[ZOEY THE GOAT]

Hello. I have two free range pet goats and I am wondering how to stop them from eating bark off of trees?

 

[Boer Mama]

Wrap your tree with some wire… goats love trees. You have to fence them off or protect them in some way, or they will eventually kill them.

 

[toth boer goats]

Yep ☝

 

[Leilani]

Question what do you mean it will kill them , our boys have stripped lots of bark off the trees and nothing has happened to them ?

 

[Boer Mama]

Question what do you mean it will kill them , our boys have stripped lots of bark off the trees and nothing has happened to them ?

The goats will kill the trees. If they want the trees to live, they need to keep the bark.

 

[Leilani]

The goats will kill the trees. If they want the trees to live, they need to keep the bark.

Oh. I thought you meant the bark will kill the goats 😂

 

[Boer Mama]

Oh. I thought you meant the bark will kill the goats 😂

Nope… assuming it’s a safe tree for them to nibble on then they’ll just really enjoy it.
My goats stripped a large branch that the wind blew down. Elm tree with a lot of still green elm seeds… they ate the seeds and stripped the bark and thoroughly enjoyed every last bit of it. 😂

 

[luvmyherd]

Reading through this made me laugh. I see how the misunderstanding happened. 😆
But yep! Goats love tree bark so much they will kill the trees. We have the stumps to prove it.
Several layers of chicken wire works. We have a pecan tree we do not care about and they do not strip the bark off of it. They walk around on their hind legs to eat the leaves though.

 

[toth boer goats]

 

[Tom Colvin]

Question what do you mean it will kill them , our boys have stripped lots of bark off the trees and nothing has happened to them ?

Over time it may. I have trees down a fence row of large pecan an oak trees. Some have just up and died. The goats rub on them, I guess maybe chewed on the bark, that maybe what caused them to die, I’m not sure.

 

[Tanya]

Goats and trees are like bees and nectar. The thing is, they really go for bark when they are missing a nutrient.

 

[ZOEY THE GOAT]

Wrap your tree with some wire… goats love trees. You have to fence them off or protect them in some way, or they will eventually kill them.

Trees kill goats? What?

 

[ZOEY THE GOAT]

Goats and trees are like bees and nectar. The thing is, they really go for bark when they are missing a nutrient.

That’s what I figured which is why I started them on actual goat feed pellets instead of only having free range hay and forage and whole corn but they still do it. How do I make sure they’re getting all their nutrients?

 

[ZOEY THE GOAT]

Wrap your tree with some wire… goats love trees. You have to fence them off or protect them in some way, or they will eventually kill them.

Oh wait, Nevermind 😂 is there a type of spray we can spray on them that will deter the goats but not kill the tree?

 

[ksalvagno]

No there isn't.

 

[Boer Mama]

Oh wait, Nevermind 😂 is there a type of spray we can spray on them that will deter the goats but not kill the tree?

Not that I’m aware of.

 

[Goats2Greedy]

My goats have just about killed the trees in there pen, I put one layer of chicken wire up and it seems to working.

 

[toth boer goats]

I agree ☝