The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: old joe on September 18, 2010, 09:21:03 AM

Title: A whack of goats
Post by: old joe on September 18, 2010, 09:21:03 AM
Last month I traded a logger 5 young goats for 5 cords of sawlogs.  He gets his kudzu eaten, I get logs to cut.  The logs are not perfect, big knots on some, twisted grain, but I can get the lumber I need to add a sun room and what doesn't make lumber will make firewood.  Now if my slightly broken body will cooperate ........

Joe
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Magicman on September 18, 2010, 12:35:11 PM
Quote from: old joe on September 18, 2010, 09:21:03 AMare not perfect, big knots on some, twisted

For a minute there I thought you were describing the goats.     :D   Yup, if both of you are happy, it was a good trade.   :)
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: redbeard on September 18, 2010, 12:50:50 PM
I bartered for some new  continious gutters installed by a local gutter company, The owner needs firewood and i needs gutters.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Frickman on September 18, 2010, 08:53:59 PM
I'm a country boy. Money doesn't mean much to me. I just barter my way through life.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: r.man on September 18, 2010, 09:32:12 PM
Old Joe, you didn't say what breed of goat and is it a standard goat per cord all the time or was it a good deal for you? Frickman, I'm so old fashioned when I read your blurp at the bottom of your post that said " conventional hand felling " I thought you meant with an ax and crosscut until I popped my brain into the present and remembered modern harvesting machines. Makes me feel like Paul Bunyan.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Frickman on September 18, 2010, 09:54:08 PM
r.man,

I use a chain saw, but I still know how to use a double bit ax and crosscut, one and two man both. They may be a bit dull but I still have the old tools in the garage if I need them.

I still have all the tools to put up corn in shocks and every few years or so I make several shocks. Just so I know how to do it if I have to.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: beenthere on September 18, 2010, 10:36:53 PM
Frickman
Do you get the old binder out and bind some corn bundles?  or hand tie them?
That should be fun.
As a kid, I liked binding oats and corn. Didn't like shocking the bundles tho.
And just wasn't very good at shocking oats. At 13, just didn't get the hang of it and took a lot of ribbing from the farmers who whipped them together with a good rain cap in no time flat. They usually come back by mine and "straighten it out a bit"  ;D
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Nate Surveyor on September 18, 2010, 10:39:39 PM
Whelllll you certianly got the better end of that deal..... I have SEEN what goats can do:

Eat all the bark off the fruit trees, jump on cars, break off the windshield wipers, Poop on the cars, snort, run, jump, and BOUNCE off the sides of cars, and come back for more. Eat the clothes off the line, and by the time they are done, well, they really need their own place to live... like in a zoo, or with REAL good fences.

Goats. Makes me shudder!

:)

Funny story though!

N
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Frickman on September 18, 2010, 10:47:52 PM
beenthere,

We cut them by hand. We never had a corn binder. I've been looking at getting one though for making shocks for decorations. That's a big business in my area now. Too big to make them by hand. I never got onto making oat and wheat sheafs and shocks. I always liked making corn shocks though.

In the old days they'd leave the shocks in the field to dry until they could get around to husking the corn. Sometimes they'd spend half the winter husking, just doing it from time to time weather permitting. Someone would always carry a gun as the shocks were favorite hiding places for rabbits.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Gary_C on September 18, 2010, 11:50:35 PM
Quote from: Nate Surveyor on September 18, 2010, 10:39:39 PM
Whelllll you certianly got the better end of that deal..... I have SEEN what goats can do:

Eat all the bark off the fruit trees, jump on cars, break off the windshield wipers, Poop on the cars, snort, run, jump, and BOUNCE off the sides of cars, and come back for more. Eat the clothes off the line, and by the time they are done, well, they really need their own place to live... like in a zoo, or with REAL good fences.

Goats. Makes me shudder!


And you never want to get downwind of a Billy Goat.

Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: paul case on September 18, 2010, 11:57:25 PM
Quote from: Gary_C on September 18, 2010, 11:50:35 PM
Quote from: Nate Surveyor on September 18, 2010, 10:39:39 PMwell, they really need their own place to live... like in a zoo, or with REAL good fences.
a neighbor once told me that if your fence wont hold water it wont hold goats. pc
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: backwoods sawyer on September 19, 2010, 12:13:50 AM
Quote from: Nate Surveyor on September 18, 2010, 10:39:39 PM
Whelllll you certianly got the better end of that deal..... I have SEEN what goats can do:

Eat all the bark off the fruit trees, jump on cars, break off the windshield wipers, Poop on the cars, snort, run, jump, and BOUNCE off the sides of cars, and come back for more. Eat the clothes off the line, and by the time they are done, well, they really need their own place to live... like in a zoo, or with REAL good fences.

Goats. Makes me shudder!

:)

Funny story though!

N
You meen like this?

