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We finally got the lower half of our property weedwhacked and have discovered tons of pineapples. Everything else is mature fruit trees so my question to the sheep experts out there is: will sheep eat pineapple plants or fruits, or will they just graze around them?
Mahalo.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
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I remember reading someplace that in the future the "hala will lie down with the lamb", but I can't remember where and by and large don't put much stock in that sort of thing anyhow.
LOL.
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That was pretty funny Jay, but this was a serious question on my part.
I've kept goats before and so I don't want to deal with them again, I don't have enough pasture or uses for the milk to justify a dairy cow, and I really want something to eat the grass, instead of using a noisy petroleum product guzzling weedwhacker on it. I don't want to risk the little kids next door being terrorized by geese, so I can't use them either. My SO is a long term vegan so any meat animals are out, but we can probably agree on sheep.
BUT, I don't want all the pineapples to get grazed, so I need to know if sheep like to eat pineapple fruits or plants. If they do, I will have to move the pineapples before getting the sheep, which means I still have grass to deal with until I have time to move them.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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That is a good question Carol. Maybe Pam would know.
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
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Take some pineapple leaves to some sheep and see if they will eat them. Geese like to snack on pineapples. Can you fence in the pineapples?
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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Once again, this is a serious question on my part, and as my post above said my SO has serious ethical issues with eating animals. So my question remains: can sheep and pineapples coexist (alive, not as a meal)?
I doubt I could find a sheep owner who would let me try out pineapple leaves on their sheep without credible evidence that they are non poisonous to sheep.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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I know you've already done it, but I did a Google/AskJeeves search and can't find a thing. Sheep aren't like goats and may not like the prickliness of pineapples but its hard to be sure. Could you start with one sheep and fence it off in a small area with a few pineapples and see what it does?
John Dirgo, R, BIC, EcoBroker, ABR, e-PRO
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I asked my friend who has sheep and goats and he didn't know since he's never tried it. Goats are browsers and like to nibble shrubbery more than sheeps do. Geese like to eat the pineapple but will eat grass by preference so if there's other things to eat they won't eat the pineapples first. At least my geese didn't but those were just two geese.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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"serious question"?
I reckon it is the BEST question I have seen posted on here during my short time hangin here.
Good suggestion about giving some sheep a chance to eat some leaves -- could do the same with a whole fruit.
Also good point that what any animal eats depends on what else is available, or not.
We have about 300 hundred pinapple plants ranging in age from 7 years down to just planted yesterday. Definitely would like to know what you learn.
Another point: 90%+ of our pineapples are white and mature June to August -- that still leaves 9 months of grazing.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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I just kept asking everyone I met who had anything to do with sheep and finally talked to somebody who had had both sheep and pineapples. He said the sheep had no interest in the pineapple fruits or plants, they just grazed up to and around them.
Now I need to figure out how to go about exposing my dogs to sheep to see if they can coexist with the sheep. My puppies are 6 months old poi dogs with a good amount of blue heeler in them, so I think they would be more inclined to herd than attack, and my bigger dog is a two year old rescue dog who is highly self employed as a guard dog. She could decide they are part of her responsibility or that they are a threat, I just don't know. I sure don't want to bring home a couple of sheep just to be terrorized. I want them to be my weed eaters for the back 2/3 of my acre. I figure I will cross fence into two 1/3 acre paddocks with electric fence so I can rotate grazing areas, and keep my ornamental and food garden plants on the front third.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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