Using Goats As Weed Control
Danger
Collie Main
This is my page to document using goats for weed control.
Using Goats As Weed Control
Danger
Collie Main
This is my page to document using goats for weed control.
They certainly started off on a good hoof. Within minutes they were walking across the lawn chowing down on mouthfuls of wild onion. I walked the fence line with them to check the electric wire height and they stayed busy eating weeds and vines. They would actually pass up grass to eat weeds!
I introduced the dogs to new arrivals on opposite sides of the fence. Neither species is used to the other and I want the getting to know one another process to be gradual. Normally introducing livestock guard dogs starts when the dogs are puppies, mine are older. The goats are fairly certain my dogs want to eat them. Probably not. One thinks they're toys that throw themselves and the other just wants to be buddies. It's a process.
My next task is getting them a decent shelter. The one I built today is totally not workable. They don't need much shelter, just enough to keep them out of the rain. All they've done so far is stand around in the corner of the property where they were released. They had a small area where they were, they have the run of 9 acres here. Apparently they're not used to having all the space. They just stand around in the same 100 square feet.
I've got a choice where I put the shelter. I can encourage them to hang out up by the house or move them farther away on the property. Safer for them up by the house and there's not much smell. And I can always move the shelter if they get annoying.
Just one day later we had to suspend this experiment. It may not be permanent, haven't decided yet. Couple mistakes I made are common to rookies. The barbed wire sections of the fence need a lower wire and my electric fence charger is inadequate to the task. Solar chargers may not work well for goats because of the duration between pulses. It's good for the dogs and keeping animals from leaning on the fence, but the goats slid under the hot wires and it didn't even slow them down. For goats you need an attention getting fence charger that inspires fear and dread.
So it was no surprise to goat owners that we came home to find our herd trotting down the street and grazing in the neighbor's yard. Fortunately they didn't do any damage. But it was difficult keeping them under control. If one of my buddies at the fire department hadn't been delivering some fence panels, I wouldn't have had any way to contain them. I'd tempt them back into the yard with grain, but they would run across the yard, barely breaking stride going under the fence. They'd take the electric fence hit, didn't seem to bother them at all. It was a bruising and depressing experience. Building that fence took weeks of work and cost thousands. It was sad how easily they squirted through.
Here's my decision matrix for whether to fix the fence and bring them back or just forget it.
Pros:
- They really do the job controlling weeds, brush and cutting down on
the amount of mowing I need to do. And they recycle fertilizer and
spread that around. The goats are good for the lawn.
- I'll have no trouble turning them into a food product. No problem at all.
- They're not hard to take care of. A half-bucket of sweet feed a day
(about $20/month) and a rain shelter. Once a year they need to be
wormed and in the winter they need a bale of hay every few days. More work
than taking care of a lawn mower, but not unmanageable either.
- They can be left on their own for days at a time. They won't overly
burden our ability to travel.
- With a little work and a new energizer the fence will be adequate
I've seen people keep them in a lot crappier fencing than we have.
Cons:
- There will be more escapes, it's inevitable. Though one would hope
not on the scale we experienced yesterday.
- Home slaughtering is going to be more difficult than I'm
anticipating now, though I still believe it will be manageable. It
will be more work and more mess than I'm anticipating now (worst case
I waste the animal and end up burying the carcass).
- Disease happens and I don't have the resources to transport them to
the vet or the desire to spend the money for disease management.
There may be times they need to be sprayed for flies and to keep
insects at bay.
- Livestock will attract coyotes and feral dogs, just like they do
everywhere else. I'll have to be vigilant for defense otherwise I'm
going to be financing the hungry coyote soup kitchen.
That probably explains why this is such a tough choice. The pros and cons are pretty close. They are work but not an extraordinary amount and there is benefit. I could manage them while working FT and they won't overly burden our ability to travel. The fence is not adequate now, but we're not talking thousands of dollars and weeks of work to make workable either. We're talking a couple weeks and a couple hundred dollars. And it's not wasted effort without the goats. It makes this place more attractive for resale and it really does help keep people out of here. I feel better with it out there.
