The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: harry on December 30, 2013, 03:30:56 pm
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i want to clear some rough grazing.... nettles docks various broadleaf weeds etc... but hopefully leave my laurel bushes intact.... dont mine eating leaves but dont want bark stripped...to many to protect bark... is there a goat that i could use for this.... probably ending up as table meat....... tried pigs with little sucess with clearing the docks and nettles
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your biggest issue is laurel is poisonous to a lot of animals
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I have a vague feeling that Laurel might be poisonous for goats, so I am not sure it would be best to get goats to clear the ground. There is no way to keep goats from eating trees, and trees are one of their favourite things, so I don't think it will work well.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Beth
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laurel IS toxic to goats...
and goats (in my experience) won't eat nettles fresh, they prefer them picked & a bit wilted - less stings then!
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Round-up looks more feasible - laurel is poisonous.
I am surprised you didn't get the pigs to clear the weeds - our pig patches are completely bare once the pigs are in the freezer, and it normally only get infested again with annual weeds during the resting period.
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my goats love fresh nettles and I love watching them try to eat them without stinging their lips :innocent:
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We had the same dilema and as much as I didn't want to, I used a broad leaf herbicide mid summer (need to be careful around trees) as we also had ragwort in the field, the trees live in a wired off band around the outside of the field, we have just started putting the sheep in during the day and back in the field with shelter at night to keep the grass down.
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I had an extremely poorly goat, who was clearly in agony after taking one bite out of a laurel. The vet wasn't sure if he could save her but she did recover. Thank goodness she hadn't eaten more of it. The tree came up the next day!!
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Someone I know recently lost a goat after only a snatched mouthful of Laurel, I'm considering pulling some up even though in theory the goats shouldn't get to it, but it's a good windbreak for the polytunnel, - but one escapee from the field having a wander round? It worries me but I need the windbreak.
My goats don't eat nettles in spring, but later make a bee line for the patch over the field, nowmuch reduced, they love it even more when it's starting to flower. I too love watching how they eat them, and how they eat thistle heads - amazing !
My book says docks are poisonous, but the goats eat them, I try not to let them get to too many at once.
If it's going to be meat I'd try and get a boer cross, first cross is getting much more common now.