Goats For Rent!
Posted on 06. Sep, 2010 by Forest in General, Opinion, Saving Money & Finances
Awesome baby goats I snapped in Quebec a few years ago!
A slew of new businesses are popping up offering goats for rent. Yep you can rent a few goats or an entire herd now to come round and mow your lawn, provide high quality fertilizer and generally brighten up your day.
Goats are ferocious eaters and could clear a lawn pretty fast and be happy doing so. I personally love the idea and so do some pretty big name players such as the US National Parks Service, Google and Yahoo.
There is also talk of using goats to clear areas of brush susceptible to forest fires. So many uses!
Most people seem to reporting that the costs are similar to paying a business for mowing or less but much less dangerous and less hard work. I had even heard of a
How to go about finding goats for rent
As I mentioned above this is a growing industry so it’s likely there is already someone near you. Rent a Ruminant is one such company offering herds all over the USA but a quick search for renting goats in your area should also help you find someone local if you prefer.
Another alternative is directly speaking to local farms that have goats. It’s possible that if they have transportation they could bring the goats and a shepherd at an affordable price. The only problem is the goats will likely need 24 hour monitoring. The companies that offer the service use low level electric fencing to keep the goats in place.
Things to consider when renting goats….
Unlike an old weed whacker or push mower you can’t throw a goat in the shed when you are done with it. It’s a sensitive animal and it needs a good supply of water and enough vegetation to keep it healthy at all times. They are also herd animals so I believe they would prefer to stay a few together at a time. If you have a small patch of land then 2 goats may be sufficient and you may even just be able to borrow them. There are a few plants that goats can be poisoned by so you must always make sure these are not in the area you want to have trimmed. Fias Co Farm has a great list of what a goat can and can’t eat.
Maybe Consider buying a few goats!
Goats unlike lawn mowers have more than one use. They can be extremely friendly and great company (the babies are unbelievably cute, especially the boys!), they also provide a very healthy milk and as mentioned before they also provide free fertilizer as a bonus! They take a bit of TLC but if you have the time then it could be very worth while.
Sadly my balcony and apartment here in Cairo is not in need of a goat right now!
You may be interested in MSN’s latest article on the subject: Goat Powered Weed Whacking.
What do you think of the idea of having goats for rent, would you consider it for your land?
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12 Responses to “Goats For Rent!”
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krantcents: I started teaching whe I was 55 years old. I am v...
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Jeremy: I think the media plays a big part in that. US me...
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Forest: Thanks for the comment Jeremy. I guess you are rig...
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Jerret
06. Sep, 2010
That’s funny. I was just thinking about getting back into goats. My wife and I had 2 goats back in 2007 but, unfortunately, were not very good goat herders.
Goats have a lot of personality, even more so than dogs or cats in my opinion. But they require much care. Depending on the breed, some prefer tall grasses and others prefer weeds.
Have fun if you decide to do it!
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Forest
06. Sep, 2010
Hey Jerret, I have heard they can be a lot of work and a lot of fun too! That baby goat pic up there was a great half hour of my life. The little bugger just wanted to fight with me but all in play
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Jerret
06. Sep, 2010
They can eat tin cans but can be very sensitive to the smallest vegetation.
They are very curious. I was just amazed at how much personality they have. Yes, and the little boys love to bump heads.
We had to trade in a boy goat because he would run over our two year old girl. He just wanted to play but it was too much!
Thanks for the great article!
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Forest
07. Sep, 2010
That’s sad about the poor little girl goat! Thanks for sharing some great info
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WordVixen
07. Sep, 2010
Bwahhahahaha! I LOVE it! I keep telling my husband that I want chickens and a goat (we can’t though, as we rent), and he says no to the goat because “they look creepy”. Which is true. But the baby goats are so cute!
Seriously, though, this would be a great way to find out if you’re the kind of person that should have goats or not, without having to commit right away. A farmer friend of mine keeps goats just as lawn mowers- he seriously doesn’t use the milk or meat or anything else!
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Forest
07. Sep, 2010
Ha ha, get a baby boy for your husband, he will love him to bits…. Would be the best thing to walk round the neighbourhood!
Your farmer friend should really make use of that milk!
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Throckmorton Jones
07. Sep, 2010
My family used to breed goats, and we rented some of ours out for brush clearing a few times.
One thing people do not seem to realize when considering renting goats for this, is goats are browsers, not grazers. They will pick and nibble at nearly everything, but if you expect them to mow the lawn you’re going to be very disappointed when they eat your rose buses instead! lol
Still, they are really neat animals, and can be a lot of fun.
Even though we don’t keep goats anymore, I still keep a blog up where people can get a little info (sadly, it needs a lot more then it has) and find a breeder of Colored Boer goats nearby. The URL is http://tragicbeautiful.com/blogs/cbg/ if anyone is interested.
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Forest
07. Sep, 2010
Hey Throckmorton Jones, that is a very good point. A goat ate a hole through my mum’s handbag once and I remember feeding a plastic bag to one as a kid (I regret that now!).
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Everyday Tips
07. Sep, 2010
I think it would be so cute! I live in the suburbs, and I just love seeing any kind of farm animal. One house about a mile away has a big fence and there is a donkey that stands around there. I go out of my way just to see that donkey.
I wonder if all the lawn chemicals people use would exclude them from being renters?
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Forest
07. Sep, 2010
Hey Everyday tips. I agree if would be great to have more useful animals around. Donkey’s can have a lot of personality, can eat up all your dead grass and produce great fertilizer.
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Kevin@InvestItWisely
07. Sep, 2010
Haha, that’s so cool. Goats are fun animals; a little rebellious at times! I’m sure there’s some kind of ordinance against it though. :S
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Forest
08. Sep, 2010
Ha ha, they are the more rebellious of the farm animals that is sure!
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