Some of this depends on my goat guy, who is also my fence guy, too. I'm not paying twice for the same goat herd, period. That's a non-starter. And I don't think I'll feel like buying any goats twice. Just doesn't seem right. I can still have goat meat by using the panels to make a temporary pen for one or two at a time for that purpose.
Alright, round 2. I spent four weeks fixing the fence. A sixth strand of barbed wire down the sides and three hot wires. I also got a Parmak Mark 7, 30 mile fence charger for the south pasture and put the solar charger on the north side. That way if either one of them give out, I can hook a jumper and keep the fence hot with the other charger. The Parmak has real hitting power. Before the goats came back it got shorted one day. I walked the fence and found a section of tangled wire in back, the barbed wire and leaves all around were covered with coyote fur and blood. Apparently our brave Canis latrans tried to slip between the top two barbed wires and hooked himself on the top hot wire. The Parmak is pumping anywhere from 16-18.5 Kv, you can spot weld with the spark it makes. My crude forensic analysis indicated the coyote was propelled backward with sufficient force to leave a chunk of hide and lot of hair on both sections of barbed wire. The hot wire hooked in his foreleg and he pulled it through the barbed wire as he fell backward. The hot wire came loose, except he had slid under the fence and his back leg got tangled in the bottom hot wire, which is barbed and electric, leaving more blood and fur behind. It was a pretty dramatic lesson. A few of the local wild critters have tried since then, but word is getting around and the attempts are getting farther in between.
The goats also got acquainted with fence the day they got back. The lead nanny, we call her Slash, walked right up and challenged the hot wire. The initial jolt actually propelled her forward into the web wire. The second jolt knocked her backward and she ran all the way to middle of the pasture. Now she gives the fence plenty of clearance. They all do as one at a time they discovered the power of technology. Score one for the dominant species.
What I learned about goat fence. The bottom three feet is more important than the top three feet. They like to climb but seldom jump. If there's a gap in the bottom three feet, they'll find it. But the higher voltage really discourages exploration. Some farmers use snow fence for temporary enclosures. With a couple good stock dogs that should work fine. Field fence, which people around here call web wire, is best. I only have two hot wires on the sections of field fence and could have gotten by with just a single wire on 5 inch insulators. Barbed wire will work, but you need at least six strands with the lower three fairly tightly spaced. I put three hot wires on the barbed wire sections. That was probably overkill. Some people out here fence their goats in with just three electric wires. The top three feet of any of the fence isn't for the goats, it's for dogs, coyotes and any other potential predator big enough to clear the fence. My dogs are big enough and loud enough to discourage other members of the Canis genus from attempting to get in with the livestock. And don't skimp on the fence charger.
The solar charger is great for the convenience of placement, but it really doesn't have the pulse rate or attention getting jolt of a plug-in. Some of the neighbors thought the Parmak was cruel but goats have a thick hide and stubborn nature. You need educational voltage. Each of mine have all gotten one good bite, a couple have gotten more than one. But after a week, they quit challenging the fence. Any of the fences, including the one that's around the garden boxes.
Aside from fences, the goats have also figured out this is a pretty cool hang out from their perspective. Nothing bothers them here, there is lush pasture, including one hillside with valleys and rough spots, woods with lots of grape vine, poison ivy, poison oak and low tree leaves. A daily ration of cracked corn and sweet feed. Plenty of room to roam and sunny hillsides to roll in the grass.
As far as weed control, they're nothing short of amazing. They eat weeds and vines like they're candy. Not only do they keep the vines off the trees, they turn those weeds and vines into compost that they walk into the pasture grass. The maintenance I've had to do in the pasture, the one they spend the bulk of their time, is minimal. There was some tall grass they don't seem to like for some reason, so I had to knock a small patch of that back with the brush cutter. But that's the extent of work for the entire south side of the property. Everywhere else I've had to mow at least twice. So, as of this minute, they're worth their weight in gasoline.
Here's the latest video of how they're getting adjusted to the new surroundings.
Alright, this is where I turn to you and ask your opinion. I really am interested. Tell me what you think.
Copyright
2008
Chris Poindexter, All Rights Reserved