It’s getting popular to use goats to clear properties overrun with brush and vines. They’re an environmentally sound option and usually do quick work of overrun areas.
Before my first goats (Maybelle and her twins) my property had an abundance of poison ivy, poison oak, kudzu and scrub trees. You couldn’t see into the forest from the tree line, it was just solid trees and vines. This made for excellent hiding places for predators. They could remain hidden and come out at will to strike.
Within three days of getting Maybelle and her twins my jungle-like pen was beautifully cleared. Eventually as my herd grew and I let them free range the property. They cleared the entire tree line and far into the woods. You can see the neatly trimmed tree line in the background of this image:
Goats are browsers and while they certainly eat grass they don’t concentrate on it so they probably aren’t the best lawnmowers (geese are!). They eat almost anything they can reach.
A downside to letting goats wander at will is they eat landscaping so forget about rose bushes, forsythia, small trees and crepe myrtles – they love them! The only things they tend to stay away from seem to be azaleas and daffodils – although, despite being poisonous to them they will occasionally nibble them.
If you have fencing or areas where they can’t go that’s ideal, otherwise, don’t plan on having anything nice around the house.
The fall before I had goats fall leaves were everywhere. The fall after I got goats I noticed there seemed to be few fallen leaves around the property. Goats are the hoover vacuum cleaners of nature. They don’t care if the leaves are crispy brown, they’ll eat them like potato chips!
Recently I had a goat pen built on a small triangular section of my property that’s full of wild blackberries, kudzu and other vines and prickly plants. Here’s the before picture right before I put the goats in:
THREE days after the goats were allowed in their new pen:
One important thing to note – if you’re using goats to clean poison ivy or oak wear long sleeves and pants when you interact with them or if you’re susceptible you’ll get it from contact with their faces and fur. I learned this the hard way – it’s awful. My property is mostly cleared of this now thanks to my little heroes.