What eats weeds, specifically thistles?

I think Im getting the pasturing of sheep under control here, but I have a plethora of thistles. I was thinking about getting a little pygmy goat or two, but what about a burro or mini donkey? Im looking for something to live with the sheep (I have three) and munch on those dang thistles so I dont have to keep mowing the pasture!

Any suggestions?

I didn't find that goats ate weeds if they had another option. Not sure on the donkey, I haven't had one of those ... yet ....

My horse looooved thistles, but my friend will not give him back... I was hoping goats, maybe little pygmies, but if they are not going to solve the thistle issue....

Yeh goats, but with the goats, especially the mini dwarf ones, you better have some AWESOME fencing my Dear...heh heh heh...  

In some areas here, I won't graze the goats with the Jacobs because the goats are constantly testing the fences (weeds are greener and more plentiful on the OTHER side, doncha know).  Goats will always be testing a fence (in some cases, CLIMBING it if not energized to blow them off it--agh!!) and if not dehorned, you gotta be home to get goaty horned heads UNstuck outta the page wire. Sheep learn quickly not to do this, goats prefer not to learn this consequence of pushing their luck!  Brats!     


The Jacobs love weeds more than grass pasture!  Visualize Jacob ewe walking UP a fence post, belly bulging with the good pasture grasses I have sown for them, and preferring to eat the poplar leaves OR Lego, with curved horns, hooking a horn on a sapling and walking along defoilaging trees to their very tops!   Last night they were on great green grasses all day long and when they got home to the corral, barely room for a mouthful full I thought.  "Oh lookit what the wind dropped for us...yeller poplar leaves...crunch crunch...we so need DESSERT!"   

Yeh, Nigerian Dwarfs Dairy Goats and Jacob Sheep eat weeds...over grasses some days.     A rose by any other name...

Tara


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Grazing
Goats and sheep can be very useful in controlling Canada thistle. Sheep will eat the soft, young growth, but goats will eat any stage; the thorniness of the plant does not bother them. The animals must be restricted so that they will be forced to feed on the weedy species, which can easily be done with electric fencing or with trained dogs. Divide the field or paddock into manageable sections and confine the animals to each in turn. Sheep should be brought in when the thistle is very young, but goats can graze any time before the plant flowers. Because Canada thistle will resprout many times before it dies, the animals will have to be brought back each time you find sprouts and before the new sprouts have a chance to flower.

As soon as you see Canada thistle rosettes, bring in sheep or goats to eat the rosettes and any shoots. When the animals have removed the weeds, take them out of the area. Monitor the area carefully and when the shoots begin to resprout, bring the animals back again. This process of moving the animals in and out should be repeated until the end of the summer. The next season the Canada thistle infestation should be greatly reduced, but you may still need to use the sheep or goats for another season or two.  

hmmm, I have welded mesh fence for them. 4 inch holes. No horns on my sheep, little goaties might have a hard time climbing the fencing I have (52 inches tall). I love the pygmies.... hmm... what about supplementing and salt and the rest, do I need to have separate? Special care? Sheep only or goat only feed stuffs?

My goats will eat the leaves from the thistles, will peel them clean, but will leave the stem and flower alone.

Arcticsun wrote:hmmm, I have welded mesh fence for them. 4 inch holes. No horns on my sheep, little goaties might have a hard time climbing the fencing I have (52 inches tall).  I love the pygmies.... hmm... what about supplementing and  salt and the rest, do I need to have separate? Special care? Sheep only or goat only feed stuffs?

Ha ha ha...electrify fence and go to work with no fleeting worried thoughts of home.   

I got the perimeter in 9 gauge page wire, with the 14 gauge page wire, then stepped out from that about six feet, the hog panel welded wire on t-posts that I think you call "welded mesh fence"...  It is not the HEIGHT of the fence overall that is the issue.  The Nigerian bucks would go vertical and climb both sets of fences.  I'd hear a HONK and know the drive bys were tooting..."GOATS are OUT!"    

I just got to never grazing the mini goats in a pasture road side unless electric; don't want to cause an accident when I knew the dwarfs would climb un-zappable fences.  Never actually witnessed the actual climb-over but I know I staked the fence at the bottom with bent over re-bar (candy cane shaped) and spent hours lacing the two sets of page wire together.   

