In 2012, my land lord wanted me to find him some goats. My first thoughts were that I would end up taking care of them as he is a total idiot when it comes to animal husbandry. He cannot give a shot, he can’t deal with putting his hand in the back end of a goat to pull a kid and he certainly doesn’t have the heart to put an animal down if it needs to be put down. So, I ended up taking care of his goats and I am sick of it since he owes me so much money for caring for them, I hate to talk about that. But, my rent is free and I don’t have to pay for the water my horses drink and I can live in the wash house for free.
Every day after work, in the warmer months, I come home from work and turn the goats out in to the pasture so they can graze. I have to keep an eye on them so they don’t get onto the neighbor’s crops since we do not have proper fences for goats. What we have is old five wire barbed wire and the goats crawl right through it. My 3 border collies and I spend our evenings babysitting the goats, taking away from my time to ride horses, write and relax. I am sick of it.
I’ve been doing some reading on renting goat herd out to manage weeds, brush and invasive trees and I’ve talked to several people who are actually making a living at renting their herds out to people who do not want to use chemical or mechanical means to control the weeds on their land. It is a pretty good deal. SO, I did some figuring, talking and I am in the process now of writing up a business plan. I am going to start my own rent-a-goat herd business!
Barnyard Weed Warriors will start their first season on April 1, 2016! We will be available for a day, week, or month, depending on the size of the property, density of the weeds and the types of plants you want removed. I will still be babysitting goats but at least now, I will be making a living at it. I figured it out and I can make almost as much in one week as I do in a whole month were I am working now. So, as my 50th birthday slowly sneaks up on me, I am making changes in my life. I will act like I am 25 again and I am taking risks, making changes to better myself and maybe get the goats in better shape than they have ever been. They will be out all summer, eating weeds and brush and not hay. Their worm load will diminish as we will be away from the dry lot, where the worms love to hang out and I can kick back, relax and watch the goats chew all day. I may even get to write a little as the goats will be enclosed in a temporary electric fence to control them. I look forward to an exciting new year and new life!
Educated Cowpuncher 