This may sound like a stupid question but will goats eat poison ivy or help control it?
A friend of mine has recently purchased 2 does with the idea that they will control the grossly over grown poison ivy on land he is building a house on.
Is there any thing that can be used as this is an area that has been never been used for any thing for many many years if ever. Poison ivy grows incredibly "well" here if left to it's own devices.
Michael zone 7 USA
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Thank you all for the info. I know little about goats and my friend, nothing.
And thank you Mike V. I had forgotten about the oil, though I know from personal experience that dogs can carry it inside and spread it to every one.
Here the good part. My friend has purchased 2 pregnant does and he has 3 daughters. 14, 15 and 8.
I do not think he has any idea just how cute baby goats are. He doesn't know it but he is about to become a goat rancher as those daughters of his will fall in love as soon as they see them. LOL
Thanks Michael
Michael Vanecek
Yes. However, one thing you'll want to be very careful about - if them
goats have been frolicking in poison ivy while they're eating it, you'll
most certainly *not* want to give those cute little kids a bunch of
hugging and kissing!!!! They may not get itches, but the oil that gets
on their fur will most certainly pass on to you. Give them a good
washing after they've finished off the poison ivy...
Be well,
Mike
--
Zone 8, Texas
http://www.taroandti.com/ Exotic Plants and More...
http://www.mjv.com/ Home...
michael wrote:
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Yes. However, one thing you'll want to be very careful about - if them
goats have been frolicking in poison ivy while they're eating it, you'll
most certainly *not* want to give those cute little kids a bunch of
hugging and kissing!!!! They may not get itches, but the oil that gets
on their fur will most certainly pass on to you. Give them a good
washing after they've finished off the poison ivy...
Be well,
Mike
--
Zone 8, Texas
http://www.taroandti.com/ Exotic Plants and More...
http://www.mjv.com/ Home...
michael wrote:
Thanks
Michael
Gayla Roberts
If your friend needs any help, have him email me. I raise them and enjoy
helping others raise them. There are several excellent goat lists he can
join for help. One of the best is The_Boer_Goat@yahoogroups.com
Gayla Roberts
Always Enough Ranch
Acampo, California
http://bouncinghoofs.com/alwaysenough.html
Bill Barnhill is our Inspiration! Go Bill!!!
aeranch@gmail.com
~~~ORGANIC AND GREEN, for a healthy future.~~~
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Subscribe: GardeningOrganically-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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__________________________________________________
Are goats agressive ? I don't know much about them myself but have heard stories about them chasing people.
michael
And thank you Mike V. I had forgotten about the oil, though I know from personal experience that dogs can carry it inside and spread it to every one.
Here the good part. My friend has purchased 2 pregnant does and he has 3 daughters. 14, 15 and 8.
I do not think he has any idea just how cute baby goats are. He doesn't know it but he is about to become a goat rancher as those daughters of his will fall in love as soon as they see them. LOL
Thanks Michael
Michael Vanecek
Yes. However, one thing you'll want to be very careful about - if them
goats have been frolicking in poison ivy while they're eating it, you'll
most certainly *not* want to give those cute little kids a bunch of
hugging and kissing!!!! They may not get itches, but the oil that gets
on their fur will most certainly pass on to you. Give them a good
washing after they've finished off the poison ivy...
Be well,
Mike
--
Zone 8, Texas
http://www.taroandti.com/ Exotic Plants and More...
http://www.mjv.com/ Home...
michael wrote:
~~~ORGANIC AND GREEN, for a healthy future.~~~
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GardeningOrganically
Subscribe: GardeningOrganically-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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__________________________________________________
" Are goats aggressive ? I don't know much about them myself but have heard
stories about them chasing people."
Generally speaking, no. Not aggressive at all. The bucks (males) can be the
exception. I have does (females) that follow me like love sick puppies and
almost knock me over trying to rub on me with affection. But some of the
bucks go through the testosterone thing - usually about 3 to 3 1/2 years
old. They can be very nasty. If they get too aggressive here, they change
zip codes. I can't deal with one that would chase me across a pasture to
nail me to a fence. Some folks put up with aggressive behavior because of
some great bloodlines involved. I won't.
But so can bulls, stallions, roosters, or any male livestock. General rule
of thumb is never trust a bull, stallion, buck, ram. Keep an eye on them at
all times.
Gayla Roberts
Always Enough Ranch
Acampo, California
http://bouncinghoofs.com/alwaysenough.html
Bill Barnhill is our Inspiration! Go Bill!!!
aeranch@gmail.com
I have never seen an aggressive goat personally. Mine are the sweetest things. One goat in particular called Twilight just comes and stands next to you and says "Here I am, if you want, I would really like you to pet me, but if you can't be bothered I'll understand." Goats do have to be trained properly about what behavior is acceptable and what isn't. You want to train them not to jump up on you, just like you would a dog. Even my buck is very sweet. I guess it all depends on how they are raised and handled.
