Calcium and phosphorus should be in a 2:1 ratio.
• Zinc and copper should have a 4:1 balance.
• Iron levels should be no higher than 500 ppm so it doesn’t inhibit the absorption of other nutrients or, in extreme cases, trigger insulin resistance.

Physical Assessment of Forage Hays

Hay is a vital part of a goat’s diet, especially during the winter or other times when pasture production is waning. Each goat needs two to four pounds per day when supplementing diets with hay. 

When choosing hay for your animals, consider color, smell, maturity, leafiness, and foreign matter.

Color

Before anything else, take a look at the color of the hay. Ideally, you want it to be green, signifying good nutrient content, but keep in mind weeds will also stay green as the hay dries. 

Light or pale yellow on the bale indicates sun-bleaching. The bleached areas are lower in carotene and less palatable, but they don’t reduce the hay’s nutrient value too much unless they extend too far. A small amount is okay, but the sun-bleaching shouldn’t penetrate the bale more than one-half to a full inch. 

A completely yellow bale generally indicates the forage was too mature at harvest, and the hay has reduced nutrient value and even poor palatability. If in doubt, complete a forage analysis to evaluate the nutrient concentration.

Dark brown or black hay typically means the forage was harvested and baled when wet. Under these circumstances, fungi and bacteria feed on the nutrients, producing heat that darkens the hay. The bale may also have a distinctively sweet odor, almost like caramel. Head-damaged hay may contain bacteria, fungi, or mold, potentially producing dangerous mycotoxins. It will also have reduced nutritional value, digestibility, and palatability. 

Pro tip: Red clover naturally turns brown as hay dries. It doesn’t indicate poor quality but is a good reminder to identify the forage species when evaluating hay. 

Smell

Hay should have a clean, fresh smell that may be slightly sweet. If it smells musty or stale, there’s a chance of mold within the forage, and you shouldn’t feed it to your animals. 

Also, check for excessive dust. If you move a bale and it creates a dust cloud, it can trigger or exacerbate respiratory ailments in your animals.

Maturity

Look at the number and size of seedheads in grass-type hays and the number of flowers in legume hays. The low presence of seedheads, smaller seedheads, and fewer flowers indicate less mature, more desirable hay.

As a forage plant matures, it becomes less nutritious. The lignin content in the cell walls increases, potentially decreasing digestibility. 

You also want to note stem thickness. Hay with thick, coarse stems was harvested when it was more mature. However, hay with delicate stems that lack leaves means it was harvested too early and is immature. 

Leafiness 

Take a look at how leafy the hay is throughout the bale. Leaves contain more nutrients, protein, and digestible carbohydrates than stems — you want your forage source to have plenty of leaves and fewer stems and seedheads.

Foreign Matter

Lastly, look for foreign matter that adds no nutritional value to the hay or is dangerous. This includes insects, trash that can puncture the gut or cause an impaction, and dead animals that can introduce neurotoxins that cause botulism. 

Comparing Fresh Forage and Hay Quality

If you establish a ration using fresh forage, you can’t substitute the same hay species without accounting for some nutritional differences. 

Moisture Content

• Pasture plants contain 75 - 90% water 
• Hay contains 10 - 12% moisture

Hay's lower moisture content allows you to store it successfully for periods without seeing mold growth. However, because of the reduced moisture, you must increase the animals’ water intake when feeding hay. 

Crude Protein (CP)

• Grass pastures contain 10 - 20% 
• Legume pastures contain 20 - 24% protein
• Grass hays contain 6 - 10%
• Legume hays contain 12 - 20%

Fresh pasture forages generally have higher crude protein levels than hay. After harvesting, proteins break down into nonprotein nitrogen-based compounds like urea and ammonia. This breakdown reduces the CP percentage and changes the hay’s amino acid profile.

The CP of all pasture forages also declines as plants mature. 

Fiber and Digestibility

• Early pasture forages have better digestibility than mature plants
• Fresh pasture is more digestible than hay harvested at the same time

Digestibility differences are inversely related to fiber content. As plants mature, the lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose (all fiber components) increase, making them harder for animals to digest. Reduced moisture content in hay also makes the fiber harder to digest.

