Girls stripping bark

[topside1]

Morning all My goats have decided to begin stripping the bark off two mature cedar trees. Normally it wouldn't bother me but these trees are placed perfectly in the pasture and would hate to see them die.

What can I economically wrap or spray on the tree's trunk to prevent further damage. I need to do something today, these two trees are the goat's newest pasture gathering point. Trees are roughly 12 inches in diameter...as always thanks for your time and input....TJ

[waygr00vy]

They have a lot of products to prevent horses from chewing wood. Mcnasty is one of them I can think of off the top of my head. If you had to spray it constantly it would get expensive but they may get the picture after a few applications. Also with horses people will use concoctions with hot pepper, tobasco and such. Not sure what goats would think of that. Another option is to take those black plastic drainage pipes, slice lengthwise, wrap around the trunk then hook it together. Or cattle panels and/or hotwire around the trees....ok, i'm out of ideas for now

[BlackWillowFarm]

I had to do something to stop my horses from chewing the fence boards. I took a bar of soap and rubbed it all along the tops. That worked and they stopped for awhile anyways. Maybe for something quick you could do that or even squirt some dish soap on the trees until you find a more permanent solution. Good luck!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Chicken wire. From ground level to six feet up.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by Rose

Chicken wire. From ground level to six feet up.

This is what we did for the young trees we liked.

[topside1]

Thanks gang, chicken wire it is. I'm 50% complete, as usual I have ran out of wire. The girls have already quit inspecting the first tree with the new wire....thanks for all your kind advice.....TJ

[Nancy_in_GA]

Might work for cedar because they seem to enjoy peeling the bark off in long strips, but chicken wire doesn't work here for maples and gums. They manage to slip their teeth through those holes and nibble, then slide the wire up a little and get all the spots they missed. Hopefully you will have better luck. We have one that was bad about chewing from day 1, and she seems to have taught the others how to do it now.

[topside1]

Well Nancy that not good news...at least I double wrapped the trunks so the holes are now smaller than ever...just bought more chicken wire so it's time to finish the job...TJ

[Nancy_in_GA]

Good idea---I think double wrapping would work.

[Alice In TX/MO]

It worked for hubby's pecan trees!

[tioga12]

I recently read that painting the trunks with limewater (like whitewash) works well b/c they don't like the taste. It needs to be repeated every six months or so.