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17725/1949/shadow.jpg)
Beware when milling for a goat farmer or you may find one or a dozen riding home with you.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: paul case on September 19, 2010, 12:15:46 AM
that goat is king of the truck.  pc
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: bandmiller2 on September 19, 2010, 08:01:35 AM
Goats consider poison ivy fine dineing,they will flat clean out an area.They can pirch on top of a 4" six foot high post,and love big bolders.My first job as a kid was cleaning out under a goat barn,of course back then I'd do anything for BB money. Frank C.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: old joe on September 19, 2010, 01:49:41 PM
We raise goats for meat and milk.  We make cheese and tan the hides.  The goats are Nubian/French alpine and are pretty good sized,  and they flat love kudzu!!  Each year I have to cull the herd an sell a bunch of goats.  Yeah we both got a good deal.  Even if it takes months to cut it's OK        I don't have to feed logs!!
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: backwoods sawyer on September 19, 2010, 04:54:42 PM
Dairy breeds are selling for about $1.00 a pound at the local auction. Meat breads $1.35 a pound.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: r.man on September 19, 2010, 06:32:01 PM
Paul a fence would have to hold a lot of water to hold a goat. I'm not sure which is worse, a sheep, which is really stupid, or a goat which is really smart. Mind you if a pig could climb we would be saying nice things about owning goats. I am partial to Nubians though and I have often thought that it would make more sense to keep large numbers of goats instead of cattle. In Ontario we have a quota system for milk so if you want to legally sell cows milk you have to buy a quota and it is very expensive. No quota system for goats milk and it's considered greener than cows milk which means quite a bit these days.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: old joe on September 19, 2010, 06:51:38 PM
Here in east central Alabama they bring  a little less at auction.  I generally try to sell them off the farm.  They  sell at a premium because they are so well tended and are friendly.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: paul case on September 19, 2010, 09:43:15 PM
Quote from: r.man on September 19, 2010, 06:32:01 PM
Paul a fence would have to hold a lot of water to hold a goat. I'm not sure which is worse, a sheep, which is really stupid, or a goat which is really smart. Mind you if a pig could climb we would be saying nice things about owning goats. I am partial to Nubians though and I have often thought that it would make more sense to keep large numbers of goats instead of cattle. In Ontario we have a quota system for milk so if you want to legally sell cows milk you have to buy a quota and it is very expensive. No quota system for goats milk and it's considered greener than cows milk which means quite a bit these days.
i think you are on to something. niche markets usually have a bigger profit margin.  pc
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: captain_crunch on September 20, 2010, 12:41:10 PM
My thought would be to run goats thru mill ;D ;D ;D NZ power fence will hold em But after my experiances with goats why would you want to keep blasted thing in rather than OUT
Brian
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: backwoods sawyer on September 21, 2010, 02:09:58 AM
Keeping them in or out is irrelevant. A goat will stick its head out thru one hole and back thru another to eat the grass that is inside the fence.
Put the goats out where the log deck is and they will make sure no moss grows on top of those logs.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: woodsteach on September 21, 2010, 07:14:11 PM
Too bad you aren't closer old joe I'd work out a trade for some of your goats!!  The poison ivy is a bumper crop this year.

woodsteach
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: paul case on September 21, 2010, 10:36:14 PM
Quote from: backwoods sawyer on September 21, 2010, 02:09:58 AM
Keeping them in or out is irrelevant. A goat will stick its head out thru one hole and back thru another to eat the grass that is inside the fence.
Put the goats out where the log deck is and they will make sure no moss grows on top of those logs.

i wonder if you could train them to debark ? pc
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: sandhills on September 21, 2010, 11:24:19 PM
pc, only if it was a tree you didn't want to kill! :)
woods teach, here too, but then I'd be allergic to the goats.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: mad murdock on September 22, 2010, 12:21:25 PM
whilst this thread is about goats, I have a question for those who have used them for brush control;
Is it reasonable to think that goats could be used for veg management, or will they kill (eat) the trees you are trying to grow as well?  I am in the Pac, NW and my tree farm is about 98% Douglas Fir.  I logged in 2006 on a2.5 acre piece of it, and have been controlling the brush with chemical application.  The trees are now 3 years old and doing ok, except I did cause a little damage by doing my broadcast application this spring a little late, and burned a few of the trees this year.  They should all come back ok from this error, and I will be sure and get it done next time well before the trees break bud.... Just wondering about the goats, have been thinking of it for some time, as I know that they can really knock down alot of nasty blackberry in a hurry.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: backwoods sawyer on September 22, 2010, 06:25:11 PM
If your leaders are over about 6' and you do not get to many goats, or keep them in with the trees for to long at a time they will help a lot with brush control.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: old joe on September 22, 2010, 08:16:22 PM
In my experience  in both the NE and SE goats will eat anything.  That being said, they prefer hardwood and brush over pine.  Unless your fir is shorter than the brush you should be ok.  Also don't overgraze or they'll eat everything.

Joe
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: r.man on September 22, 2010, 09:05:12 PM
Eat everything is not an exaggeration for those of you who have never had bored goats in an enclosure that has trees in it. Species does not really matter as long as the tree is not very large. My friend who had goats used to throw in discarded spruce or pine christmas trees. When they got done the trunk and large branches would be debarked, completely, and everything else would be gone.
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: Faron on September 22, 2010, 10:16:29 PM
Ya gotta be smarter than the goats. :o
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: old joe on September 23, 2010, 07:38:10 AM
Nobody is smarter than goats!!!!

Joe
Title: Re: A whack of goats
Post by: backwoods sawyer on September 23, 2010, 11:11:24 PM
Well both of you are right!!!!