# What critters work well in a orchard?



## Ninny

I have about an acre im turning into an orchard.  I would like some small (mini) critters to help mow it and maybe give me milk or fiber in return.  I have 4 arces total but i do not want to fence it all in. Instead i would have protable fencing that i would use so they can graze that as well.  I also have several family members that would like to have my critters mow some hard to do places on their land.  My trees are all dwarf or semi dwarf.   
I was thinking of goats, sheep, alpacas, geese.   Id like a mixture of critters if possible.  Should i get all fixed boys? Or females and do AI with them?
I have a 25 x 25 foot shed they will have for housing. I gonna take some of that space for storage.  I have chickens in this setup as well.  
This is in front of my house so i need fencing options that look nice.  If i have to go with t post and welded wire. Im going to spray paint it white. And plant climbing flowers all over it.  

Thanks!


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## ksalvagno

I can tell you that the alpacas will love to eat the leaves on the trees and everything will be eaten as far as they can reach. I'm assuming other animals will like to try and reach up to get the leaves too. Probably the small breeds that can't reach up will be best.

By the way, alpacas don't eat everything in a pasture so they don't actually make good lawnmowers. I still have to mow my pastures.


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## Ninny

ksalvagno said:
			
		

> I can tell you that the alpacas will love to eat the leaves on the trees and everything will be eaten as far as they can reach. I'm assuming other animals will like to try and reach up to get the leaves too. Probably the small breeds that can't reach up will be best.
> 
> By the way, alpacas don't eat everything in a pasture so they don't actually make good lawnmowers. I still have to mow my pastures.


Bummer i was hopeing they would work.


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## FarmerChick

No goats.

Goats stand and stretch to eat any tree tops they can get...just like a giraffee.

Goats strip bark on trees....goats will kill orchard trees...no doubt on that one.


You must have no browsing animals...only grazers.    Sheep are grazers.
They should not try to attempt to eat an entire tree like a goat will.
Cows are grazers too.   


If you trees are small...just general protection from large animals like cows will be needed.   They just don't care what they walk over and squish!


Geese, chickens, fowl and all should be fine.  They are usually not destroyer of trees..LOL



Dumb farmer moment----I own many goats for many years.  I know they destroy trees.  I know that for a fact cause they ate down my back barrier in my field and killed all the brush and trees practically.   Almost total devestation.     Well--for years I have let my horses in the backyard when I let the grass grow taller cause, well, I like them in the yard every now and then...LOL.......so brillant idea--let the goats in my backyard.  OMG!!  What a disaster.   50 goats into the yard with tall lush lawn, and they went straight for my trees and bushes.  A few dived straight into my lilac bushes and squished and ate them to nothing.    Now see me begging about 50 goats to get out of my yard----even feed bowl rattling didn't work....they were in goat heaven.   Well Tony and I finally got them out wtih tons of destruction!!!!   Never again!!!  And I should have known better...me being cute ya know, goats in the yard..LOL...I lost big time..HAHA


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## SweetDreams

Actually, sheep are being bought just for this reason!

But, you need to start with a VERY small flock- otherwise, you will have to suppliment, and they will get interested in the trees fast! 

I'd suggest 2 individuals, of either gender (*but all the same- unless you want to handle lambs) for an area the size you are speaking of. They do eat alot, and fast! 

You may find a local shepard that has babies that need to be bottle fed- (We have in the past) and adopt one or two. That way, they are VERY friendly = easier to move around to put up the temp fencing and to care for physically.

In our situation, we were willing to give the lamb away, since we couldn't take care of it like it needed. Too bad the person who took it only wanted her long enough to get her on grain, since she had no use for sheep (horse-lady). She had a great respect for all living creatures (Bless Her!). Now we have a lamb that thinks its a human! 

But, I digress.  Small lot, small flock. I would fully suggest sheep- just find a breed you can manage,


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## mully

Part of the problem with an orchard is that fallen fruit can cause feed problems with most of the smaller grazing animals.  They will love the fruit and eat way too much.


