Grey Bruce Farmer’s Week 2015Elmwood Community Centre

Goat Day Panel – Friday January 9, 2015

Kevin Weaver – Weaver Farms

Peter & Amy Vingerhoeds

Moderated by Leo Losereit

Participants:

Weaver FarmsVirtual Farm Tour

Who We Are

•Family owned and operated dairy goat farming business

What We Do•Specializing in producing high quality milk, breeding and marketing elite Alpine genetics.

Facilities

Milking Barn

New Barn

Milking Parlour

Milking Parlour

Bulk Tank

Feeding

• Dry Hay• Currently 1.70 kg of hay

• Grain• Work with feed company to

develop custom grain ration

• Currently 1.70 kg of grain

• Mineral

• Water

Pasture

Kids

Goats

•300 Purebred Alpines•150 milking•3.2 kg/doe/day•965 kg Milk•31 kg Fat•28 kg Protein

Weavers L’Avenir Sunshine

•Excellent 91 2E

• 4th Lactation

•3rd Lactation•1240 kg Milk•41 kg Fat•35 kg Protein

•Sons going in AI

Breeding

Exports

Record Keeping

Record Keeping

Breed Improvement•Registration

•Milk Recording

•Type Classification

•The Canadian Goat Improvement Program

•You can not improve what you do not measure!

•Select the parents of the next generation

Other Stuff

Challenges•Rising input costs

•Price paid on product•Unchanged•Not keeping up with rising input

•Production limits•Since May 2009 avg % used in blended price 22%

•Support Programs

•Education

•Marketing

The Future

Thank You

Transitioning from Hobby Herd

to Commercial Meat Goat

Herd

Peter & Amy Vingerhoeds

Hensall, ON

Started as FAMILY HOBBY

Ran 20-30 does in old barn for 10 years

•Raised 50 to 75 market kids per year

•Bred Commercial Dairy/Boer Crosses

•Full Time Animal Nutrition Business &Part Time Farmers

MARKET KIDS RAISED ON MOTHERS MILK

•Wean at selling (100 – 120 days)

•Test for CAE and Q-Fever

OLD BARNS HAVE LIMITATIONS:

•Cold and drafty and dark in winter; hot and stuffy in summer

•Watering, feeding and cleaning pens can be labour intensive

•Pen set up not easy for moving and shipping animals

WASTED FEED an ISSUE

Hay and forage is largest expense

•Lower intake when hay is dirty

•Expensive bedding

•Repeated cleaning out of feeders

WHAT DOES WASTED FEED COST ?

• 30 doe herd – feed 1000 to 1200 bales a year

.... if even 20% of that hay is wasted

.20 x 1100 bales = 220 bales at $4.50 per bale

Easily $1000 or more

COLD WINTERS were a CHALLENGE

We made decision to build in 2012.

HERD EXPANSION GOALS

1.LABOUR EFFICIENCY2. Eliminate feed wastage

3. Better barn environment

4. Improve production performance

5. Gradually increase herd to 100 - 150 with own stock

Two years in new barn

Current System:

•80 (+20 replacements) high percentage Boer does•Specialize in Non-traditional and Paint Boers•8 month breeding cycle, breed continuously

•Total confinement*keep same goats together in same social groupings

•3+ hours of chores/day split between 2 people

•Cash crop 76 acres, purchase all dry hay

•Own limited equipment: loader tractor and hammer mill

Natural Ventilation

•Temperature sensors control automatic solid window panels

•Air is fresh, barn is bright, no condensation

•Winter temperatures 5-7 degrees C

Single Entry

•Heated room for utilities

•Change barn boots & clothes

•Cabinet for medications & supplies

•Designated place for record keeping

View from Front of Barn

•Six 14 x 28 foot pens on each side of 12 foot feed alley

•Swing Gates allow for flexible pen configuration & stocking

Feeding Hay

Bring in 2 bundles x 21 bales once/week

less labour less equipment less wasted hay

cleaner floors

No Feed Waste

•Floor feed twice daily

•Free access to hay for most of day

•SWEEP OFTEN, redistribute hay until eaten

•Tombstone gates reduce feed waste to almost 0%

SIMPLE FEEDING SYSTEM

•Rolling carts carry 2 to 3 days feed

•Hand feed each pen exactly what they require

•Requires no machinery

BULK PELLET BIN

•Open slide and dump directly into feed cart

•Fast

•No bags

•No equipment

•Less hay to handle

CUSTOM PELLET RATION

•Balanced with mineral, coccidiostat and various fibre sources

•Allows us to feed less hay when forage is expensive

•Provides a method of minimizing cocci in herd

SHIPPING ALLEY/ Creep Feeding

•Market kids are creep fed with pellet

•Alley is swept often to keep pellets fresh

BULK STORAGE for GRAIN

•Grind ration every 2-3 weeks

•Stored in bulk tote

•Canola meal, corn & vitamin mineral premix, coarse grind

•ALWAYS feed grain after goats have had 1-2 hours to eat hay and rumen is working.

•Use one ration, but manipulate amounts according to stage of lactation / gestation

GRAIN RATION

1. Maintain excellent body condition on does2. Does able to nurse 2 or 3 kids through first half of

gestation.3. Can achieve 3 to 3.5 kiddings in 2 years

Benefits of good feeding program

Managing Feed Costs

DRY HAY IS OUR BIGGEST COST:Feeding high fibre custom pellet reduces hay fed

(also more labour efficient)Feed best quality hay to late gestation does and nursing does, and growing kidsFeed less expensive, coarser hay to dry goats with lower nutritional requirements. Feed clean straw.

DON’T LET GOATS WASTE FEED:Feed what goats can eat up relatively quicklyTombstone headgates (waste reduced from 20-30% to <1%)

MIX OWN FEED RATIONS ON FARM

How we move goats

Cleaning out manure pack

Manure is composted

Still use old barn for isolation & hay storage

TOP DOE Lavender

Born 2009

Photo taken at 3 years (2012)4th lactationraised 7 kids

Photo at 5 years age (2014)8th pregnancy

(kidded Nov.27, 2014)* 16 kids in 8 gestations

4 kids/year

Invest in Good Stock

•CAE negative

•CL free

•Structurally sound

•LOOK HEALTHY

•BUY BEST BUCKS YOU CAN

TOP TOOLS

SilvalureFLY TAPE

Kid out in Lambing Pens

SCALE

Knowing weights allows us to market the heavier animals for a higher price per head.

Target 70 pounds.

•Scours in kids at 6-8 weeks

•Coccidiosis control

•Hoof maintenance in total confinement

•Udder health with later weaning

Main Production Challenges

What we love to see !!