Goat / Sheep Weed Abatement

[Nifty-Chicken]

mlheran, let's buy some sheep / goats together since we're both in the bay area and we can split them!

My sister suggested finding someone with 4H to see if there are local goats / sheep to "borrow".

This may just be a crazy dream because these animals may not even be allowed where I am. Of course, I could maybe do forgiveness vs. permission.

 

[seymojo536]

It's a darn shame you live clear out on the west coast. I would be more than happy to bring over 3 or 4 of our Shetland boys. It would take them about two weeks to clear your plot. If you live close to a Shetland breeder, give them a call and see if they have any wethers.

 

[mlheran]

Quote:

That would be convenient! Though I still need to clean out the barn, build some fences, oh, and convince the hubby that it's a good idea. May take me all winter... *schemes*

Your sister's idea of "borrowing" some goats sounds like a good one, I'm trying to find some local people who keep goats and sheep so I can go see how they manage things (and if I'm really up to it!). I'll keep you posted if I find anything.

 

[skatcatla]

Nifty-Chicken, I happen to know the answer to many of your questions, since I was thiiiiis close to buying an existing goat brush clearance business right here in Malibu.

To answer your questions:


1) It costs us about $400 each year to do this. Would rent-a-goat be cheaper?

Depends on what you have growing and how much rain you get. Here in So. Cal, most people only need to have the goats in once every year to two years, and the woman I was going to buy the business from charges $125 a day (which is way too little I think for all the work involved, but much more than that and people just start hiring illegal workers instead because they are SO cheap. I know. Its awful.)

2) How long does it take a goat to clear 1.5 acres? Would it be safe to assume 2 goats would be half as long?

for 1.5 acres, the woman here will bring her whole herd of 12 goats, because the hard part is just putting up the fencing. Once that's up, its no harder to bring 12 goats than to bring 2 goats. Depending on how much vegetation you have, it takes the 12 goats about 2 -3 days to clear a lot that size. Whatever the goats don't eat is cleared out by hand.

3) The area is mostly fenced in, but there are some areas I'd need to close up. What kind of fence is required to keep goats secure?

She uses these large metal fences from Home Depot. They are secured with long landscape stakes that are pile-drived into the ground. They do have to be pretty tough fences because the goats will stand on them or try to go under them if they see something tasty (like your nice landscaping!) on the other side. Some of her customers have her come back every year, and so they will invest in good quality fencing that looks nicer than the temporary fencing. Then she can charge them less because all she has to do is let the goats in and check on them once a day.

4) Are goats noisy? We've got neighbors on all sides of the yard.

The goats were remarkably quiet while they were browsing, and would settle down and sleep at night. She has customers all over Malibu and Brentwood in densely populated areas and never had a complaint about noise. People love them in fact, and the kids really go nuts.

5) Where do I even go to get goats for this purpose.

I'd start with your city fire department. They usually have a preferred vendor list for goat clearance business.

Good luck and do it! I had so much fun in my few weeks of working with the goats. It kills me I couldn't buy the business, but it just wasn't profitable enough to make it worth quitting my job.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Great info, thanks for posting!!!

Here are a few local places:
http://www.goatsrus.com/
http://www.livingsystemslandmanagement.com/

It looks like both use "herdsman" to manage the flocks. I just want to drop some goats / sheep back in the already fenced area to much on the grass.

What are "meat" goats? http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/grd/485075931.html

Maybe some boer goats? http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/grd/484992456.html

I think I'm going to get in over my head.