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## Ninny

mully said:
			
		

> Part of the problem with an orchard is that fallen fruit can cause feed problems with most of the smaller grazing animals.  They will love the fruit and eat way too much.


I hoping the chickens will take care of that. They love the apples that fall. 
Im looking at mini southdown babydoll sheep and mini cheviot sheep.

Edited to add that once they eat down the orchard i have lots of land for them to graze on. Im going to take them other places to graze with protable fencing.


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## freemotion

Great, then you can take them out of the orchard when the fruit is becoming ripe.  A good wind storm could knock down more fruit than the chickens can clean up before a little sheeple gets sick.

Now I want sheep and an orchard!


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## Ninny

freemotion said:
			
		

> Great, then you can take them out of the orchard when the fruit is becoming ripe.  A good wind storm could knock down more fruit than the chickens can clean up before a little sheeple gets sick.
> 
> Now I want sheep and an orchard!


Why not!!


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## Beekissed

My two sheep ate their weight and more in apples this year with no ill effects.  It's good and good for them!  They will not overeat on fruit.  When the apples were good and plenty, they ate them but this is also when the fall fescue is growing and they were more involved with eating this. 

The sheep ate the apples, the calf ate them, the dogs ate them and the chickens ate them.....no one even had a tummy ache!   

When the apples were almost gone, they were back to wanting them and would actually climb over each other to eat them out of my hand.  

If you have young trees, it may benefit you to wrap the trunks in burlap and chicken wire to keep your sheep from "ringing" the trunks.  Any suckers they can trim off of low growing branches won't hurt the trees any.  

They say it is wise to run sheep and geese together in an orchard, as they graze on different varieties of grass.


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## kbaiko

DO NOT get goats. I live in southern Arizona. My daughter wanted a pair of miniature goats as pets. They were housed on one acre of heavily vegetated desert. They destroyed all the desert broom plants, half of the creosote bushes, and a lot of the prickly pear. They even ate all the spines off of the saguaro cacti as high as they could reach. This was on top of the hay and pelleted feed they got.


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## ducks4you

If you can feed hay in the winter, consider equine, like a pony.  My horses eat down the 1/4 acre in front and to the side of the barn, my "orchard," when I give them the chance, but they don't touch the fruit trees when they're not in fruit.  They would have to be starving to eat the bark off of my 3 apple, 1 peach, 1 pear and 3 cherry trees, too.  2 of my apple trees are older, and when they shed extra apples, I let them do the clean-up--far LESS time consuming than bending over to pick them up, all bruised--the horses DON'T mind the bruises.


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## foxywench

geese for weeding/grass, they will happily eat all the young shoots, however they will also leav buds, leaves ect that they can reach on the trees too, chickens for bugs.
and mini pot belly pig or kune kune pig supposedly make great "orchard" pigs in terms of cleaning up fallen fruit but watch for rooting.

least thats what ive been told, thinking of doing something similar.


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## Beekissed

If you have young sapling fruit trees, a horse may be a little hard on them.  My horse rode ours down to the ground, scratching himself on them!  Broke them right off!  

The horses in the field across from me do the same thing to young saplings....they make them into scratching posts and they return to this and use it repeatedly.  It's quite funny to watch.


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## ducks4you

I'll admit that my horses scratch on the older, established trees in my "orchard."  But, they're only in there to visit and help in the mowing.  I have 2 large apple and one large peach tree.  They don't touch the 3 cherry saplings, or the johnathan apple sapling, or the pear sapling.  Maybe there isn't one animal that can actually live in your orchard.  Or...maybe you'll just need to find a mower that you love, instead!


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## nightshade

I am actually putting ducks in my garden and orchard in the spring to help keep the bugs down and clean up dropped fruit. I am thinking flightless ones like the large pekins and domestic mallards


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