out largely in our favor to be moving these goats around; and that all comes down to food for them and cost-cutting for us. Our meat is USDA-labeled. The claims on our label note our meat is 100% forage-fed, free ranged, no added hormones and not grain- finished. Then there needs to be an alternative protein source that allows these animals to gain weight. In this case, that’s forage. Allowing these animals to move from property to property gives them access to new protein daily, helping them to pack on the pounds and satisfying the claims on our label. We are very excited to see in mid- November how this summer rotation has worked for the bucklings in comparison to years in the past where the market bucklings have solely been on our pasture and woods. The last factor that has allowed us to easily expand this endeavor is how easy it is to set up everything. On our farm we are all about making things easy for us when we spend time with the goats — a break from our regular work. We have a goat tote on our farm truck that we can easily load the goats to and from. We use Premier One Temporary Fencing and a solar charger to electrify the netting. The goats get a couple of five-gallon buckets of water. And that’s it. On occasion, we will put a small shelter in the enclosure if there is nowhere to get out of the elements. The elements, however, have not been a very big issue this season as we aren’t getting any rain! The goats mind the fence well, and as long as they have food, never test the netting. For next season we are considering a Livestock Guardian Dog to move with this herd as they are off our property without protection.
While Covid-19 has put a damper on businesses in many senses, it has worked in our favor. The virus has pushed us to look for new ways to bring in additional cash not originally anticipated, as well as provide us a cheap way to ‘beef’ up our boys who head to the market in the fall.
In the coming years, we will surely be employing the lessons learned this summer. We already have people interested in getting on the list for next year. I am very excited to see where this business leads us!
(Josh and Kathy Crise, and their grown
children, Amelia and Kevin, operate Marble Creek Acres in Lee, Maine. For interest in a future year’s Kiko waitlist, questions or if you have topics you might like to read about in a future Goat Rancher, we can be reached at 207-619-3758, email
mainekikos@gmail.com or
marblecreekacres.com)
October 2020 | Goat Rancher 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