Course I have the Australian Cattle Dogs too and heard the horrors of them climbing six foot chain link fences like monkeys or digging like badgers if left to rot in the kennel when their people were home ...electrify, solves lots of concerns as it keeps goats IN and predators OUT.

Goats can eat sheep mineral, but you don't want sheep eating goat mineral...too much copper and toxic to sheeps over time.  I house the goats with their llama and supply goat loose mineral/salt in the goat night enclosure inside their barn.  Bomb proof because the most difficult to contain is the mini goats and that's were their mineral/salt is also.  

The goats head butt and bother the larger sheep so it is better to night confine the lil' bugs where they don't push the issue.  The goats ADORE being housed at night in a dog house or lockable dog crate...snuggy time!  So you can house them in the same area at night.

Do you really want just one goat alone with sheep?  To me it is like housing a single goose with ducks, can do but not quite right.     

The sheep are very tolerant of dotty goat antics BUT we did have one doe have some teeth loosened up and I always wondered if she got worked over by the wether one night for being too obstinate...one time too many.  Took a hit man to sort things even by unevening her bite for her??  To say the least, I was NOT pleased...   

As far as feed, should be fine for both species but if non-preggers, you would want to make sure less rich feed for the barren ones.   Goats can function and take less nutritional kinds of feed than sheep but goats tend to be pickier.  Won't prefer to eat hay that has been stepped on or drink water others have had access too.  

The goats are very special royalty ... or so they would have you think.  Yes?  LMBO  I've proven otherwise but I can be pretty stubborn stupid myself at times!   

Tara - more Maa than Baa some days.  

Round up! 

Do you milk your sheep? You can use the thistle flowers for rennet in Sheep milk cheese!!! Put those thistles to work.

I don't like thistles, but they are actually amazing for the soil when those deep roots break up the layers and pull up the micronutrients to the top layer. So don't hate them too much...they are annoying but actually making your pastures better pastures!

OMG... I thought I had to fence soundly for the huskies! My little pygmies were never a problem, but then again I had doggie patrol going around the pen every day, sometimes twice, or more. Too scary out there, get chased by the dogs!

Im going to look into the electric fencing. See what I can find.
Good to know about the minerals etc.
I would get a pair of the goatlets. Dont want them lonely!
Maybe a minidonk as well!

Arcticsun wrote:
I would get a pair of the goatlets. Dont want them lonely!
Maybe a minidonk as well!

Old MacDonald had a farm, ei ei .................

more like EEEK! I owe, I owe.....

Arcticsun wrote:more like EEEK! I owe, I owe.....

 

coopslave wrote:

Arcticsun wrote:
I would get a pair of the goatlets. Dont want them lonely!
Maybe a minidonk as well!

Old MacDonald had a farm, ei ei .................

I am SO mailing you a duck...a loud Call hen...LOUD and vividly WHITE so you can't hide it from the Hub.  Never fret tho Coop, jest one way to get even for the tom c@t give away...FTD

Arcticsun wrote:Maybe a minidonk as well!

Hmm, do mini donkeys eat as much as regular donkeys keeping in mind the size difference?  I was warned NOT to get a donkey (standard size, love the attitude, mules even more so seem very kewl!) because they eat so much...and was warned if you get a nasty temperamented one that is not compatible with you or the dynamics on your place, they live a very long time.  NO idea if that is true...I know the braying carries a long ways...I drop kids off the bus at a home where they have mini horses and a mini donkey.  Clementine can be heard for MILES around braying her silly soft nostrils off.  Cute but not one I want to own.  Anyone own some mini donkeys and can say on the feed they consume?  Maybe people were not deworming them  proper or???  Dunno.  

Arcticsun wrote:OMG... I thought I had to fence soundly for the huskies! My little pygmies were never a problem, but then again I had doggie patrol going around the pen every day, sometimes twice, or more. Too scary out there, get chased by the dogs!

Ha ha ha...I wouldn't venture a toenail outside a fence line with Huskies on patrol.  Most like of all the canines...course I hear "pet" wolves are more trustable than the "pet" dogs...but them Huskies and smaller furry animals!  Woo Whee...girlfriend I grew up with has teams she dog sleds with...  Yeh, no small fuzzies in your arms around them Sibes of hers...  Smart goats, good goats, stay put safely goats.    

Eureka!  Get more Huskies and have them patrol the perimeter and forget the ele fencing.  Brilliant!

