is there anything that can help?
i know it seems funny because goats are suppose to eat everything (mine don't....fairly picky or they just didn't read the fine print!)
there are some trees and bushes we weren't really worried about but now they are going after some ancient black walnut trees that we want left alone
didn't know if there is something you can spray on the trees or if we just have to make them inaccessible
thanks,
lynda
is there anything that can help with goats eating trees?
Found this online.
Carol
so we suggest utilizing thorny bushes or dead fences made of thorny branches; anything to protect the trees. One
can plant a living fence around the tree, or if you
are just getting started, collect a bunch of thorny branches and build a dead fence. Placing thorny
branches around the perimeter of the tree - leaving one as a retractable gate - is extremely effective
against livestock and wildlife.
Good luck.. My goats love things that are the thorniest.. Any briar bushes, rose bushes, even Cherokee roses with the fish hook sized thorns..For larger trees you can wrap with aluminum (you can get super thin sheets of this that is really easy to bend..Goats are natural browsers and these things are their favorites.
Larkie
Larkie,
You have some naughty goats. Lol. I was trying to think of what you typed but my brain was functioned at that time.
Carol
mine like thorny things too! black walnut is a good parasite preventative, so just on the chance that they are eating instictively, you might give them an extra does of something to help with internal parasites, even a tincture of black walnut in their feed. kelp is a great thing to feed them as well as pure molasses...
Real simple...just put a hoop of chicken wire around the trunk of the tree.
I just read an article about this in Countryside magazine. Apparently the man that wrote has very well cared for goats that are well behaved most of the year. But, at a certain time of the year, they love to eat the bark from the trees. The expert's (JD Belanger) answer was to isolate the goats from trees if he hoped to save them. The article is actually headed with "Goats and trees aren't a good mix. There's a reason why goats are rented out to clear brush." LOL Basically the bottom line was that the goats like to eat trees and brush and they really don't care which ones you WANT them to eat and which you want them to leave alone.