Can a goat and some hens clear an overgrown allotment?

cootambear

JillS wrote: »

Trust me, bees would be hopeless. I have loads in my garden and I don't think they've rooted up a single weed - they just buzz round having sex with them instead.

Plus they attract bears.

RacyRed

cootambear wrote: »

Plus they attract bears.

:eek: Pooh Bears

RacyRed

Well, things are moving apace!

I've now been offered space for chickens on the rough end of a very large garden much nearer to my home. That will mean I can get rescue batteries for the orchard and also get some other breeds for the garden run.

There is so much to read about chicken keeping, it is wonderful!! However, the garden has Japanese Knotweed on it and I've not been able to find any articles about keeping chickens in a patch with the weed - I don't want to poison my chucks but it would be great if they help to erradicate the knotweed. Has anyone got knotweed in their chicken run?

For the fruit trees I know some people who have brilliant fruit trees, so am thinking of getting local root stock and grafting the local known good'uns onto them. As the allotment isn't huge it will be great to graft different varieties onto a couple of trees. I'm thinking grafting 2 or 3 varieties of apples and pears per tree to start with.

Of course, the neighbour's goat will have first pick of the windfalls

angelavdavis

Japanese Knotweed isn't poisonous (in fact I think you can eat it) so based on the idea that you can feed chickens anything we can eat, they should be ok.

Yes, I have just found a thread about Japanese knotweed:

http://www.knotweed-uk.com/FAQ.html

thorsoak

RacyRed wrote: »

Thank you so much thorsoak. That site is really interesting

Mrs Goat is also a toggenburg and ended up with her current owners because she escaped from her original home as a kid. She is going to make an interesting next door neighbour - I'm glad I'd not been planning to grow vegetables on the plot. With luck, once the fruit trees are established, any unplanned excursions she makes through the fence from her allotment into mine will not cause any major problems. BEWARE!!!! Goats are browers rather than grazers, and will strip a fruit tree (or any other tree that takes their fancy) of buds, blossom, leaves, shoots and bark!!!

They need quite a large amount of fibrous matter in their diet as well as the goat nuts - we'd keep ours well fed by taking them for a walk so they could "prune" the hedgerows - and the golf club would also dump over any odd branches they had pruned.

I've been advised to always carry a packet of mints, just in case she needs tempting back to her own home. :rotfl:

Mrs Goat has a goat friend in another close-by allotment and the pair of them are well known for their ability to get themselves (and 2 geese) out of their enclosures and set off wandering around the village, or taking themselves off up the fields to visit their special friends, the huge cart horses.

For now, part of the fence between her enclosure and my allotment has been removed so she can come and go as she wishes.

My comments in red!

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

angelavdavis wrote: »

Japanese Knotweed isn't poisonous (in fact I think you can eat it) so based on the idea that you can feed chickens anything we can eat, they should be ok.

Yes, I have just found a thread about Japanese knotweed:

http://www.knotweed-uk.com/FAQ.html

I'd suggest not feeding them meat, from an allotment point of view because it will attract rats and other vermin. Small-holders and farmers will get pulled up for feeding "catering waste" to livestock, although I'd be surprised if folks on allotments/gardens got pulled up on this unless BSE or similar was doing the rounds or there was a complaint from a neighbour.

The main things to watch out for with knotweed is controlling it and disposing of it. Some allotment societies will work with the local Council to ensure it's disposed of properly, as it's controlled waste.

RacyRed

thorsoak wrote:

BEWARE!!!! Goats are browers rather than grazers, and will strip a fruit tree (or any other tree that takes their fancy) of buds, blossom, leaves, shoots and bark!!!

They need quite a large amount of fibrous matter in their diet as well as the goat nuts - we'd keep ours well fed by taking them for a walk so they could "prune" the hedgerows - and the golf club would also dump over any odd branches they had pruned.

I'd better watch that, especially as I'm planning to grow short trees.

Mrs Goat will have to be kept firmly in her enclosure then once the fruit trees are in.

Re the chickens, my cats take care of any left-over meat, so the chickens wouldn't get a look in.

Our council don't appear to be very helpful about getting rid of knotweed on the allotments, which is why I'm hoping that, if I can get the chickens in situ before spring growth, the knotweed won't get much of a chance to grow. My hope is that the entire plants, roots included, will be killed off after a few years of being munched by foraging hens.

Since I first posted about it I've talked to a couple of the local hen keepers and it looks like the plan may work, the allotments with hens don't have knotweed now (or anything much else in the chicken runs)

Mojisola

Goats are much happier if they have a companion. They don't like being on their own. Could you arrange with the neighbour to have both goats on your patch and then both on their patch, turn and turn around?

RacyRed

Mojisola wrote: »

Goats are much happier if they have a companion. They don't like being on their own. Could you arrange with the neighbour to have both goats on your patch and then both on their patch, turn and turn around?

Neither of them are my goat unfortunately. Although she has her own enclosure my neighbour's goat (Mrs Goat) has companionship from another goat next door to her on the other side - they seem to get in and out to each other very easily but have their own stables. There are also a couple of very close by ponies that both goats spend time with. I haven't seen the fencing arrangement with the ponies but have often seen both goats in with them, but have never seen the ponies in with the goats, if you see what I mean.

Traditionally, animals in this village are allowed quite a lot of freedon, there is very little danger for them and there is almost always someone about to keep an eye on what they are up to. Apparently it has "always been that way". There is a strong sense of communal responsibility towards children and animals.

It is the plant growing allotments that are very securely fenced, which is what I'm going to have to do with the fruit trees. I really liked the idea of the neighbours various animals coming and going in the orchard as they want, but if goats will strip the trees then I'll have to secure it.

Mojisola

RacyRed wrote: »

Traditionally, animals in this village are allowed quite a lot of freedon, there is very little danger for them and there is almost always someone about to keep an eye on what they are up to. Apparently it has "always been that way". There is a strong sense of communal responsibility towards children and animals.

What a good place to live! Lucky you.