Fixins and the goats are always warring (same relationship as her and the squirrels!).  The goats never fail to flip her the bird and the dog never fails to accentuate how lovenly she'd like to taste them.   

Why can't we all just be friends?


Tis more like a zoo, never mind ol' MacDonald's farm...   

Tara

PS  I never had Round Up work on thistles...I tried a coupla times when we got some nasty plants from the bad hay we got one year.  I probably didn't know how to properly apply it, apply when dry and it should have worked but not sure?   I gave up because I didn't really like the idea of using the <<evil>> product.  Later on, the goats ate them with great delight and I thought it a good addition to vary their diet, balanced nutrition??  HA HA HA

Donkeys love thistle:). Ours always ate the thistle flowers first!

HighCountry wrote:Donkeys love thistle:). Ours always ate the thistle flowers first!

Please please...I so love their attitudes and looks...do donkeys, the minis eat lots?? Please dispel that if not right!  

I know that donkeys can easily kill dogs if they don't prefer them. Might need to fence the donkey off from the dogs...kinda a switcheroo there...ha ha ha.

Hmm, maybe not a good idea on the electric fence...power snaps off...come home, the dogs ate the goats and the sheeps, the donkey killed the dogs...  

Tara

Bring on the duck Tara, bring it on! lol

The minidonks are very small. The one I know is VERY bossy and manages two full grown geldings in the field with it! Very cute to see it pin its ears and reach up to bite them in the chest!

We had 2 donkeys, not quite the mini size a bit bigger, and they loved the thistles. They actually don't eat a lot, and shouldn't be overfed. If they are they

can founder easily and you will find the crest on their necks rolling over. Not good. They are too fat. They just need to be nice and slick, not bony, not fat

just right. We had a Jack donkey and a jenny, they do make noise, but depends on what you can deal with? Plus where you are located .

Our Jack made the weirdest honking one night, our daughter( lived in the basement suite) opened her door to see what was going on, her lab almost

knocked her flat getting in the house. In the morning Hubby went out to feed the mini's ( we always left a radio on in the barn, day and night) and there

was 5 deer standing in the paddock beside the barn. Turned out there had been a cougar go through there. Apparently it came around at least once a year.

But they do love thistles, don't need a lot of food. Can't starve them though. A jenny or a gelding should work, don't get a Jack. We had to re-home

our Jack finally as it was getting to the point where he was getting very protective over his pasture. With grandkids around it just wasn't safe.

Try a yearling donkey, that will eventually be friends with the sheep.

I have had goats for over 15 years and the sheep for the 3. The sheep way out do the goats when it comes to weed eating. There is man in northern BC whose whole job is to clear backcountry areas with a herd of I think 800 sheep (i could be wrong on the number but it's big!)

Also, when we lived in Turner Valley, our neighbours were living out of the country and had let a rancher put cow/calf pairs on to it with the rule they were only to be there a very short time. Long story short, the land got completed abused and covered in Canada thistles. To the point where they got notice from the region to clean it up or they would.

We put out llamas out to graze over progressive years, and with in 3 it was under control. Llamas quite like the flowers!!

Sheep or llamas!! OR maybe BOTH

Uh yeh, I took photos of what eats thistles...but don't want to post PHOTOS on your thread Arcticsun....get people angry downloading pics if'n they don't realize there are photos...so go here.

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Hope you don't mind...   

Tara

When all else fails, put on a bib and dig in.

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I hate to be the wet blanket on all this thistle talk, but my sheep and goats would only eat AROUND the thistles. Of course that made it easy to find them and I could walk right up and easily take them out with a good shot of Roundup!

We have a 4 acre pasture and about 24 sheep. The sheep will eat varieties of thistle but not the canadian thistle which is one of the real nasty ones. I was hand digging them out of our field, but three wks later there they were again.......one day as i lamented to my neighbor he told me of vinegar. It has to be the 10% vinegar and must be applied on a real nice hot and sunny day. apply vinegar to the plant( i bought a round up sprayer). The thistle will suck up the vinegar and it will kill the plant. We missed the hot weather this year and we will have to wait until next year to give it a try. My neighbor is an organic farmer and we have a lot of thistle around here.
My sheep would avoid the patches of grass around the canadian thistle.
We kick off or cut off the seed heads now
good luck