Does anyone know of anything I can spray or paint on trees to keep my goats from eating the bark? They're well fed but eat the bark anyway.

-- Pamela Scott (cavemtdexters@cavenet.com), February 19, 2001

Answers

That is what they do..it is their job! You want to save the tree, then fence it or put the goats inside a fence! JR

-- Dan (triquest@about.com), February 19, 2001.

Hi Pam, you can also wrap the trees as high as you can with chicken wire, but you must rewrap it every year or it will grow into the tree, which ruins your husbands chain saw :) I found by doing this and also cutting the limbs as high as I could reach, the trees that were in the small pens were safe this way. Make sure they have lots of hay that they like! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 19, 2001.

Hi Pamela,

Boy,...... you should see the cedar trees in the goat pasture, no bark left. I did read once that you can mix a mixture of goat berries, smash them down, add a bit of water and then paint the tree with it to deter them from eating the bark. Haven't tried it myself.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), February 19, 2001.

I'm a sheep person, but heres what worked for us one year when the sheep got to eating the bark off our pine trees by the pond........fresh cow manure, or any other , spread on the tree trunks. I used a pair of rubber gloves and an old bristle brush. They never bothered the trees again after that. Don't know if it would work for goats.

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), February 20, 2001.

The thick manure tea helps, but only if you reapply it after it wears off and after every rain. Goats need the minerals that tree bark contains, and it's possible that if they are really starved for variety in their diet or for minerals, they might eat the bark anyway, especially after the tea wears off a little. We like to cut willow and alder saplings and branches and feed them almost every day to the goats. These trees will grow back up from the roots after you cut them, and the goats spend many enjoyable hours eating the bark and leaves(in spring and summer, in the winter it's just the bark). After the trees are stripped clean, we limb them and cut them up for kindling and firewood. Make sure the trees you feed are edible if you want to try this.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 20, 2001.

I too have heard it is related to a mineral deficiency in their diet.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 20, 2001.

Hmmmmmm...., thats usually what i say when i am thinking. I have read that eating tree bark is from a mineral deficiency, HOWEVER, in our case i don't believe that thats entirely the situation. almost 2 yrs. ago we hired a nutritionist to develop the best diet for our girls possible. Now, my girls eat really well, get the finest food and minerals, etc. and still eat tree bark. Now i am wondering if i should blood test and urine test for a deficiency. Because I simply don't feel that its entirely a mineral deficiency. I beg to differ here.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), February 20, 2001.

Actually with our Iron Ore just underneath the top soil, we see alot more dirt eating, looking for minerals, teething on fencing looking for zinc. Bark is roughage and if their isn't enough browse or hay than they will eat everything else in site including the trees. Just like the first poster said, this is their job! Even with a 7 acre pen, hay free choice, loose minerals, lots of underbrush with blackberry, youpon, etc, my yearlings still strip the bark, and eat whole young trees to the ground. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 20, 2001.

To prevent my sheep from eating the bark off the tree I poured on it hot pepper juice. I just whizzed red chile peppers in a blender with enough water to liquify.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), February 20, 2001.

I don't think it's a mineral deficiency either.Like most of the posters here,I feed minerals,good grass hay,a well balanced diet etc.I also cut saplings and brush as time permits.After my goats finish the leaves they go for the bark and small twigs.Bark is just naturally a part of the goats diet.

-- JT Sessions (gone2seed@hotmail.com), February 20, 2001.

I was out there unloading my truck yesterday, a tree we cut down, and thought about this thread. All the goats were watching me from the other side of the fence about 10 feet away. So I started pitching the big tree bark sheets that falls off over to em. YUM YUM. Maybe we can bag it and sell it!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), February 21, 2001.

Hmmmm our goats ate the bark on trees to,but at least it was the trees in their pen. Infact,the trees aren't there anymore. But when they ate the bark on other trees when they get out of their pen.They would lick it first. LOL Anyway,I'm no help with any ideas on how to keep them away.Sorry!! :-)

-- Cosmic CountryGirl (CosmicCountry@Yahoo.com), February 24, 2001.

Your goats are laking saltor possible minnrals. Try giving them a minnral supliment.

-- Justin Burwinkel (NASCAR JRB@aol.com), September 04, 2001.