Animals to eat down garden

Lemlin

Our garden has recently been extended due to a bit of work nearby and I now have a fairly large back garden.

A friend has suggested to me getting a couple of lambs to graze it down. Is this a viable suggestion I'm wondering?

Are there any other small animals would be good to graze it down?

meoklmrk91

A goat maybe? Just make sure you do plenty of research before you take anything on and consider vets bills, food bills for the winter, the cost of putting up some kind of shelter etc.

wexie

Get some of these, the kids will love you for it

pwurple

I guess you are thinking about borrowing the animals?

In my (very limited) experience of farm animls, some animals have a way of tearing that grass up by the roots. Sheep though, as far as i remember, nip the tops off... Like a mower!

I think some parks in france use sheep to maintain the grass.

They are social animals though, so make sure you get more than one, and give them back before they eat the grass down too short.

Oh, and don't poison them! Hope you have no lime, poisons or building waste on the grass.

Lemlin

pwurple wrote: »

I guess you are thinking about borrowing the animals?

In my (very limited) experience of farm animls, some animals have a way of tearing that grass up by the roots. Sheep though, as far as i remember, nip the tops off... Like a mower!

I think some parks in france use sheep to maintain the grass.

They are social animals though, so make sure you get more than one, and give them back before they eat the grass down too short.

Oh, and don't poison them! Hope you have no lime, poisons or building waste on the grass.

I was thinking about getting two and just leaving them full time on the grass.

paddylonglegs

Interested in this too. How would one acquire a sheep or goat?for me, I'd only need it for a few weeks I guess just to get rid of long grass. I would not be needing to buy one outright. I don't have any major plants that I want to hold onto so not an issue if they go for everything.

Iv asked this question before on here and if I remember correctly it all got a bit "animal rights". Just so ya know...

Supercell

I wouldnt recommend sheep to be honest. I lived close to a field of them for four years and boy do they stink in the spring before they are shorn, in warm weather. Think of the wettest nastiest smelly sock and you get the idea!

paddy147

Pigs eat up the likes of brambles and dense vegitation,especially their roots......they dig down to expose and eat the roots.

They use them to manage and clear parts of the national trust farm and woodland in the UK.Also used on private woodland estates too


http://nttrelissickhelford.wordpress.com/

wexie

paddy147 wrote: »

Pigs eat up the likes of brambles and dense vegitation,especially their roots......they dig down to expose and eat the roots.

They use them to manage and clear parts of the national trust farm and woodland in the UK.Also used on private woodland estates too


http://nttrelissickhelford.wordpress.com/

I could use some of those!!

On a more serious note, I've been keeping our 'field' in reasonable shape by letting our neighbours put in horses and sheep. Once it's securely fenced they're happy with a bit of free grazing and I'm happy that something is eating the grass. Just go around every so often to scoop of the err....droppings. But still.

If you live in a rural area chances are some of your neighbours would be delighted with a bit of free grazing.

paddylonglegs

wexie wrote: »

I could use some of those!!

On a more serious note, I've been keeping our 'field' in reasonable shape by letting our neighbours put in horses and sheep. Once it's securely fenced they're happy with a bit of free grazing and I'm happy that something is eating the grass. Just go around every so often to scoop of the err....droppings. But still.

If you live in a rural area chances are some of your neighbours would be delighted with a bit of free grazing.

So is free grazing the bargaining tool? The field beside me is rented by farmers and they move cattle around often. Have a very overgrown(foot high grass atleast) patch of grass that needs to be well trimmed back. Would they be grateful to have a cow graze on it?

wexie

paddylonglegs wrote: »

So is free grazing the bargaining tool? The field beside me is rented by farmers and they move cattle around often. Have a very overgrown(foot high grass atleast) patch of grass that needs to be well trimmed back. Would they be grateful to have a cow graze on it?

My neighbours were, if it's fenced properly they probably wouldn't mind.
Even if they're not stuck for grazing it's no hassle to them moving some of their animals one more field. I would certainly ask.

kylith

Sheep and goats are herd animals and can stress and die if on their own, they also stink. You'd probably have to get a herd number if you're planning on keeping any. Borrowing some animals from a friendly farmer is probably the best bet.

lottpaul

A few thoughts -- sheep and goats are the best trimmers but they will eat everything -- shrubs etc too. They are social and one will never be happy. And goats in particular seem to have watched the "Great Escape" over and over again

I'd never have cattle in - they tug at the grass and pull it out of the ground and the ground will be pockmarked with hoofmarks etc. Ditto with horses.

