The holidays are over, but the feast is not over for everyone. On an urban farm in London, a small herd of goats has been busy eating hundreds of Christmas trees for several days.
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The association that manages the farm, located in Kentish Town in the north of the British capital, collects these trees, which have become unwanted, in the homes of the district in exchange for donations.
The project started last year “when a member of our staff, who has a real soft spot for goats, viewed a video of goats eating Christmas trees,” says farm manager Angela Woods.
This person then said to himself “Ooh, I could try that” with the goats of the association, “and of course, they started to swallow them up”, she continues.
For goats, pine needles are not only a tasty treat, but also a “natural dewormer,” adds Ms. Woods, as four-year-old Rockie pokes her head through the fence to munch on a tree.
Goats eat all parts of the tree except the trunk, leaving the tree “as if it has been nuclear blast,” Mr Woods said.
In a video posted on Twitter last week, we can see the farm goats rushing on a tree and frantically pulling out its needles, even knocking over in the mud the person of the association who had brought it in. ‘enclosure.
The farm has now recovered some 650 trees, the softest of which are fed to goats, while the rest is turned into wood chips for paths in a nearby park.
Locals must pay the association 10 pounds ($ 17) to come and get their tree. For an additional five pounds ($ 8.5), they receive a “thank you note” from the goats.
In total, this action should make it possible to collect 8,500 pounds (14,600 dollars), estimates the association, which for a time suffered from financial problems before being saved two years ago by 100,000 pounds (171,800 dollars). ‘a generous Russian donor.
For Londoners without a garden or fireplace, getting rid of Christmas trees is a headache.
This project is a “perfect solution and it’s great for the goats, great for the farm,” says Woods.
The Kentish Town urban farm, the oldest in the UK, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. It was created by local enthusiasts on the site of an abandoned factory.