Comments on: Goats; just doing a job humans can’t.

By: zuiko

zuiko — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:45:38 +0000

Depends on the tree. Smooth bark is tasty and they will certainly eat it. I have a dead tree with no bark on it (that they could reach) that will attest to that fact. There are quite a few weeds they won’t touch unless they got nothing better to eat. Once when the trees have no leaves they can reach will they eat a lot of weeds. As weed removal devices goats are highly overrated… unless they are starved and have no alternative, anyway. They won’t even eat my burdock.

By: 1SGinTN

1SGinTN — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:48:19 +0000

Don’t know the final verdict on its effectiveness. The Army once used goats to control the vegetation on top of the ammo storage bunkers within the secure storage areas, might still do it for all I know. Goats don’t need a security clearance.

By: kyle8

kyle8 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:43:49 +0000

They are lazy American goats, We need hardworking goats from south of the border, they will do the job for less and won’t complain.

I don’t want to hear about any “laws”,

There are no illegal goats!

Animal values don’t stop at the border!

By: itrytobenice

itrytobenice — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:34:30 +0000

Having a large herd of goats, I guess I have some level of experience. They don’t eat bark nor kill any tree if the tree is above their head. There are only a couple of weeds that goats won’t eat, one of them being thistle. I understand they can be trained to eat those, if one spends some time on it, as they are very high in nutrients in their young stage.

And I know from publications that one of the scourges of the west is leafy spurge (I think I have that right) and that goats think of it as caviar.

I won’t vouch for the price paid, but if includes herding responsibilities, it might not be as bad as it looks. I am assuming right of way is not fenced for livestock.

By: phxg

phxg — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:24:25 +0000

By: zuiko

zuiko — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:15:39 +0000

Government sure knows how to shop around for the best deal.

Besides the price, they are bound to be disappointed in how this works out. Goats are pretty picky and will not eat weeds that they don’t like the taste of. They also just love to eat the leaves and bark off trees (killing the tree in the process). They are not exactly a great replacement for a brush cutter.

By: General_Confusion

General_Confusion — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:08:21 +0000

WRONG!

It is a knownfact(tm) that farm animals will end all life on this planet.