Rancher shares before-and-after video after hosting ‘goat slumber party’ to control yard overrun with invasive species: ‘This is great’

A goat farmer who shared the results of a backyard weeding project had TikTokers green with envy over the workers’ sleep.

Cowboymax (@cowboymax) showed a one minute before and after video of the cleanup achieved by 75 goats and sheep in 12 hours. That was all it took to eliminate every bit of accessible greenery in the great yard.

@cowboymax Backyard season is wild, crazy and very rewarding!! #goats #goatgrazing #goatgrazing #goatgrazing #contractgrazing #contractgrazing #targetgrazing #grazingsystems #predictablegoatgrazing #grazingsystem #grazingsystem #qiragoat #refuqizoterevaletë atguy #newmexico #bosque #newmexico #cowboymax ♬ Country Morning Background Music – Keith Fane

“Backyard season is wild, crazy and very rewarding!!” the creator wrote. He said he dropped off the animals on his way home from a big job.

“This is great,” said one user.

Max said the “goat slumber party” makes it affordable for his Galloping Goat Ranch customers. The Rio Rancho, New Mexico-based operation provides a sustainable, environmentally friendly vegetation management service that also helps manage invasive species and mitigate fire risk.

The goats replace gas-powered lawn care equipment, which emits fine particles, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other harmful pollutants, as Grist detailed. Lawnmowers, weed eaters and leaf blowers are also a source of noise pollution and cost a good chunk of change to run.

And while a goat’s life cycle produces its own carbon pollution, goats are still a friendlier alternative than bringing in a full lawn crew using gas powered tools, unless the goats are raised for the sole purpose of performing this task.

Once those goats have eliminated your weed problem, you can plant native species, which help improve biodiversity and are especially attractive to pollinators. They also allow you to conserve water and avoid pesticides and fertilizers, similar to the advantages that a lawn mowed with clover or buffalo grass has over a lawn with less natural grass.

Or you might want to start a garden. Growing your own food can be especially rewarding, as a $70 investment can save you $600 at the grocery store and reduce the demand for globally transported food and the pollution that comes with it.

Commenters on this TikTok, however, were more interested in the cute, earnest ruminants.

“I wasn’t going to do anything for 24+ hours because I was going to sit outside in a lawn chair with a drink and watch the goats!” wrote one.

Another said: “It always amazes me how good they are at cleaning it all up!”

Anyone else wish they didn’t live halfway across the country.

“My neighbor reported me about my Bar,” they said. “I’d love to have a herd of goats come in to eat. My neighbor would be so mad. But I’m in Ohio.”

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