Turning Noxious Weeds into Money

[firefighter9208]

will sheep escape out of the fences like goats will......everything i've heard about goats, is that they'll escape...

also, some neighbors had some goats in the field one time to clean it up, the goats killed all the trees......at least that's what they said...

I have goats and have no problems keeping them in. 48" field fence and Southern States 50 mile fence charger. No weeds in my pasture. The goats will kill trees. They like to eat the bark off of them. Any "valuable trees in my pasture I put a 6'x6' square around them with cattle panels.

As far as killing trees they really do a job on Privet. The will ride a bush down, eat all the leaves off it, and eat all the bark. GREAT!!!!

Chris

 

[Iplayfarmer]

will sheep escape out of the fences like goats will......everything i've heard about goats, is that they'll escape...

also, some neighbors had some goats in the field one time to clean it up, the goats killed all the trees......at least that's what they said...

Range Management.

Anytime I've had the problem of escaping animals or seen the problem of escaping animals it's been due to overpressure on the pasture. Usually (every rule has exceptions) if an animal has everything it needs within the confines of its containment, it won't really try to get out.

 

[rox]

As long as the 'ground splash' from rain or irrigation doesn't get on the fruit it would be fine. The problem is when people are throwing fresh manure down in the vegetables and the water/manure is splashing on the veggies. In this scenario they recommend manure application and harvest are at least 3 months apart.

How 'huge' is huge? I have been taking in horse manure from a stable down the road for a while now. I compost it using the tractor and then apply it to my gardens, wife's flower beds etc. He brings it up by the dump trailer load, usually 2 or 3 at a time. It is generally pretty dry stuff. I have an 1.5 inch hose off my pond that I use to wet it down which makes pretty quick work of it. You would be out there all day with a garden hose.

Olives are harvested by laying nets down on the ground and shaking either the trunk or the branches to shake the olives off the branches onto the nets on the ground. Our fruit comes in direct contact with the ground so that is why I hesitate to ever put down manure. It is jsut to risky and people can get sick and die. I could not have that on my conscience.

We will use horse manure together with leaves and branches to compost. Then we can spread the compost, that is safer. Have not started the project yet but probably will this February or Marcch. I'll post a topic on it when I do.

 

[AD18]

I am using two Alpine goats for keeping my hillside cleared of russian thistle and blackberry. So far no harm to any of my trees. They really like fresh alder leaves, so I have the kids throw them branches from the spring cleanup. No escapes yet. I've heard that given enough time on a plot of land goats will suppress blackberry regrowth. Opinions, experiences?

 

[Foothill Rancher]

Goats will eat anything as high as they can reach standing on two feet, if left in an area long enough they will keep anything from growing back for quite a long time.
Calif now has a program where they rent large numbers of goats to put into area's for fire control purposes, they started this program a few years back and seems to work pretty well. Where I live there are some people who have goats and rent them out to small land owners to clear all the underbush.
A goat is a very smart animal, a sheep is not,when I was a kid we had both,one of my jobs was to patrol the fences once a day and see if any of the goats would stick the heads thru the field fence and then get stuck due to there horns not letting them back out(the only time I saw a goat not being to smart). On most of our fences there would be bracing posts,the goats would walk right up and over the fence. The goats would leave every morning, go out and chew brush, and then come back before dusk to go in the barn.
They are a neat animal and will certainly keep your brush down but are at the mercy of dogs if you have them in your area.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Now I just need to find something that will overgraze the thistle. Everyone talks about how horses eat thistles, but the horses I had would leave a good 4 inch perimeter around every thistle in the pasture.

Chop those thistles and let 'em dry down a bit and the horse will eat 'em like candy!

 

[MicroPilot]

Chop those thistles and let 'em dry down a bit and the horse will eat 'em like candy!

My horses don't eat them either.