Even if you don’t have acres for pastures, you can get creative and grow vertically. Our goats prefer trees and bushes because their deeper roots provide for the higher mineral needs of dairy goats. The most common question we get is “Are they good lawnmowers?” Our usual answer is “Nope, but they’ll destroy your roses!”
If you’re going to let them out, be careful to remove all of the poisonous plants and fence off young plants you don’t want destroyed such as young fruit trees.
The many different plants offer a smorgasboard of nutrients for them, and they get their exercise roaming from tree to bush, nibbling here and there. The following is what is on the menu in early October.
redwood
olive leaves
coastal live oak
grape leaves
roses
grasses/weeds
fallen apples
photinia (red-tipped bush)
pear tree leaves
orange and lemon tree leaves
We are planning on planting several more trees and vines to continue to provide year-round browse that we can cut and carry. More on that to come.
River Edge Farm 