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Before and after goats: the dense bush on a steep hill next to the house was too dangerous to burn and too hard to remove by hand (Metung, Victoria) “We had a real problem with dense bush just below the house – too dangerous to burn, too steep for machinery, and too much to do by hand. Herds-for-Hire came to my rescue. The goats blitzed the weeds, salt bush ivy and shrubs. Healthy, mature trees were retained.
Quick, efficient, unobtrusive (all of them) and remarkably quiet. The “before and after” photos tell it all.
Hiring Herds-for-Hire was an exceptional investment and a very good experience!”
– F. and J. Herbert, Metung, Victoria, 2012 -
The goats at work on African boxthorn in Brogo, NSW “We moved to Brogo a bit over a year ago, and the enormity of our weed problem soon became apparent to us. The property had been neglected and then the drought broke and a variety of weeds had taken hold. We wanted to clean up a wide area around the house to both reduce reduce the bushfire risk and beautify the property with a park-like swathe. The the weeds covered up a lot of deadfall from the less drought resistant tree species and we were at a loss as to how to clean it all up. Then we saw Herds-for-Hire advertised in the local paper and gave them a call.
The team turned up and set to work on a small patch, moving on to an adjacent patch after about 5 days, and so on until they had cleared several acres. What they left behind looked like a fire had been through it, with the weeds and grass mown short and exposing the dead timber. When they moved on to another patch I could then move in behind them and saw, pile and burn. This allowed me to make 4wd tracks into the property to enable further maintenance. They had enabled me to take control of my property”.
– R. Beasley and K. McGrath, Brogo, NSW, 2012 -
Goats devouring blackberries, boxthorn and the coastal saltbush. (Metung, Victoria). “We were delighted to see the goats devouring the blackberries, boxthorns, weeds and even the raghodia (coastal salt bush) with great gusto. It amazed us how quickly they ‘worked’. The ‘before and ‘after’ scenarios were quite incredible. We have now been able to identify one boundary fence for the first time in 26 years!!
The same site a few days later. Debris is gathered in small firepiles (Metung, Victoria). Elisabeth’s oversight of the progam proved efficient and professional – from the delivery of the goats to her piling up of the remaining debris. Care of her animals was paramount. We loved having the goats to visit. In fact, we grew quite attached to many of the herd over the two weeks.”
– B. Newcomen, Metung, Victoria, 2012
- “After the major rains we had a lot of excessive regrowth which was a terrible fire hazard and we just could not keep up with the maintenance of the 16 acres of property. The goats came to the rescue and we loved the fact that it was in harmony with nature. With their great appetites day by day and moving them around every couple of days/weeks with Elisabeth and the wonderful herd dog ‘Oscar’ we were able to see our way through the shrubs and vegetation.
The goats are extremely quiet and will only bleat when they see you and if you have some scraps/tidbits for them, they are very humorous to watch and love a bit of interaction. A good scratch and pat never went astray. We enjoyed having them here and the fact of course is they did a fantastic job which no slasher/tractor etc could do without some harm to the environment. We are most appreciative and would not hesitate to hire them again if need be.”
– T. and R. Umbach, Kameruka, NSW, 2012
