Live Lawnmowers? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuberyMirkwood 


First let me remind everyone that I'm talking minis. Mini cows, mini goats, etc. I think people are forgeting that.
Second, I do not expect to have the lawn as their only food source. I have plently of pasture on the rest of my property.
All I am really asking is "what animals or combination of animals graze in such a way as to leave it looking like a lawn".
This lawn is just grass, fenced in with a 6' wooden privacy fence, no other landscaping such as trees, flowers, etc.

I am sorry if I didn't make myself clear, I did not mean to imply that your yard was too small to keep even full sized goats or sheep, your pen is more then big enough to keep them, but you will have to feed them, it will not support them for very long, and if your goal is to keep the grass "mowed" it doesn't work that way, they just eat it down to the dirt and eventually you will have a perfectly clean dirt pen, which is not to say that is a bad thing, but if it is not what you want then using animals for manicuring the foliage is not the way to go, they are better at eliminating it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuberyMirkwood 


First let me remind everyone that I'm talking minis. Mini cows, mini goats, etc. I think people are forgeting that.
Second, I do not expect to have the lawn as their only food source. I have plently of pasture on the rest of my property.
All I am really asking is "what animals or combination of animals graze in such a way as to leave it looking like a lawn".
This lawn is just grass, fenced in with a 6' wooden privacy fence, no other landscaping such as trees, flowers, etc.

Probably sheep.  They may leave it a little cleaner then goats, my goats leave it pretty raggedy with their picky, here and there type nibbling.  They only want the choicest bites of everything.

A couple of small sheep would do the best job as long as you can rotate them into another area when they eat it to your desired height.

Even a "mini" cow will do a lot of hoof damage, along with the "cow pies"

I think you would be happy with a mini horse or small pony  AND chickens, the chickens do an excellent job of spreading the manure around and ponies like to clip the grass short.

I have a little experience with minis and chickens (5 years of them sharing the same pasture), so here's my two cents' worth.

Horses are pretty picky about not eating over or near their own poop. In areas where they have left deposits, the grass will grow lush and long, because they won't touch it. They may graze other areas down to the point of pulling up the roots. The chickens will spread the poop around, but they will also dig into the ground in places. Horses, even minis, do tear the ground up a bit, just when they are walking or "horsing around". Horses are also destructive. They like to rub and scratch, so anything they can reach needs to be able to stand that sort of treatment.

If your goal is something looking like a neatly manicured lawn, well, ain't gonna happen. If you can stand bare dirt in some areas, and weeds and long grass that you still have to cut in others, then the combination of minis and chickens might work for you. 

Keep in mind that you can't have just a single herd animal, like one mini horse for the job. Sheep, goats, horses, etc. are herd animals and become very stressed when kept alone.

She said this will not be the animals only home, she just wants the grass mowed, also a pony doesn't necessarily have to have another horse, it would be very happy with a goat, a sheep, a goose, a person, etc. Yes there will be clumps where the poop is that won't get eaten down, but those can be mowed. Horses don't eat down to the dirt like sheep do. If she moves the animal out of the lawn area regularly, it would be fine. Sorry, but I am ranch-raised gal that has had horses my whole life.

LOL, quite a delimma. I bought some keets from a little ranch that had a couple Llamas. The grass was perfect.......Pop