Specifications include, but are not limited to: Goat Requirements: • Prescribed grazing must utilize Boer, Boer-cross, Spanish, Savanna, Kiko, or similar meat goat breeds (no longhaired or miniature goat breeds can be used). • Herds must consist of mixed-aged goats (herd cannot be comprised of all young of the year goats). • Herd size must be at least 80-85 goats for this project. Herd size may be increased with prior approval from the Project Manager. • No chemical de-worming of goats can occur on-site. All chemical de-worming must be completed a minimum of two weeks prior to goats being brought to the site. This is a State requirement. • The Contractor will be responsible for the welfare of the animals. Watering, providing mineral and monitoring the herd is the contractor’s responsibility. A water spigot is available at the campground or park shop. Rotational Grazing Requirements: • The goal is to have two grazing events. o Graze paddock one, two and three during the period of August 16 – October 15, 2023. o Grazed paddock one, two and three once during the period of June 1 – September 15, 2024. o Approximately 183 grazing days across all three paddocks. A grazing event is described as one full pass through each paddock within the project area, where goats eat at least 85% of the accessible target woody vegetation. • A 3-6 week rest interval is required between grazing rotations. This time interval should allow for re-sprouting of vegetation to provide sufficient food for goats as well as allow for desired impacts to the target vegetation. • The size and shape of the grazing paddocks can be adjusted at the Contractor’s discretion, but should generally follow paddock outlines on the attached map. The State reserves the right to specify paddock sizes and locations if the Project Manager feels the paddock sizes used by the Contractor are not adequate for meeting desired restoration goals. • Paddock 1 (see map-20 acres) is the first priority for grazing and will be grazed first. In general, 85% of available shrubs should be impacted by defoliation or browsing prior to rotation, along with some browsing of available garlic, mustard and dames rocket. Vegetation response will determine timeframes for rotation. The contractor and project manager will work cooperatively to determine rotation timing based on vegetative response. • Paddock 2 (see map-17 acres) should be grazed second in the grazing rotation. • Paddock 3 (see map-20 acres) should be grazed third in the grazing rotation. • A second grazing rotation across all three paddocks (following the same order as indicated above) will occur once sufficient rest time has occurred after the initial grazing event (3-6 weeks or once sufficient browse is available through re-sprouting), resulting in two grazing events per paddock over the course of the season.
