Myotonic Goat Sylvapasture

Hi Everybody, I'm wanting to bring goats into my Nikita's Gift Persimmon orchard and I'm wondering 2 things:

1. How low can the lowest branches be and still be safe?

2. Do I need to protect the trunk/bark?

Thanks!

how tall are myotonics when they stand up on two hooves? deer can get to close to 6 feet, but goat legs are shorter. ‘above that’ is where i’d want your lowest branches. i would definitely expect bark damage if some level of trunk protection wasn’t used.

not sure if you’d be able to rotate them through smaller areas for shorter amounts  of time, paddock shift style, but there’s probably a way to manage that kind of system to reduce bark damage on unprotected trees. i doubt you’d be able to get down to 0% damage with just rotation though. goats love chewin’ on trees.

Someone once said, “A goat is the opposite of a tree”.  Goats will oftentimes leave the bark alone for quite a while, then, when you are not looking, strip every bit of bark they can and kill the tree.  There are rarely warning nibbles.  

I’ve put hot wire around every single one of my fruit, nut, and legume support trees in my silvopasture.  It usually works, there have been a few incidents.

Thanks, that's helpful. They can be 24" to the withers, so maybe they can't reach above 4 feet?

I think I'll just wrap chicken wire around the trunks, unless someone thinks that won't work. Or I could make a cylinder of stouter wire.

Hi Sam,

I match you  with the chicken wire, and I raise you to hardware cloth.   I have used chicken wire, and it works. The hardware cloth lasts longer and will work with bunnies and other creatures.