Roni
OOOO... thank you.It wouldn't have occurred (sic?) to me about
the oil on poison ivy getting on a dog or probably even a cat.
Susan
- In GardeningOrganically@yahoogroups.com, michael
wrote:
> Thank you all for the info. I know little about goats and my
friend, nothing.
> =20=20=20
> And thank you Mike V. I had forgotten about the oil, though I
know from personal experience that dogs can carry it inside and
spread it to every one.
> =20=20=20
> Here the good part. My friend has purchased 2 pregnant does and
he has 3 daughters. 14, 15 and 8.
> =20=20=20
> I do not think he has any idea just how cute baby goats are. He
doesn't know it but he is about to become a goat rancher as those
daughters of his will fall in love as soon as they see them. LOL
if them
> goats have been frolicking in poison ivy while they're eating it,
you'll
> most certainly *not* want to give those cute little kids a bunch
of
> hugging and kissing!!!! They may not get itches, but the oil that
gets
yes goats eat poison ivy (a very nice quality IMO)
some food for thought... seeds in the feces of the goats also have a nice
medium to germinate. :o)
Many plants start out this way.
--
Sharie
Alabama Gardening Zone 7-8
Mom to 5 great kids, 3 adopted kittens, 20+ chickens and one old dog, oh
yeah and hubby too! :o)
Depends on your definition of aggressive. Some goats are friendly, most are,
really. Friendly goats with horns can accidentally hook you and may be able
to knock you down if it isn't expected. And if you run away, they could well
chase you in play. A young relative of mine used to like to teach the babies
to butt heads with him. It is a natural behavior for the kids, used to
establish dominance and protect the heard later in life, but they usually
need prompting to start doing it to people. Problem is when they get larger,
they could hurt someone not expecting it, especially someone young or small.
Un-friendly goats are more likely to avoid you than to attack.
Also, goats are rather social, and social animals tend to establish a
pecking order. In some cases, they may try to establish dominance over a
person in much the same ways as they would do within the heard. These ways
can be aggressive, I suppose, but not vicious or mean.
Of course, goats can and will fight back when they are cornered. If they
have horns, they are able to do some damage to small predators, too. But
there natural inclination is to run, and I have never seen one seriously
fight a person, even when they are seriously frightened.
Joyce in Tulsa, zone 6/7 gardener, soapmaker, machine embroiderer,
beekeeper!
Hi,
I am new here, having just joined yesterday and would like to answer the
question about goats and aska few about other things.
I have had goats since I was 11 and now I am 47 and have found very few goats
to be aggressive. Unlike sheep, where the male of that species can be
downright deadly, the goat is a rather social and curious animal. If bottle-raised,
the goat is as friendly as any dog and is a good animal for companionship.
The goat is intelligent, fastidious and can be useful for clearing some brush
and for producing very good manure. It is not a grazing animal, however, and
is not useful for keeping grass down.
The best thing about goatkeeping, aside from the charming friendiness of the
animal, is the milk it produces.
If you intend to purchase a goat, I recommend acquiring two kids to be
hand-reared/ This will assure an agreeable nature and will give you the benefit of
knowing all of the life stages. Purchase either doe kids or wethers and avoid
bucks as they have seasonal odor and behavior that many find objectionable.
I have a problem of my own here I am hoping somebody can address:
1)Bermuda Grass
2)Blackberry
What are the best ways to control these? The goats will eat the above-ground
portions of the blackberry, but how do I kill this vicious plant once and for
all?
And what can be done about Bermuda Grass short of using ROund-up, which I
will not use.
This looks like a nice list and I am happy to be here as I learn about
gardening.
Bill Davis, DVM
Goatkeeper, Sheep enthusiast, Kelpie breeder and now, Vegetable gardener.
Bill, you could do what we were given the chance to do with the
blackberries. A woman a town over, put an add out for free raspberry
bushes to those who would dig their own. She had several replies.
She had so many she had to limit the amount (because she wanted to keep
some). But we went and she told us how many and where to dig (leaving
behind her dirt of course)
Every one was happy :)
MaryBeth
PS Welcome to the list!
USA zone 4 North Dakota
bdcl@aol.com wrote:
The only thing that has worked in my garden is to fence it off and put piggies in there. They 'till the garden and fertilize as they root around. They did a pretty good job getting rid of the grass for me. One other thing I have done is use weed barrier fabric (not plastic) that at least keeps it out of the rows you put it on. I have a row of burmuda grass I am going to put down about three inches of newspaper and then put bark mulch over it to kill the grass.
Whatever you do don't take an rototiller machine to the grass. It will just come back twice as thick and green.
Roni
