Dogs with Hooves – Our Firefighting Goats!
The title might surprise you, but it highlights the importance of working with nature instead of against it, often yielding the best results for everyone involved. For the past six years, we’ve had goats on our farm. They are beloved pets with a crucial purpose. We maintain one of the largest privately-owned native Illinois prairies, benefiting our soil, supporting local wildlife, and enhancing our farm’s ecosystem. By allowing nature to flourish, we’ve significantly reduced predation on our animals.
Imagine a chicken farm where the entire land is used for raising chickens. This means that hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes, and raccoons, which typically hunt other animals, now target the chickens. The farmer must invest heavily in protecting the chickens, often leading to the decision to raise animals exclusively indoors.
We chose a different path by dedicating part of our land to nature. This approach provides a more hospitable environment for native animals to live, thrive, and hunt. While not foolproof, it has proven to be the best way to manage our farm. This is where our goats come in!
Native Illinois prairies need to be burned every one to three years to maintain its health. Managing such burns across many acres is a monumental and costly task, with the added risk of accidentally damaging neighboring crops. Instead of using fire, we employ goats to remove weeds and undergrowth, eliminating the need for controlled burns and providing the goats with months of free food.
There is a common misconception that goats will eat anything, but our experience has shown that they are quite selective. Their selective grazing is a gift, as they prefer to eat weeds, helping us clear invasive species and dead underbrush from the prairie. This natural weeding process makes them our firefighting goats, and we are incredibly grateful for their contribution to our farm!
