Legg Land and Livestock

Bill and Peggy Legg

P. O. Box 188

Westpoint, TN 38486

legg.land.livestock@comcast.net

Years in commercial operation:   4 years raising goats

Total acreage:   22,000

Acres used for goat production: 350

Acres for other production: 500 for beef cattle, 22,000 for timber

Climate Zone: 6b and 7a

Farm overview

Bill manages a mixed livestock and forestry operation with his wife, Peggy, and his 88 year-old father, who is still active on the farm. Besides goats, Bill's family raise approximately 175 beef cattle cow-calf pairs, selling the calves at stocker weight.   They also manage 22,000 acres of timber consisting of mixed pine and hardwoods.  

Bill became interested in goat production about 8 years ago.   Initially, he wanted to raise Boer goats because he was impressed with their rapid growth and well muscled body.   But, before Bill started to raise goats, he spent three years attending “every goat workshop and training within 300 miles of my farm.”   These meetings allowed him to learn technical information from presenters and practical information from other producers attending the workshops.   By the time that Bill decided to start his operation, he decided to raise Spanish and Kiko cross goats rather than Boers.   Boers, he learned were poor mothers and were susceptible to health problems.   Because Bill wanted to raise goats on a large scale, he did not want to spend time “babying his goats.”   Instead, he wanted to raise hardy animals that could birth and raise kids while on pasture.

Bill's future plans are to continuing to develop quality replacement does, bring additional areas of the farm into goat production, and to expand his herd and operation.   He also wants to work with researchers to identify genetic factors that favor susceptibility to parasite infestations.   According to recent studies, 20% of animals in a herd shed 80% of the eggs.   If these susceptible animals could be identified or selected against during breeding, parasite infestations in a goat herd could be decreased.

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Goat production

Number of goats raised and sold:

400 breeding does producing 425 kids sold per year

Goat breeding: Bill works with Spanish does crossed with Kiko bucks.   He uses this combination because of the hardiness of the Spanish lines and the good mothering characteristics and larger frame of the Kikos. Bill's research into goat production in the southeast showed that Spanish/Kiko crosses were well-adapted to the environmental and forage conditions of this region. Mytonic goats are also well-adapted to southeastern conditions.

Bill was initially attracted to goat production by the appearance and production levels of Boer goats.  However, based on his discussions with other goat producers and his limited experience with Boers, Bill decided not incorporate Boers genetics into his breeding lines. While Boer goats produce a high number of twins and have a rapid growth rate, Bill found that they are more susceptible to internal parasites and hoof problems than are the Spanish or Kiko goats.  

In the future, Bill intends to cross Spanish x Kiko does with a Boer buck to produce kids that grow fast and add muscle rapidly. However, he currently has such a good market for his Spanish x Kiko cross kids that he is not keeping any as replacements in his breeding lines.  

Instead, Bill has expanded his herd by purchasing new Spanish does from a breeding ranch in Texas. While buying replacement stock from a breeding ranch is more expensive than from local sale barns, Bill stresses that the high risk of bringing diseases onto the farm if sale barn animals are purchased.  To protect against these risks, any animal brought onto the farm should come from a reputable breeder who keeps good breeding, management, and disease prevention and treatment records.

Timing of kidding:   Bill breeds his does to kid within a 45-day period starting in April.  Spring kidding is cost-effective since this the succulent, young spring forage growth provides pregnant and nursing does with high nutritional feed, which reduces or eliminates the need to provide purchased supplements.  Kids born in the spring have 9 to 10 months to reach 80 pounds prior to being sold in December and January, when demand for goats by various ethnic groups is high.

Bill previously used an 8-month, rather than a 12-month breeding schedule. He used this schedule to obtain more kids and to enhance the return on the fixed costs of his does.   On this schedule, kidding occurred in April, August, and December with sales in December, April, and September. The first two of these kidding schedules are cost-effective since kidding occurs when forage is abundant, weather conditions are favorable for kidding, and sales occur during ethnic holidays .  December kidding schedule is less cost-effective since does need feed supplements and kid sales occur when ethnic demand is low.   In addition, the extra stress placed on the does resulted in a low breed-back rate. Under the 12 month breeding schedule, almost all does became pregnant, while the breed-back rate for does following a December kidding was only 70%.

Kidding:   Bill stresses that production of healthy kids depends on the does being in good body condition and having their nutritional needs met, especially during the last third of gestation.   Does that are too thin produce weak kids while does that are too heavy have fat deposits on their hindquarters that hinder kidding.   Bill monitors the health of his does by paying close attention to their body condition score by visually and physically examining his does throughout gestation.

Since he started raising goats, Bill has not provided his goats with a barn or shelter for kidding.    However, sometime in 2006, he plans to construct a 24 x 120 foot shed to provide his does and kids with shelter during kidding.   Although he is building this shed, he prefers that his does kid in the pasture rather than in a barn, weather permitting.   When goats kid outside, Bill reduces the size of the paddocks to facilitate supervision of the does and the newborn kids.   Supervision at kidding is necessary to ensure proper bonding between does and their kids.   Does can break bonds by leaving their kids behind and feeding elsewhere in the pasture after they nurse their kids for the first time.   Close supervision also allows Bill to treat the navels of kids with iodine after kidding.

Management of young kids:   Bill does not provide kids with creep or grain.   Some goat producers use creep to stimulate early weight gains in kids.   Bill's experience indicates that the use of creep is often not cost-effective, unless he is able to get feeds formed from milling wastes, such as cottonseed or soy hulls.   Feeding creep can change the pH of the rumen, resulting in poor digestion and poor use of nutrients in forages. Soy hull pellets are the most cost-effective and rumen-friendly creep feed.