Vitamin Levels

• Pasture forages are higher in vitamins A, C, and E levels than hay

After forage is harvested, exposure to oxygen and sunlight starts degrading essential vitamins. This breakdown continues during hay storage, resulting in significantly lower vitamin levels than fresh forages.

Recommended Goat Stocking Rates

Stocking rates for goats on pasture depend on forage type, soil fertility, local climate, and grazing management. It also depends on if you are grazing goats alone or with other larger livestock. This is one of the advantages of putting them on pasture — since goats have slightly different feeding behavior, you can graze more than one ruminant species graces in the same paddock. 

Studies show greater pasture production and utilization when goats and cattle or goats, sheep, and cattle are grazed together versus grazing only goats or cattle alone. Goats’ selective grazing habits, in combination with cattle grazing habits, eventually lead to higher-quality, more productive pastures with very few weed problems. This occurs because cattle tend to graze grass species more readily, and goats prefer browse and other broadleaf plants. 

 

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons | CC BY 4.0 | no changes made

Regarding stocking rates, you can plan to graze 6 to 8 adults per acre of land or 5 to 6 ewes with lambs. With mixed species pastures, one to two goats can be grazed per beef cow on mixed pastures without adversely affecting the cattle’s feed supply.

Grazing Strategies for Better Pasture Efficiency

The grazing strategy you implement depends heavily on whether you’re pasturing only goats or have a mixed pasture with larger livestock like cattle. 

• If you are only raising goats, you can either graze them continuously across the entire pasture or move them through different areas to allow the pasture to regenerate and forages to regrow before the animals graze that area again.
• If you are grazing goats along with cattle, you’ll want to implement the best grazing option for the larger livestock. In most cases, this will also be rotational grazing.

 

Photo Credit: USFWS Mountain-Prairie | Flickr | CC BY 2.0 | no changes made

Continuous Grazing

Continuous grazing is a simple, one-pasture system that requires minimal capital investment. In most cases, all animals are turned onto the pasture and have unrestricted access to the entire grazing area throughout the season. 

As the animals have continuous access to the pasture, continuous grazing gives the forages little rest, usually leading to overgrazing. The pasture seeds reduced forage quantity and quality, significantly impacting its nutritional value. Along with decreased productivity, manure is distributed unevenly, weeds usually persist, and stocking rates generally need to be lower to compensate so that there is enough forage per animal. 

Rotational Grazing

Rotational grazing requires more management but has many benefits and offers big payoffs compared to continuous grazing. The pasture is broken into smaller areas called cells or paddocks, and livestock are rotated through the paddocks to give forages time to rest and regrow.

The number of paddocks and how often your goats are rotated depends on different factors. But in most cases, the standard recommendation is to move animals every three to seven days. 

This grazing method usually results in a higher forage output, improved forage feed value, better weed control, and evenly distributed manure. Because of this, rotational systems can withstand higher stocking rates than continuous grazing systems. 

To provide water and shelter for animals in a rotational program, some producers connect all of their paddocks to a single sacrifice lot in the center of the pasture. The sacrifice lot, or dry lot, has shelter, a water source, and any supplemental feed offered. The goats have constant access to it and are easily rotated through the different paddocks by opening or closing gates. 

Need Help With Your Herd’s Forage Needs?

Choosing pasture species to plant or the best seeds to buy for your goat forage needs are important decisions. If you need help, contact the experts at Deer Creek Seed! Our high-quality seeds grow productive, nutritious pasture forages, and our experts are here to answer questions about seed selection and crop management.

Deer Creek Seed aims to provide you with the highest quality seed at competitive prices and exceptional customer service. Our staff works diligently to serve our customers! 

Additional Resources

1. Crabgrass seems unlikely as a pasture grass, but Rutgers University researchers have shown the weed’s strengths make it an excellent choice for summer forage.
2. UGA Cooperative Extension discusses good forage planning and management for a healthy goat herd. 
3. For more information on the nutrient requirements of goats depending on their life stage, head over to North Carolina State Extension. 
4. Goat Extension has a helpful article on co-species grazing, effectively explaining how to graze animals together in more depth.
5. Deer Creek Seed eliminates the guesswork involved in determining how and when to harvest forages for hay or silage.