With the Christmas season coming to a close many may be wondering, what to do with their Christmas tree? Oftentimes people dispose of their tree but have you ever thought about donating your tree to goats?
For the folks at Aussakita Acres in Manchester, the weeks after Christmas are the most merry and bright as their animals get a special holiday treat -- the donation of used Christmas trees.
"We've got people who come back year after year who are so excited to just come and drop that Christmas tree off over the fence,," Tracy Longoria, the owner of Aussakita Acres, said.
The goats devour it.
Longoria takes care of the goats, sheep, horses and all of the animals day in and day out and said she sees the animals putting the trees the farm receives to good use.
"Christmas trees are packed full of Vitamin C. They're super healthy. So as long as those Christmas trees don't have any hooks, ornaments or tinsel, we'll take the Christmas trees and what we do is we actually recycle them so we feed them to our animals," Longoria said.
Longoria recognizes that there are concerns about the animals eating a tree laced with chemicals but she said they have a way of figuring out what and what not to consume.
"If there's something wrong with that tree -- it's sprayed or something, they walk away from it and leave it and we immediately take it out and put it in our burn pile," Longoria said.
The farmer shares how much joy it brings her and the families that bring the trees.
"We love, absolutely love, our animals and when they get to enjoy a treat it's also super healthy for them. How can you not be happy about that?" Longoria said.
To learn more about Aussakita Acres visit http://aussakita-acres.com/
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