Clearing land with animals.

[Celtic Hill]

Has anyone used animals to maintain and clear a plot of land? What kind of animals? Goats, Cows? Fill me in!

 

[chickenzoo]

Horses on small sandy soil will clear grass so well you won't have to worry about mowing.................... anything.... ever...... hehe

Geese are good grazers, but in small areas their poo can get overwhelming
goats eat weeds and anything you DONT want them too
My sheep was starving 24 7, no matter how much he ate
My minis graze well but it takes a lot of them to keep grass down
Don't know about my mini cattle yet - horses ate all grass

llama & alpaca are sorta like the minis, might be good in smaller areas or larger numbers
Emu graze here and there
Swans graze but less effective than geese
peafowl eat fire ants and some plants, not really grass too much

That's about the extent of my animal knowledge with grass or lack there of.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Depends on what kind of land you have. Goats will eat everything. I mean everything. They will also strip the bark off most trees and eat all the foliage as high up as they can reach. Sheep will strip bark of some trees, but they like grass better. Horses and cows like grass best but will also eat trees. Fencing is a pain for all species, and the smaller species also need predator protection. I have used goats to clear land. In hind site, it's easier to just cut it.

 

[Celtic Hill]

Well everything is weedy and tall with grass with a mixture of trees which will be coming down so it's all pasture again. Its *only* been overgrown for about 18 years, our two donkeys have been successful at keeping away predators where we are now.

 

[Illia]

Horses will ruin your land and turn it to pocketed muck.

Goats are really good - They keep the land relatively smooth, non-mucky, and clear out any brush as well as trim down the grass.

Cattle are about as good as horses, except some breeds like Corriente, whom are bred to be great browsers.

 

[carolinagirl58]

well, you are in good shape then! You already have the livestock guardians. You just need some stock. I think sheep or goats would do fine as long as you have some good field fence in place. Goats love to challange a fence. lol!

 

[texascowboy1979]

DUCKS!!!

My ducks cleared EVERYTHINg.. Now it barren Soil.. My geese do well, but my ducks will clear the land of EVERYTHING... Except Trees.. there too big.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I have 3 mini horses to keep my barn lots mowed. They do a great job!

 

[Celtic Hill]

As far as fencing for goats, does the livestock panels sold at TSC work well? I don't think we want to put permanent fencing up, but if we put it strong corner posts and then t post for support and attached them to the t posts, would that work?

 

[carolinagirl58]

stock panels work fine but are REALLY expensive if you are talking about fencing in a lot with them. they are around $30 each for the cattle panels and are $75 or so for the goat panels. If you use the cattle panels, don't get goats with horns. They stick their heads through and the horns hang up, and you have to use bolt cutters to cut the panel to free the goat. At least fence gives enough to un-stick a goat.