Buckthorn about two acres of it

Funbowhunter · #1 09/30/13, 12:19 AM

Well just identified that there is two acres of buckthorn on the property we are buying. My question is this. If I use it to make a pen for goats, would it hold up? I am thinking of stripping the bark off and using some cheap wire to bind the poles they will make. They are pretty strait so it should work pretty well. What do you think?

elbowbeach · #2 09/30/13, 05:46 AM

Have you tried working with it? It seems the thorns would prohibit doing much with it.

o&itw · #3 09/30/13, 07:36 AM

You might want to be a little more specific. Buck-thorn refers to several things according to where one lives.

geo in mi · #4 09/30/13, 09:59 AM

http://www.eminnetonka.com/public_wo...orn_threat.pdf

According to this bulletin, the wood is pretty dense and sturdy,and would probably work okay, but building a stockade with cheap wire that would rust pretty quickly could be a problem, as well as the weight per linear foot. AND, in my opinion, goats are like velociraptors(speedy thieves), constantly on the lookout for a weak or broken spot to bump into until it breaks down and lets them out.....

And if you have two acres of buckthorn, an invasive species--in some states you could be required to remove it....and you'll find that cutting the large ones opens up the canopy, allowing the fallen seeds to germinate in a thick carpet. Sort of like in the Disney, "Sorcerer's Apprentice", Mickey's one broom turns into many brooms......

As a firewood and a chipping wood, it might provide you with heat and mulch(so long as no berries are attached), and you could make a more goatproof fence out of cattle panels.

geo

Funbowhunter · #5 09/30/13, 12:37 PM

If I fence that part in, when I cut it down, and it sprouts, wouldn't the goats eat the new growth including seedlings?

geo in mi · #6 09/30/13, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funbowhunter

If I fence that part in, when I cut it down, and it sprouts, wouldn't the goats eat the new growth including seedlings?

I dunno, but according to the article above the leaves are not really eaten by animals, even if they are, the new groth sprouts too fast to be eaten up. The seeds are a laxative/purgative.....You might want to ask in the goat forum....And even so, if they can eat the seeds, they will probably be well fertilized to begin new growth again.....

geo

Funbowhunter · #7 09/30/13, 10:36 PM

Minnesota has contracted with goat farmers who rent them to eradicate buckthorn in some of the state parks.