# Best Breed for Weed Eating



## Rollochrome (Apr 9, 2012)

Is there such a thing as a lamb breed that will leave the grass alone and feast on weeds?

I have plenty of bull thistles and thorny vine type undergrowth killing my trees and pasture.

I want to go with a non-chemical, non-mechanical solution if possible....but not at the expense of eating the grass out from under the cows..


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Sheep like grass over weeds, not that they don't eat weeds too. Goats are better. Horses will eat the flower off bull thistles, thus reducing them in time. A shovel is best for them. I would say cattle eat as many weeds as sheep....James


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Goats love weeds, that is what I used to clear out my place of heavy NW shubs of various kinds.

Sheep breeds, like Soay, Jacobs and some of the more primitive breeds do not mind eating brush and such, though they will eat grass too.

Seen my Dad's cattle eat more weeds than his Suffolk sheep did.


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## crittermomma (Sep 26, 2013)

I have 2 Boer Goats and 8 Katahdin sheep - the sheep are MUCH better at eating all my weeds over my 2 goats. The goats prefer browsing like a deer and the sheep will eat things closer to the ground and most weeds.


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## ErikaMay (Feb 28, 2013)

its partly in what your flock LEARNS to eat, not simply breed. if they never learn to try dandilions they wont eat them. Once they see someone else in the flock eats X they tend to try it, too. Experiements were done with both cattle and sheep to see if they could be taught to develop a taste for thistle. Indeed with slow introduction into their regular feed the animals in the experiement began to eat thistles which they had avoided before. 

I've had Jacobs who eat weeds like goats and stand on their hind legs to reach leaves. Then I've head of others with the same breed who just ate grass. whaaaa?


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## gimpy (Sep 18, 2007)

jwal10 said:


> Sheep like grass over weeds, not that they don't eat weeds too. Goats are better. Horses will eat the flower off bull thistles, thus reducing them in time. A shovel is best for them. I would say cattle eat as many weeds as sheep....James


Not really. For most breeds yes, but if you get primitive sheep like Soay or Jacobs, that's a different matter. They have all the benefits of goats without the smell and they don't have as good escape abilities as goats


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

For an immaculate lawn there is no substitute for mechanized equipment. Sheep, or goats for that matter, often eat weeds on their own schedule. Lots of stuff they find more palatable after some seed is formed, sometimes even after frost. Which means they will leave weeds there most of the growing season. Stocking density is the key to anything resembling "control". In other words you have to overgraze them in an area or they will just eat the stuff they like and let the rest grow. To do this, there is a constant balancing act between starving your animals and getting them to clean things up. You must have other places to move them to. If you get a system worked out, be prepared to up your densities in a wet year and lower them in drought. All that being said, sheep generally prefer grass, short grass if they can find it. They don't like to enter vegetation so thick that it blocks their vision, they prefer to be able to scan the horizon for predators. This doesn't mean that they won't go in high grass or weeds. But if given a choice, they will probably gravitate to new growth grass left behind by cattle. I have my sheep in a centralized barn lot, and turn them out during the day to graze behind cattle, or into some hayfields after the hay is up. That area stays pretty short, except for some thistles. They eat the thistles after the frost. If you cut the thistles they eat them like they were candy once they dry, oddly enough. Equines will come closer than most others to all around grass and light brush control, particularly the long eared variety. I think that cattle, sheep and goats in rotation do a pretty good job, but it is too much of a headache to be a substitute for a brush-hog, if you're only in it for weed and grass control. You should look at keeping the plants knocked back as a side benefit of livestock and not the purpose of livestock.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I think the best breed for weeds is the hungry ones. But I don't know of any breed that will pass up grass and eat only weeds. Your best bet would be to pen them in a temporary fence with the worst of the weeds and let them go to it. Don't expect the to eat the unpalatable weeds until all else is gone.


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## trainv (Apr 30, 2013)

Sheep sometimes need to be forced on to weeds before they begin to really go after them on the other hand, goats are natural trash eaters and weeds are better than grass if they are there and they can get to them. make sure that you watch their grazing and keep them in the weeds for good control.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

My sheep prefer forbes. I'd rotate the animals. Put the cattle in first to eat down the grass, then move them out and put in the sheep. They will eat their favorite food first, then their second favorite, leave them in long enough to eat what you don't want. Just make sure you aren't leaving them with anything poisonous.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Make sure the weeds you want to get rid of are safe for sheep before trying the close confinement method. They are smart about avoiding poisons, but if it is the only food left and they don't know that poison yet...


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

gimpy said:


> Not really. For most breeds yes, but if you get primitive sheep like Soay or Jacobs, that's a different matter. They have all the benefits of goats without the smell and they don't have as good escape abilities as goats


You're part right.

Goats are more inclined to explore (i.e. escape). 

BUT -- Goats do not smell bad. Certainly no worse than my katahdins.

And my sheep seem to prefer browse over grass, though they will eat grass.

I think they browse more because of the goats. They get a little competitive with the goats, and don't want to miss out on any of the "good" stuff.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Food preference is partially a learned behavior. I could believe one goat in the flock of sheep would affect the whole flock's eating habits. You could train them in the barn with hand harvested weeds, but you'd have to harvest a lot of them.


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

I guess my sheep must be different. If I turn sheep to a fresh pasture in spring they will eat dock before grass. Kocia, pigweed (amarath), trees leaves they can reach, sunflowers, velvet leaf, milk weed all will be eaten before grass. Needless to say all legumes are preferred graze. My sheep will not eat marijuana untill it is about waist high, then they think it is good tucker. My sheep will nibble around on musk thistles but not control them.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

My Katahdins, they eat grass, but they will eat some weeds too... about half and half.
However, when the clover comes up... they forget everything else and just eat that.


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