“Haying” forage?

[Hipshot]

Drying stemy woody plants can be done .if run through a crimper they cure better .lots of sun.I will cut rough hay for my goats .Often sweet gum is a nucence. IF YOU LIKE YOUR TREES BETTER FENCE OUT THE GOATS .They love bark and most mosses. Once they eat all the bark all the way around a tree ,no more tree.Only a few trees are safe from goats . Best advice limit the forage time in any given grazing area .Fence off several small paddocks and rotate often. Buy hay .Hand cutting is to much work, for feed gathered for the amount of time involved.Haying equipment is expensive as well as delicate, ment for cutting grass .Stemy plants and saplings add up to many break downs.If someone knows of something that can be sprayed on trees goats won't eat . I really would like to know about it .My goats are killing valuable ceders.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I don't know of anything that can be sprayed on them, but ya can encircle them with pcs of fencing....something similar to a tomato cage or hoop....mine loved cedar bark....

 

[ancient]

I guess it depends where you live but we live in the fraser valley in BC, so a pretty temperate climate for canada. We have mostly woods. I havent tried hating but most hardier plants ect stay pretty green so while I do feed hay I go around and cut lots of low lying branches ect for them and let them out and Shepard them a few hours a couple times a week

 

[thistlebloom]

If someone knows of something that can be sprayed on trees goats won't eat . I really would like to know about it .My goats are killing valuable ceders.

You can try deer repellents. There are commercial brands and also home made recipes on the net. The commercial ones can be pricey, I get the concentrates as opposed to the RTU (ready to use) for better value, they don't need to be applied as often as the homemade ones. Maybe if you price it out there's not too much difference in price between homemade and commercial.

I have sprayed Plantskydd on cedars and had good results with deer. Goats may be more persistent. I have used most all brands of deer repellent, and with deer it's important to keep them guessing with changing up the different olfactory and taste sensations.