It seems to me that you have to figure out what you want the most, quick
nutrient recycling and goat products, or organic matter. Animals greatly
reduce the volume of organic matter in a system by breaking it down more
quickly. The same comparison can be made to mulching versus composting,
especially hot composting. Mulching preserves organic matter for longer.
Organic matter is so important for so many reasons that it is important not
to just assume that it is best to gather it all up and compost it or feed it
to animals.
Rain
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BTW, thanks to everyone who shared their goat stories. It was very
helpful (although not to the buck who's still alone...)
Another question, though: we have old vegetables (bolting chard,
spinach, and some cabbagey greens), is it better to compost them or
feed them to the goats and chickens? The grass and weeds are amazing
this year, so the goats have plenty to eat. They mostly "recycle it"
to the pastures, although some part ends up in the barn and gets to
the garden later. These plants are in interplanted beds, so I can't
just chop them up into the soil in place. I'm not sure where the
maximum benefit is to the whole system.