2009 Annual Report for FNC08-737
Eliminating Invasive Buckthorn With Goats, An Ecological and Habitat Restoration Study
Summary
WORK PROGRESS
I used my funds to purchase a portable electric fence charger and enough fencing materials to build eight 30x60 foot pens – four pens for each study group.
The first study group involved target grazing an uncut stand of buckthorn and other understory brush. I measured out four pens and a control area, also 30x60 foot, cut fence lines and set up the four pens.
I quickly realized my original plan to put 20 or so mature does and their 38 kids in a pen that small was...insane. I then ran into the logistical problem of separating out a few goats, transporting them to the study pens and expecting them to settle down to grazing away from the comfort of the herd. I eventually waited until late summer when I had to wean my intact bucklings and separate them from the females. Four bucklings and their daddy, my 200 plus pound buck, Miguel, became my test animals. I trained them to walk on leashes and led them down the street, through a trail I cut in the brush along the road to the study pens.
The vegetation in the pens was documented before, during and after grazing with photography and stem counts of the standing plants.
The “boys” were introduced into the pens at one week intervals for four weeks. Even though there was two months left in the growing season, the defoliated brush did not recover before first frost.
The second part of the study is identical except the brush would be cut down and allowed to re-grow before the goats were introduced. I ran into a few snags getting this part started. The study area was inside my pasture and the horses degraded the vegetation much more than I thought they would. I also had a hurt elbow and the physical strain of using a chainsaw was too much for most of the summer.
Since then, I’ve staked out a new study area adjacent to the four pens I already grazed. With brush of a nearly identical age and size, I feel it will give a much better comparison of the two management styles. All non-native trees/brush will be cut down before the buckthorn leafs out near the end of April/early May. Posts will be pounded once the ground thaws. Photographic documentation and stem counts will be done before cutting (photo), after cutting, after re-growth, before grazing and after grazing.
Goats will be introduced at weekly intervals throughout the grazing season to both study areas.
Although it isn’t part of the original study, I’m documenting all the target grazing I’ve been doing with the doe herd and including this information in the final project.
RESULTS
The uncut study area was grazed in weekly intervals starting in late summer. Pens were defoliated in 3-4 days by one mature buck and four bucklings. I was surprised to discover the brush did NOT recover before the end of the growing season. It will be interesting to see the impact this has on growth this Spring.
The doe herd - about 20 adults and 38 kids - can defoliate about 10,000 square feet or approximately one quarter of a acre of heavy brush or weedy pasture each day. They also delight in stripping bark off of trees and brush, preferring some species over others and seeming to increase this behavior in winter and times when sap is moving (Spring and Fall). Unfortunately, they have a real taste for young maple trees and all young maples need to be wrapped in chicken wire at least six feet high.
WORK PLAN FOR 2010
The pens that were grazed in 2009 will be grazed again at weekly intervals as soon as there is enough leaf to justify bringing the goats back. Spring growth, defoliation and re-growth will be documented.
In the cut brush study area: All non-native trees/brush will be cut down before the buckthorn leafs out near the end of April/early May. Posts will be pounded once the ground thaws. Photographic documentation and stem counts will be done before cutting (photo), after cutting, after re-growth, before grazing and after grazing.
Goats will be introduced at weekly intervals throughout the grazing season to both study areas.
Documentation of the main herd’s target grazing will continue.
OUTREACH
April 2009 - Networked at Earth Day Kenosha celebration where I met Wisconsin Senator Robert Wirch. He offered his full support for the goats. I also made contact with Barry Thomas, board member at the Pringle Nature Center (located on 200 acres of buckthorn infested county parkland).
Summer 2009 - Article featuring my goats, including SARE information, appears in Kenosha News.
Summer 2009 - Gave goat talk and demo at Pringle Nature Center.
September 2009 - Took goat herd to Pringle Nature Center for two week target grazing demonstration (it was supposed to be 3 weeks but they ran out of brush!). Have been asked back for 2010.
October 2009 - Left my name and number with Kenosha County Extension, offering to speak to 4-H kids about goats and target grazing.
October 2009 - Hosted 4 scientists from The Chicago Botanic Garden. Took them on a tour of all the places my goats had been grazing on private farms and public parks. They were thrilled and want to conduct their own target grazing goat study on 100 acres of buckthorn infested land the Botanic Garden owns. Note: With all their resources, they have not been able to get their buckthorn under control on any of the infested acreage.
Posted information on my web site.
January 2010 - Networked at Annie’s Project classes for farm women at UW Madison.
March 2010 - Article about The Green Goats will come out in local veterinarian’s newsletter.