Maintaining pasture for geese

[fowltemptress]

Forgive my ignorance here . . .
I am rapidly losing my pasture and lawn to weeds, and pulling everything by hand would be a full time job, plus overtime, and I probably still wouldn't make more than a dent. Obviously vinegar strong enough to do anything is just as, if not more harmful, than weed killers you get in stores, and wouldn't get the roots anyway. Everything I read talks about how toxic everything that kills weeds is for geese. At this point I feel like to be effective at battling these weeds I'd need to destroy everything and start with bare dirt. If the weeds seemed edible to geese, I wouldn't mind, but they won't touch them and I suspect some of the weeds may actually be harmful. So how do people with birds maintain their pasture? Or do they bother? What did folks do before herbicides were the norm?
Living in an area with enough rain that things actually grow well is quite an adjustment.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I have the same exact problem

 

[Goosebaby]

Goats or a tractor.

Sheep I’ve heard are actually better at weeding compared to goats but not as popular because they will destroy everything.

Goats herds can sometimes be rented out depending on your area.

Of not blading off and turning the top soil with a tractor periodically and laying down large black tarps to starve the weeds are two other options.

Cover crops can also help to colonize the pasture and outcompete the weeds.

 

[fowltemptress]

Goats or a tractor.

Sheep I’ve heard are actually better at weeding compared to goats but not as popular because they will destroy everything.

I've always lived on properties with sheep or goats and always took for granted the lack of weeds. I'm just not set up for them here, unfortunately. I've never heard that sheep are better at weeding. They pretty much stick to grass and wouldn't touch the brush and vines the goats were so good about cleaning up, but maybe hair sheep are different from wooly sheep? The destruction part, though . . . whew. Nothing survives a painted desert ram in a mood!

 

[Goosebaby]

whew. Nothing survives a painted desert ram in a mood!

 

[Alagirl]

mow and fertilize
how much pasture do you have? It is always good to rotate grazing spots. Best yet if you can rotate grazing species as well.

it all depends a little on what weeds you have. The geese overgraze the desirable plants and give the unpalatable ones a boost with the fertilizer.
you need to keep the undesirables in check, make sure they don't grow out of hand, and definitely don't let them go to seed!

Sometimes you just have to take a loooong walk across the pasture and mechanically pop the weeds out. Especially things with deep tap roots.
They make tools for that (the best might be from the Amish catalog though)

 

[telandra2]

How high is the grass? When I let the 'seeded with wildflowers but currently weeds' patch grow they don't touch it, after the 'its going to seed' mow they are active in the area. Water sources and no/limited feed access are motivators as well. They still won't touch things like noxious scotch thistles.