Guinea pigs to mow the lawn

I broke my spine a few years ago.  I can walk which is lovely and I appreciate the time I have had being able to walk.  I have known people to break their spine in a similar way to me and never walk again, so I count myself lucky.

My back is degrading, every day seems to be worse than the previous one.  Each time I mow the lawn I wonder how many more times I will be able to mow.  My kids are getting older and more capable, but none of them are able to safely use a lawn mower.  I am struggling to even use the ride on mower lately.  I got rid of some lawn and replaced it with vegetable beds, but I still have some lawn for the kids to play on.

This got me thinking, why mow the lawn at all?  Why not get something that eats grass to mow the lawn for me?

We are not on acreage any more so my options are limited.  Large livestock such as sheep or goats or cattle or alpacas are no good here as they would eat the fruit trees, they would eat the vegetables, and due to the size of my block eventually we would be left with nothing but dust and poo.

Sheep are great on acreage, not great for a backyard

Muscovy ducks or even geese are perfect on acreage but far too messy for a backyard.  Chickens are good, but they made too much mess on the deck and did too much damage so have been put into a large run under the established fruit trees.  I do have plans of getting some Chinese silkie chickens that may be able to free range and help keep the lawn under control, but they are not terribly efficient.

I heard of a man who has an orchard where he free ranges guinea pigs.  He has barrels as their houses and originally put a pair in each.  Apparently they did not stray very far from home.  They breed fast, and were able to replace any that were eaten by hawks or snakes.  They worked perfectly and meant no slashing and far better soil health.

I knew someone else who tried free ranging guinea pigs on their urban lawn during the day and locking them up at night to protect from urban foxes.  Apparently it worked tremendously well, they had a perfectly manicured lawn for a few years.  The guinea pigs never strayed out of the yard, they even neatly trimmed the edges near the path and eat all the weeds from under fruit trees!  Then someone moved nearby who had a cat that they allowed to roam, the cat killed all of their guinea pigs in one single day.

Unfortunately I can't try to free range guinea pigs as too many irresponsible people here own cats but take no responsibility for them.  They make no effort to keep them on their property.  They allow their cats to roam free, which means that I can't have free range guinea pigs mow my lawn for free.  I lose money because they simply can't be bothered looking after their pets.  Hardly seems fair to me.

Guinea Pigs mowing my lawn one patch at a time

So if I can't have large livestock, and I can't use ducks or geese, and I can't free range guinea pigs, then I have to think of something else.  So we currently have the guinea pigs in a movable cage.  It works similar to a chicken tractor.

I move the cage each morning before going to work and each afternoon when I return home.  Each weekend I move it several times during the day.  This is better than nothing, and means less mowing, but it is nowhere near as good as free ranging them.  Sometimes I get the kids to help me move the cage.

The cage itself cost far more money than simply setting up some stationary homes for them.  The cage needs moving which is hard on my back, if they were free ranged they would roam about and eat as much as they wanted whenever they wanted.  There are places that I can't get my cage that would be nicely trimmed if they were free ranged.  As you can see in the pictures, I often miss little parts when I move the cage.

Keep mowing little piggies!  You can do it!

At this stage I only have the one cage, I would get more but can't afford them and can't justify the price.  I need more than one cage as by the time I get to the end of the front lawn the start is due for mowing and the back lawn hasn't been touched at all.  As I am getting used to moving this cage I am missing less parts so the lawn is more even and looks less like a chess board. The lawn is actually relatively neat at the moment.

Over winter and summer when the lawn grows slowly the guinea pigs can take care of all my mowing.  During spring and autumn the lawn grows much too fast for one small cage to keep up with.  I still have to mow, just not as often and not as much of the lawn.

Guinea pigs doing a great job, still a way to go

If I had more cages, and more guinea pigs, I would never have to mow again!