A couple of small goats borrowed from someone, well fenced and out of range of any harmful/precious shrubs might be best.
Might be best to buy an old/cheap lawnmower and just mow

peadar76

a couple of lambs would be best. get them in spring, kill and eat them in autumn and start again the following year. Lamb is delicious

Ding Dong

we use a pair of geese who live in a half acre field which we then rear for Christmas. You could also keep them as pets. They live for a number of years and are fairly low maintenance. might be worth looking up on the net about them

Lemlin

lottpaul wrote: »

A few thoughts -- sheep and goats are the best trimmers but they will eat everything -- shrubs etc too. They are social and one will never be happy. And goats in particular seem to have watched the "Great Escape" over and over again

I'd never have cattle in - they tug at the grass and pull it out of the ground and the ground will be pockmarked with hoofmarks etc. Ditto with horses.

A couple of small goats borrowed from someone, well fenced and out of range of any harmful/precious shrubs might be best.
Might be best to buy an old/cheap lawnmower and just mow

Goats seem to be fairly cheap. Have even seen a few free on Donedeal. The area is well ditched/fenced off so they wouldn't get out.

I agree re the cattle/horses. That's why I am looking at goats/sheep.

Getting a herd number would be no problem either.

peadar76

what does goat taste like?

kylith

peadar76 wrote: »

what does goat taste like?

I've heard it's lovely.

TooManyDogs

We've done exactly what you're thinking of, for the same reasons We researched it and discovered that goats are browsers so eat a little of this and a little of that but would rather bushes, flowers, washing off the line than keeping the grass well trimmed. Sheep are grazers so work away at it all the time. We were also warned from a load of sources about the escape antics of goats.

So we decided on sheep but couldn't do the whole lamb for summer and kill in autumn thing so we bought 2 sheep. They're soay sheep, very small breed (25kg) and do a great job of keeping the grass down. They're both rams, twin brothers who have never been apart. We have no local sheep so we were advised the rams would live happily together as long as there were no ewes in season near by and so far it's been true.

This is Massey and Ferguson, nearly 5 years old now (this is an old photo, their horns grow all the time and eventually can look really ornamental)

iverjohnston

Goats going free on DoneDeal etc, will always be billy (male) goats, you will find. You will need excellent fencing for goats, either meter high sheep wire with a barbed wire or electric fence wire above that. Far better with 2 lambs. Go for ewe lambs, or wether lambs (castrated male lambs), entire males can get quite rank. I late autumn. But nowhere near as rank as a billy goat. Get a load of them from a farmer if you can, saves the whole Dept. Ag. herd number and registered holding route. if the farmer is going to butcher them, as opposed to sell in the mart or to a factory, do a deal for a half lamb and the mince etc.

Oh, and sheep don't like very long grass, as a rule.

wexfordman2

peadar76 wrote: »

what does goat taste like?

Like lamb!! Got a feral one last year. It was a bit to go but mainly cos we didn't hang it long enough.

NIMAN

Do you need to consider if lawn feeds, fertilizers, moss killers etc have been used on the grass? Do any harm to the animals?

iverjohnston

Don't know about moss killers, do some of them contain copper? If so sheep will be poisoned by even a low level of copper. Fertilizer etc. no problem. Remember little lambs love roses!

paddy147

Do you need a licence for keeping animals like pigs,goats,sheep on your property???
Do you need to regsiter these animals too...(as in species and location of animals incase of disease outbreak)


I know that you need a licence for keeping poultry like chickens,turkeys,geese,hens and ducks,and you also need to register them and their location with the Dept of Agriculture too...(bird flue and any other diseases that may break out).

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/farmingsectors/poultry/PressArticlePoultryLegislativeRequirements160511.pdf

magicbastarder

it's probably splitting hairs, but you don't need a licence to keep poultry, you just need to inform the department about it; e.g. in case of a disease outbreak, they know who to contact.

iverjohnston

Poultry wise, as I understand it, you only need a licence if you are going to be selling eggs to the public, at a market etc. Then you will need the Dept. date stamp etc.
To keep sheep of your own, you will need a Flock number, and a Dept. person will check your premises for suitability. This mainly concerns shelter and drinking water availability for the stock. Then you will get a flock register, and a sales book. These will be needed when lambs go to the butcher/abattoir premises. Sheep do not get TB, so you are spared the testing routine beloved of farmers (!)
If you get a pair of ewes, and they go on to have lambs, you will have to tag the lambs before sale. These tags can be ordered from Mullinahone Co-Op.
You could have a look at www.agfood.ie for more info.

peadar76

deffo don't need a license to keep poultry

gozunda

peadar76 wrote: »

deffo don't need a license to keep poultry

See here....it's known as 'regristration' & includes backyard


http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animalhealthwelfare/registrationofpremisesanimals/PoultryapplicationformPR12013.doc