Tired of your Christmas tree? Feed it to a goat

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Now that Christmas is over, many are left with the chore of what to do with the once-festive tree that is now just so much junk.

While there are drop off sites provided by municipalities and counties, one option you may not have considered is feeding your tree to a goat.

Lewis Farms and Petting Zoo, located at 4180 M-20, is an attraction just off US-31 at New between Muskegon and Ludington.

“I am fourth-generation, so we’ve been farming here since the early 1900s,” said Scotts Lewis, whose 700-acre farm grows apples, cherries and peaches and for the last 15 years has been the site of a petting zoo and farm market that opens in the spring and lasts through Oct. 31.

“We’ve got your typical barnyard-type animals, we have miniature donkeys, miniature horses, chickens, ducks, goats and then we get into the exotics we have camels here we have wallabies, herd of fallow deer and we also have a pair of ring-tail lemurs,” says Jenny Ferels, a farm employee who helps get the word out.

With 40 goats in addition to the others, one thing is a constant: hungry animals – some more demanding than others.

So, the farm has developed an unexpected treat for the goats.

“They seem to really like the Christmas trees, we started throwing out our trees after Christmas way back when and found out how much they enjoyed it and how there was not much left after a couple days,” Lewis said.

“They asked the community for trees and we get them dropped off and it’s a great enrichment activity and treat for the goats all winter long,” said Ferel. “Give them a day or two and they will pick that tree clean.”

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