Goats?

[ZeroPain]

I'm thinking about buying a goat to keep my lawn tame. I don't have any experience with goats but it looks like it could be practical.

Any goat herders in the crowd?

[Tower of Bebel]

I recently used rabbits.

[which doctor]

What will you do in the winter?

[RevSouth]

My neighbor has some. I hope you have plenty of space, because they will eat everything. Other than that they are pretty low maintenance.

[ZeroPain]

What will you do in the winter?

Well I have plenty of food naturally growing, even in the winter. The goat would have shelter from the elements in several places. And if food becomes a problem for whatever reason hay is very inexpensive.


My neighbor has some. I hope you have plenty of space, because they will eat everything. Other than that they are pretty low maintenance.

I'm thinking that one goat working constantly should be perfect for my size yard.

[Dyst]

Why not use a lawnmower?

[ZeroPain]

Why not use a lawnmower?


1. I break lawnmowers very often costing allot of money.

2. I have other areas of the yard that I can't mow that a goat could clear easy.

3. I don't like how grass looks, to me its a weed that deserves extermination.

4. I like animals.

[which doctor]

Goats aren't all that eco-friendly. They fart producing methane witch wears away at the ozone layer or something. But I guess it's better than a lawn mower.

Also, your lawn will probaly look like shit when compared against one that's mowed with a mower. But if you don't care about that then by all means go fr teh goatse!

[RevSouth]

They actually cut to the ground pretty consistently. And they don't use gasoline, though, once I did have a dream where I fueled my dog with gasoline by inserting the gas hose into a cut on her shoulder. :wacko:

BTW, this thread should be moved from Do It Yourself to Do It With a Goat.

[Delta]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2006, 06:02 PM
BTW, this thread should be moved from Do It Yourself to Do It With a Goat.
:lol:


If you have a big enough yard why not have a huge garden? I'd love to be almost self-sufficient with my fruits and vegetables.

[atlas]

Do you feel like hauling around goat shit? Because they tend to do that, and unless you enjoy goat turds on your lawn, you'll have to do something with them.

But my dad was telling me of a sailplane port in germany that lends the grass strip to a farmer on days when they arent flying and his sheep and goats will keep the grass trimmed, so they're both happy. The farmers animals stay fed, and the pilots have a nice clean cut runway.

[ZeroPain]

If you have a big enough yard why not have a huge garden? I'd love to be almost self-sufficient with my fruits and vegetables.

Because thats alot more work then I feel like doing during my free time.



Do you feel like hauling around goat shit? Because they tend to do that, and unless you enjoy goat turds on your lawn, you'll have to do something with them.

Well I like to think of them as "Compressed Lawn Clippings".

:P

[Delta]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2006, 11:00 PM
Because thats alot more work then I feel like doing during my free time.


I don't think it necessarily has to take that much work, but it is probably more than watching a goat.

[Okocim]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2006, 03:09 AM
If you have a big enough yard why not have a huge garden? I'd love to be almost self-sufficient with my fruits and vegetables.
it takes a lot of work to get any thing decent.

Even things like plum trees cause problems if the tree catches a disease or something (black knot). Actually, potatoes aren't too hard to grow, so long as you don't plant them all at once so that they're all ready at the same time and you're eating them for every meal.

but yeah, definitely more work than a goat. If you live anywhere near fields then you could possibly do bargins with the farmer for hay when they cut their fields, so you can even get that cheap.

[apathy maybe]

Goats are fun and friendly. But they can be trouble.


Depends on the goat though.

But, better to be safe the sorry.


Fences that are at least 1 1/2 metres and electrified all around the outside edge to keep the goat in. Also around anything you want the goat not to eat (trees, clothes etc.).

Goats sometimes ringbark trees, sometimes eat anything.

Both these should not be a problem if there is a variety of grasses and other food for them, and enough of it.



Also get a nanny, then some time take her to a buck and get her pregnant. She'll have about two kids. Milk the goat, raise the kids. Sell or eat the kids.

[Wanted Man]

For one split second, I read the title and thought: "Do it yourself??? That's so wrong!"

[RevSouth]

I would get a neutered male and a nanny, or if she has a male, neuter it. They are more friendly than goats with their genitals in place, from my experiences, anyway.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

i prefer overgrown grass than goat shit everywhere

[RevSouth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2006, 11:18 AM
i prefer overgrown grass than goat shit everywhere
Goat shit ain't that bad. It is just tiny little black balls thatare extremely dry and do not smell at all. They blend right back into the grass in no time.

[ZeroPain]

Are goats smart enough to respond to an invisible fence?

[ahab]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2006, 02:39 AM
Are goats smart enough to respond to an invisible fence?
are humans? lol it might take some training to get them to stay in the parameters of your yard

[which doctor]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2006, 09:39 PM
Are goats smart enough to respond to an invisible fence?
Are you talking about the ones where the animal wears a neck collar and when the animal goes outside the limits it gets shocked?

If so then probaly yes.