While many smaller-scale goat producers provide young animals with hutches to protect them from the weather, Bill has found that by choosing hardy goat breeds and having adequate tree and brush growth on his goat pasture land, the animals can thrive by using woody vegetation as a windbreak and protection against rain.

Pasture characteristics and management:   Goats have access to 350 acres, consisting of 100 acres of pastures, 150 acres of 5year old successional regrowth pine plantation, and 100 acres of mature pines.   This combination of pasture, forest, and forest regrowth, provides the goats with abundant shade, windbreaks, clean water, and browse.

Although Bill is a strong proponent of rotational grazing, he did not consistently subdivide his grazing area during his first three years of production. He was able to not use rotations and still protect his goats against parasites since his stocking rate was low enough that overgrazing was not a problem.  During the fourth year, Bill increased the size of his herd and is subdividing the goat foraging area into three 50-acre paddocks to allow for rotational grazing.  To provide water to goats in these paddocks, Bill is installing a gravity-flow watering system.

Bill stresses that pastures should be managed with stocking rates or rotations to ensure that the goats are never grazing on forages that are shorter than 6 inches. Goats grazing on tall grasses or browse are protected against parasites since these soil-borne parasites are found only at ground level and up to six inches above ground level.

Bill is introducing Serecia lespedeza into forest regrowth areas to provide browse. This weed contains high levels of tannins, which have been shown to control parasites.  The goats stay in wooded browse areas from April thru November.  During the remainder of the year, they graze on pastures containing a combination of forage grasses and weeds.  Bill is renovating some of his pastures with new cool season novel endophyte fescues, such as Max-Q and ArkPlus.

Bill occasionally practices multi-species grazing, running cattle and goats together in same pastures. This practice is limited to times of ready forage availability or the need for goats to be integrated into the beef herd to manage weeds.

Fencing: Bill uses high tensile smooth electric wire to fence his goats.   Being that rivers bound some of his pastures, Bill thought that he would not need to fence these boundaries since many people said that goats are afraid of water and will not cross it.   However, the strong herd instinct of goats overcame the tendency not to cross water and, one day all of his goats followed a leader through belly-high water into a neighbor's pasture.

Parasite management:   Pasture management is the primary practice Bill uses to prevent parasite incidence in his goats.   He monitors the health of his goats daily by selecting goats during feeding and examining their eyes to ensure that they are clear and have no sign of anemia, the major symptom of parasite infestations.   While Bill acknowledges that examinations of feces and forages for parasites are more direct and precise assessments, he finds that eyelid examination to be a quick and effective monitoring method.   Using good grazing management practices, Bill has been able to reduce worming to once every 6 to 10 months.

Other health issues:   The rocky soil on Bill's farm wears down goat hooves such that Bill only occasionally has to trim hooves.   Bill also tries to keep his goats away from wild cherry trees in fall when cyanide levels build up in the leaves.

Predator protection:   Great Pyrenees dogs

Facilities and Equipment

Goat production facilities:   Bill has a   24 x 120 foot shed for kidding, 3 barns are used for hay and equipment storage.

Equipment used for goat production:   A cattle trailer is used to transport goats for drenching and vaccinations, scales for weighing goats and cattle, no-till drill, PTO seeder, hay mower, tedder, rake, baler and tractor for pasture management and haying.

Business Management

Farm labor: None of the three family members work off-farm.   Approximately 25% of the labor time is devoted to goat production.

Marketing decisions:   Bill tries to send his goats to market one to two weeks prior to ethnic holidays, when market prices usually spike.   The most important ethnic holidays occur in December and January.

Goats are sold at the Tennessee Livestock   Producers Auction, in Thompson Station, TN, one of the few markets in the region which sells by weight   and grade

Record keeping and budgeting practices:   Bill uses a combination of hard copy and computer-based tools for record keeping.   He has notebooks and charts in the barn and in his pick-up, where he can record observations as he is working around the farm.   He has receipt files in the barn and in the house.   He enters critical management and budget information from his notebooks, chart, and files into computer programs to provide greater organization and analysis.

Bill has recognized the need for good record keeping since often small changes can cause a huge difference in goat productivity or profitability.

Enterprise budget:   Approximately $2.00 per kid spent on disease prevention, vaccinations, and veterinary expenses.

Hauling expenses - $1.00 per head.   This based on a charge of $2.00 per load per mile, where 120 kids are hauled in one load for a distance of 60 miles to the market.

Record keeping – Bill spends approximately 4 hours per week during kidding season.   He devotes very limited time on record keeping during the rest of the year.

Risks encountered and addressed

While Bill has found that goat production fits well into his farm operations and management practices, he stresses that goat production is not for everyone.   He states that for every one person that he encourages to go into goat production, he hopes to discourage five people.   Before Bill got into goat production, he attended every goat related field day, seminar, or workshop within a 200 mile for three and a half years.

The major risk issues for goat production are hoof problems and parasites.   Hoof problems occur when goats stand on wet ground and when their hooves are not trimmed regularly.   Bill is fortunate to have well-drained soils that do not stay wet following rains.   Much of his land is rocky, which acts to naturally trim feet.   In addition, Bill took some cedar logs and nailed roofing shingles on the logs to form a climbing playground for the goats.   The rough surface of the shingles wears down the goats' hooves as they climb across them.

Bill controls against parasites by using rotational grazing practices, checking his goats daily for anemia, and by treating them with worming medicine every six to ten months.   Bill lost three bucks in 2005 from nitrate poisoning.   This is caused by feeding on succulent forages that have either been fertilized by high levels of nitrogen or manure.