SAND BAR FARM
KIKO GOATS
Rotational Grazing
We currently have over 35 acres and 14 paddocks in our rotational grazing plan. Why go to so much trouble? Simply put; it is good for the goats and good for the land!
The browse and graze on our farm offers our Kiko goats a huge variety of timothy and orchard grass, countless forbes, crab apple, blackberry brush, poplar, cherry saplings and three different types of pine. By rotationally grazing the goats we get the very best the paddocks have to offer at the very best time of growth. With pressurized water supplying each paddock, the goats have a consistent supply of fresh clean water.
The nutritional composition of this diet has increased our growth rates, eliminated the need for any sacked protein concentrates, and dramatically decreased the need for any deworming. There are studies available that suggest the tannins found in the pine and oak work as a natural dewormer.
As an additional benefit, we get to evaluate our kids under conditions that are best for them and best for us goat producers. When a goat kid out performs their peers they stand a pretty good chance of making the short list as replacement breeding stock.
We feel being producers of livestock carries with it the responsibility to be good stewards of our natural resources. Rotational grazing allows our native grasses and browse to recover during the rest periods and thrive year after year. We concentrate the goats in areas where there are high numbers of invasive forbes and grasses. We let the goats take care of the invaders, chemical free. Rotating the goats also effectively spreads their manure over a large area. The goats give back to the land they have taken from one "nannie berry" at a time.
New at Sand Bar Farm Kiko Goats: In our continuing efforts as good stewards of land and livestock our Livestock System became Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) verified in December of 2011.