[ahab]

Originally posted by Fist of Blood+Aug 20 2006, 03:16 AM--> (Fist of Blood @ Aug 20 2006, 03:16 AM)
[email protected] 19 2006, 09:39 PM
Are goats smart enough to respond to an invisible fence?
Are you talking about the ones where the animal wears a neck collar and when the animal goes outside the limits it gets shocked?

If so then probaly yes. [/b]
lol thats horrible i hate those collars, and on another note, whats up with those moms that put their kids on leashes? are they just training them to be dogs?

[Morag]

Goats are great animals, but keep in mind that, along with humans, their the only animal that changes their natural surroundings. The goat won't just trim the grass, they'll rip the grass straight out of the ground, in patches, and keep going until you have no grass left. Then it will start eating anything else in the yard, including nails, cigarette butts, whatever. What do you plan to do once it's eaten the entire lawn and the lawn won't come back the next year, except in patches?

Plus, you get a nanny and you'll have to milk her at leazt once a day, maybe twice. That takes much more time, accumulatively, then mowing the lawn ever would. But if you like goats, go for it. They are the sweetest animals and they're as loyal as dog and as affectionate, too (although, watch out if you get a goat, and then get a girlfriend. It can be a bad thing).

[Samuel]

a neghibor of mine has three goats for his yard, they come out every once in a while and piss us all off.

[apathy maybe]

Another option is to get chickens. Get a few and they will eat bugs as well. Two problems but, one you need a place to lock them up at night (otherwise they might get eaten by foxes, or native 'cats' or whatever other beasties you have around), second you need to keep them out of your garden.

If you do get chooks, you can eat the eggs which is great.

To stop them flying cut one wing (the right wing) shorter then the other.


Another option is geese. But you have the same problems as with chooks, plus they shit everywhere.

[DM.]

Originally posted by [email protected] 08, 2006 04:47 am
:lol: Obviously, you've never had goats,comrade.

My hippie friends have a small herd of goats. Oh yeah, their lawn is cut very short... but, I wouldn't step on it if I was you.

If you have only a small lawn, it won't be long until it is completely covered in goat shit.
For smaller lawns you should keep Guinea Pigs. A friend of me has got several of them running on her lawn and although they can easily run away, they never do. And their shit is very small and hard :D

[BreadBros]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15, 2006 08:57 pm
I recently used rabbits.
Go on...

[ellipsis]

Goats can also eat a lot of food compost. Might want to cut your teeth with one goat that you can put on a long movable tether/leash. My friends have had goats and the farm at university did as well they are really friendly. You might need to buy some feed or procure other food like apples or any other fruit people around you grow.

[RedStarOverChina]

I live in a semi-rural area and my backyard is huge. It's 11 acres, and much of it is covered with the damn lawn. Takes me hours to mow with a tractor. I'm thinking of getting goats, but I fear it'll look ridiculous to have goats on my lawn...and they'll probably ruin my mother's garden.

Plus, they shit bullet-sized turds everywhere.

[Nolan]

Necromancy gives you STDs.

[ellipsis]

I live in a semi-rural area and my backyard is huge. It's 11 acres, and much of it is covered with the damn lawn. Takes me hours to mow with a tractor. I'm thinking of getting goats, but I fear it'll look ridiculous to have goats on my lawn...and they'll probably ruin my mother's garden.

Plus, they shit bullet-sized turds everywhere.

Goats are known for getting into everything and eating it.

[RedStarOverChina]

Yeah. That and their tendency to get eaten by predators. There are foxes and coyotes that visit my backyard often, so I can't keep them too far away from my house and garden.

[Revy]

Sheep are a similar size to goats. and like cows they prefer to feed on grass, but they're not as huge.

[ellipsis]

For a low maintenance live stock, I think chickens are the way to go. They give you eggs and will eat you food waste but they are easy to deal with physically and you lock them up at night so you don't have to worry about predators as much.

[Weezer]

What, nobody called the bump yet?

Nice necrobump

[ellipsis]

Haha! With an absent/uninterested moderator their is nobody to call me out for necroing old thread. But in this forum it matters very little because DIY info is timeless.

[Dr Mindbender]

What will you do in the winter?

goat curry is supposed to be pretty good.

[Sam_b]

goat curry is supposed to be pretty good.

It really is. I haven't tried the Carribbean 'curry goat' but the Indian versions are really good. Usually in India 'mutton' refers to goat which is rather strange though.

[Glenn Beck]

Goat curry is fucking awesome. Awesome.

[Black Sheep]

I'm thinking about buying a goat to keep my lawn tame. I don't have any experience with goats but it looks like it could be practical.

Any goat herders in the crowd?
God, i love Revleft.

[bayano]

I'm thinking about getting a pterodactyl so I can give my friends haircuts. And a pelican as a more eco friendly trash can. Not to mention the sabertooth lion can opener.

No, seriously, my farm is going to be goats, chickens and a donkey. I really should be more practical, but these are my aspirations. I have the land, just give me ten years to make it happen. Watch.