Overgrown hedgerows-use goats to clean them up?

[Swamp_Yankee]

We are closing in on a year in our new property, which is a 2 acre parcel that's about half wooded with a small pond at the bottom, some open pasture (previous owner raised sheep) and hedgerows on either side between us and the neighboring farms that are extremely overgrown. There are stonerows that delineate the property buried deep in a mess of creeping vines of all kinds, poison ivy, woody shrubs, etc... I figure if things were cut back to the stone rows on either side I'd gain about 3000 more square feet of pasture plus it would clean things up a bit. The main problem I see would be containing them. Obviously I'd want them to eat their way toward the stonerow but not go beyond it, and it's not like I could install a fence in there. A lot of the vegetation is pretty impenetrable, so I don't know if they could ram their way through it or not, but there are holes here and there. My neighbor to the south has about 110 acres of wooded swampy land that is very thick, so if they went in that direction they might not get very far, but they could easily get lost and we've got plenty of coyote and fox around here. The neighbor to the north is a 120 acre hay farm so if they found their way through that side they would be home free... Any suggestions on how to manage something like this?

I do have some fencing and shelter to work with from the sheep but obviously I'll have to add more. My girls (6 and 3) want to join the local 4H goat club, so I figure this would be a good way for them to learn, have fun, and get the goats doing some work for us at the same time. Any suggestions on breeds (ie: those that are more aggressive browsers, temperament with kids, etc...)?

 

[secuono]

I'd ask the neighbor if you could build a temp fence and let your goats eat both sides of the row.

 

[Latestarter]

Many sheep will help clean up that hedgerow as well. Though some folks will say never tether a goat (or sheep)... Get one of those lawn anchors that you spin into the ground with a clip type lead wire. Put it so the goat/sheep can reach the hedgerow with slack. Make sure there's water within reach, but not so close they can tangle the lead and dump it over. Goats will climb, but most sheep won't, so goats would be the bigger challenge with climbing out.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Something that may work for ya is using some cattle panels and Tposts to get as close to the stones as ya can....if the goats don't have horns, then they will easily get their head thru the 6" squares in the panels and eat all they can reach....if ya get a Tpost puller, it will enable ya to move it to a new spot as they clear off a section for ya.....the panels are 16' long, so they can be used to block off large portions for them. Seeing that ya are located in NJ, all that ya see growing right now, will be dormant in just a couple of months....so, if the snow holds off for ya a little bit, ya can get alot done thru the fall/winter before it becomes active again in the spring. The panels will also block off any holes or escapes thru the stones.....

 

[Swamp_Yankee]

Thanks all-here is a look at the hedgerows on either side-first looking to the north side with the hayfield (actually soybeans this year) beyond:

Looking to the east along the south hedgerow-also note that the growth in the rear is a thicket that kind of separates the back pasture area from the pond. I want to keep some buffer there because it helps catch runoff and keeps the pond from silting in, but it could be thinned and trimmed back some. The big hill is the septic mound:

 

[Latestarter]

Looks like goat heaven to me... Just keep in mind they will only eat/clear as high as they can reach. Anything above that, you'll need to clear/cut. You can add more food value if you wanted by grabbing those vines and pulling them down (live) from the trees to ground level. If you do that, the goats (or sheep) will be all over them like white on rice.

 

[Simpleterrier]

Step in plastic post from tsc and electric poly wire. It is the only way to go. If u wanna clear brush go with smaller sizes pens and make them.over graze. I only do two strings on knee high and one to split the difference bello it. Go find cheap goats like dairy weather's buy in spring sell in fall or when cleaned up

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Premier 1 is excellent site to check out. Everything they sell has been tested on their own farm and well proven. Livestock that are used to electric will respect it if always hot. The Premier 1 electric netting is great for moving fence. If you plan on ever having goats or sheep later you want to ensure you do not get cheap ones with diseases like Johnes or contagious abscess that can contaminate ground for years. Here in east TN it takes five goats two weeks to clear a third of an acre of kudzu,grapevine,honeysuckle,privet so thick you could not see six feet into it.

 

[greybeard]

The other one, hard to say..depending how far back and how far it extends to either side and how much you want to leave, but no more than 3 days total for the 2 areas, if that same growth were here.