 

[ole-crone]

I know that people swear by goats clearing land - and yes, you can force them to do it. In a past life I was a 4H Dairy Goat leader and raised a nice herd of my own. If you own goats and pay attention to them, you'd see that they DO prefer to not eat off the ground. They love to eat about chest high or higher. They won't bend over for even the most luscious alfalfa and rarely for spilled molasses oats! To avoid wasting feed, you have to keep picking up the stuff that fell to the ground and put it back up in the feeder. Goats really ARE picky. I know, we've all seen goats with their heads to the ground and some will argue that they are munching away. But the only way you can get a goat to not be picky and eat at ground level long enough to clear land is to force it by not offering any other food - in other words, starve it. A goat's anatomy is such that it doesn't digest food as well if forced to eat bending over. We talk about making sure our chickens are well fed and not abused in their lifetime just to suit our needs - why abuse a goat? To condemn a goat to brush clearance is not much better than raising factory chickens - except even factory chickens are fed better. How many of you have seen the lone wether tied up to a stake along the road? How is that life different than spending your life in a small cage? If you want to clean out ground level brush - use sheep. Their bodies are more suited for the need but still you're forcing animals to hope that the dried out grass has any nutrients left.

One last comment. The local university used goats to keep one of their experiment stations cleared - at least they were experimenting with the project. To the naked eye it appeared that the goat did indeed keep the acreage cleared out. But you know what? Goats are no longer kept on the property and the land looks just the same. It makes you wonder just what did the goats eat if the landscape looks the same with or without them?

 

[MissPrissy]

My thoughts are in agreement with ole_crone.

I have dairy goats and they are extremely picky. Goats are not grazers. They won't eat grass and weeds unless there is nothing else for them to eat. They prefer bush and brush type 'weeds' as well as low hanging tree branches and leaves and bark.

Forcing goats to clear land by withholding feed is wrong on so many levels. I know first hand. My stepfather kept goats when I was a kid just for this purpose. The goats where only fed what they could forage. The end result - escaping goats that had to rounded up all of the time and a dead and destroyed fruit orchard.

With that 1.5 acres neatly fenced and cleaned up you would have the perfect place to raise 2 or 3 dairy goats - perfect companions to the chickens. LOL Milk and eggs and your service, day in and day out.

Seriously though, you probably would want sheep for clearing but remember also that sheep eat down to the root of grass and will destroy your land if left for an extended period of time.

Keep us posted on what you choose to do and show us photos. Please and thank you.

 

[helmstead]

Quote:
I don't see where this was recommended.

We use our goats to clear little patches of our 'yard' as we deforest it. We make a little run (oh, usually 40x20) and put 2-3 of our does in there for a week.

We STILL feed them their twice daily grain and hay just the same as if they were in the barnyard...and believe it or not - they clear the brush, too! Not starved or anything! Everything from short trees to poison ivy to crabgrass. Gone. Heck, even dead leaves.

Sure, they don't eat grass - they prefer the junk nothing else will eat. BONUS! You can easily mow the grass.

 

[MissPrissy]

I never implied that all goat owners did not feed their own goats. I said my stepfather and many scrub goat owners back during my childhood did not feed the goats anything other than what they could forage.

Not all but many of the businesses that rent out the goats for brush clearing do not feed the goats while they are on your property. They are left to forage and clear the land.

That is my objection.

 

[mlheran]

Well I've been doing a lot of reading about goats vs. sheep and need a bit more clarification from some people who've kept them. When the term "grass" is used do they mean lawn grass, or grass-like weeds that only grow to your shins or so? The weeds I have in our field are mostly grass-like (in that they have long blade-like leaves) and start to grow in Fall when the rain returns. And once the rain starts the field is too soft for the tractor to come in and chop it, so by Spring the weeds are up to our waists -or higher, in many cases!

So my question is, which animal would be better suited to this situation? A goat to come in when it's high and a sheep to keep it down when it's low? Niether? Other?

Now the other section of our property has the ancient foundation of a barn and chicken house and the weeds that grow there are completely different -shrubby, thorny, and even some blackberries. There are also some abandonded pear, fig, and walnut trees. Would a sheep or goat even consider eating any of these?

And please don't think I'm considering these animals simply to clear property! I'd like to have them as pets and want to see if I can provide any suitable roughage for them -in addition to their hay and grain/concentrate.