A nutritional boost

Today, we placed two 125-lb. general purpose nutritional tubs (16% CP, Tractor Supply Store, $34 each) out for the goats. They "attacked" them with vigor. There is still pearl millet grass to eat, but the field is getting sparser. Our next strategy may be to open the entire pasture up so the goats can find what they want to eat. After all, selective grazing is what goats do best.

We do not feel that the use of nutritional tubs will skew the data in the test. The goal of the test isn't to compare our pasture-based system to another production system. Rather it's to compare the performance of these 47 goats in this system with this set of protocols. So long as the goats are all treated and fed the same, the data and comparisions are valid.

Under normal circumstances, it may not be necessary to provide this nutritional supplementation, but with the continued drought and lack of forage quality, it is a sound management decision that we would recommend to any producer under similar circumstances.

Two hay wagons have been parked in the field of pearl millet to provide shade for the goats. The next couple of days are expected to be very hot and humid. According to the Weather Channel, scattered thunderstorms are a possiblity for Keedysville on Wednesday (30%) and Friday (40%). We'll keep are fingers crossed -- and our toes!