Goats ‘delight’ at Hamilton property as they destroy invasive buckthorn one bite at a time

A goat’s appetite is nothing to kid about. 

That’s what Natalie Feisthauer learned last week when she called in a team of 50 goats to munch through two acres of invasive buckthorn shrubs on her rural Hamilton property — to great success. 

The level of buckthorn clearing the goats accomplished in two days — by mouth no less — would normally take Feisthauer and her husband weeks if not months to pull out and chop down by hand, she said. 

“They’re so much more efficient than we could ever be,” Feisthauer said. “And they’re quite a joy actually — an absolute delight. They’re so cute and very friendly, and hard to stay away from.” 

Across southern Ontario, goats are becoming, well, the G.O.A.T. — otherwise known as the Greatest Of All Time — when it comes to tackling invasive plant species. 

In recent years, property owners, conservation authorities and municipalities have turned to “eco-herds” to chow down not only buckthorn but also phragmites, Manitoba maple, dog strangling vine, vetch and Canada thistle, to name a few. 

For about a decade, Feisthauer and her husband have been playing a game of “whack-a-mole” with the aggressively spreading buckthorn — clearing one area of their 10 acres, only for it to spread to another. Buckthorn is a problem because it quickly becomes dense, changes soil composition, blocks sunlight and stops native plants from growing.

Recently the couple turned to the Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) to help manage it without herbicides, Feisthauer said. They decided to focus on two areas with especially dense thickets of buckthorn — and to bring in the specialists. 

Goat lover brings the herd

Goats in the City, a goat-rental company based out of King City, Ont., arrived at the property last week with a trailer of goats ready to bleat around the bush. 

It was their first job in Hamilton and one they thoroughly enjoyed, said goat lover Ian Matthews, 58, company founder and president, who is also writing a book about everything he’s learned from goats.

Buckthorn is like candy for them, he said. The “little lawn mowers” seek buckthorn out while eating around important native plants like milkweed, preserving them in the process. 

Goats have another advantage. 

Buckthorn spreads when birds and other animals eat their berries and then poop out the seeds, which then grow in new spots, said Matthews. The goat digestive process, on the other hand, damages the seeds so they can’t grow once excreted.  

“Our idea is to use nature to cure nature,” said Matthews, who owns 126 goats in total.

Growing up in Jamaica, his family raised goats. By age 11, he was in charge of about 50, Matthews said.

But as a kid, he always wanted to be something other than a goat herder. When he and his family eventually moved to Canada, he pursued a career as a mortgage broker instead.

Then, years later, he began helping his dad care for his goats, this time in the GTA, and couldn’t get enough.

“My whole childhood experience with goats came flooding back and I just fell back in love with them,” he said. 

By 2021, he’d launched Goats in the City and has been putting the goats to good use ever since. 

Bred to be friendly, each goat has its own personality — for better or worse, Matthews said. 

“Believe me, it’s not always fun, but it’s always interesting.”