A friend told me about this muzzle which prevents sheep from eating vines in vineyards, but lets the sheep graze the grass/weeds.
Food safety GAP rules discourage farmers from using livestock for weed control in orchards by the the withdrawal periods required (livestock must be removed from the orchard 120 days prior to harvest) but I still think the “WineBaa” a cool idea for livestock weed control in the orchard.
Perhaps it could have some application for large backyard orchards here in the U.S.?
I have considered this,
Have decided any benefit of weed control would be negatively off set due to soil compaction.
I believe this could be good , with intensive rotational grazing,
Keeping animals " somewhere else? " when the soil is wet.
Iam not an animal person.( Per say.) and my soil is heavy red clay, susceptible to companion when wet. But I like the idea.
In construction work they use a" sheeps foot roller "to compact soil. ,!
I suppose they call it that for a reason ?
While a sheep is a small animal, they have small feet.
So all there weight is put in a small foot print,resulting in compaction.
This is a cool idea. A bit like a grazing muzzle for a horse, except for a sheep. I would be worried about them taking it off ( like horses love to do with grazing muzzles) or getting overheated. My sheep( when I had them) always went straight for my fruit trees. Even with lush grass around. Ive switched to cows, who also love to eat trees, but can be staked far enough away from trees to not cause damage to the roots.
Never heard of using sheep, but here in MD there are at least two companies I know of that have a travelling herd of goats they use to control weeds. They eat anything and everything though, so they only work when you want serious defoliation. They do a heck of a job though. It’s amazing what a small herd can do in just a few days.