# Anyone have Kudzu and allow the goats to eat it?



## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

Do the goats stay ahead of it or does it still get out of hand? Anything else out there like blackberries or bamboo anyone has had luck with for providing year round food for goats that doesn't take over?


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## R and R Farms (Jul 7, 2008)

The literature I've read makes kudzu sound like it would be excellent for goats, BUT... we don't have it here and the folks I have talked to who are plagued by it tell me that I sure don't want it. I will take their word for it. I read a funny story about an older couple driving through Mississippi when the lady spotted the kudzu in bloom and asked the husband to stop and get her some cuttings to take back home. The old fellow, recognizing the invasive plant, replied to his wife, "just give it a few years, dear, and it will make it to our house on its own".


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## BrokenHalterFarm (Feb 16, 2010)

Goats are pretty much kudzo's only natural enemy....


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

I know its edible for humans too. Someone was just telling me the other day about "The Kudzu Cookbook" that's out of print but supposedly wonderful if you can find it.


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

My grandpa said years ago he planted kudzu in his field for his goats. They ate the kudzu, and then dug up the roots and ate that too.


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

Well.......seems to me that the kudzu is so thick here that the poor goats would either get lost, stuck, or eaten by it! And thankfully.....*knock on wood* it hasn't made its way to our farm yet!


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## ragingbull (Feb 8, 2010)

Kudzu is all over the place here in Georgia,With the exception of in my yard :biggrin The goats loved it.


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## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

Did they kill it? Or just keep it eaten down? How does it propagate--runners or ???


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## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

Kudzu root makes a thickener like corn starch... I'd try it but the state sprays the stuff here so I don't really like to try (of course that might be better than eating GM corn products  )


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

Ellie thet eat it down you gotta rotate pasture Kudzu grows fast but not faster than goats but it does have deep rhizones so as long as you give it a break from time to time it will grow back. Our bee's work Kudzu bloosems when I work the bee's it smells like bubble gum so does the honey as far as humans tender leaves can be used in salad and blossoms are good too its in the pea family.


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## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

Thanks, everyone! I wonder if it's a felony to import some into California. Sure would be nice to have free goat food all the time!!


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

And high quality food at that!


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

Back in the day 20-30's farmers were paid to plant it

Auburn University experiments w/it as a livestock feed

Its really a good plant if you own goats so many uses too not just for erosion control but also being used as a bio fuel


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

In my opinion -
It needs to be completely prohibited. It is an invasive fast growing weed that takes over acres of land that once had a varied plant community. Ellie-You have never told us where you are located so that we can recommend other plants. We planted black bamboo- our goats love it but it does take over and also should be banned! I would never recommend that but they do eat it. Perennial grass clover legume mixes are year round in our part of the world- Zone 8a. Blackberries are excellent but they will destroy them if you do not protect the planting or have large acreages with mixes that they can move off to. We know of a farm that planted a 'controlled browse' area in the middle of an open pasture and planted fast growing shrubs and trees that they could just barely reach thru the cattle panels and trim back as they grow but not kill off. This of course is not winter feed in all but the warmest climates. Maples- mulberries- crepe myrtles-pear-honeysuckle-berries-they used lots of stuff they get so much nutrition from but would kill off because they are so palatable. You don't want those rhizomes in your land. There is research underway to prove that they emit a chemical that kills off everything that could compete as the rhizomes move outward. Nasty Nasty. Plant communities are always preferable to monoculture esp invasive species. It is on the federal list of invasive weeds.We drive by areas that used to be forested but are now just otherworldly sculpture over the trees and shrubs that used to live there. Once it is established it is very difficult to eradicate if not impossible.


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## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

Good to know! Thanks!


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

I think there's a good chance it will become a valuable resource...one day... :biggrin

I've been experimenting with different urban forage ideas and one similar to the "controlled browse" in the center of the pen. The biggest challenge is quantifying both quality and quantity.


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

If it ever does become a valuable resource then I forsee a lot of millionaires here in the south!


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

there you go then! 

maybe it'll be the "new oil" :rofl


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