Goats at the airport? Travelers who fly into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport may notice some goats roaming the grassy areas of the airport as the airport is using them to take care of weeds.
The Department of Aviation will announce that they've awarded a contract to Central Commissary Holdings LLC, which operates the restaurant Butcher & The Burger, to bring roughly 25 goats to the airport as part of its pilot vegetation-management program, the Chicago-Tribune reports.
According to Joseph Arnold, partner at Butcher & The Burger, the goats which currently live on a farm will make "the perfect lawn mowers" for the airport.
The goats will be delivered to the airport in about a month and they will go to work, grazing on the overgrown grass. The goats should be able to take care of 250 square feet of vegetation each day.
The restaurant is excited to provide their goats for the program. Butcher & The Burger is a build-your-own burger restaurant and butchery.
"We raise our own hogs and chickens, and bought these goats on a whim a while ago, not thinking a goat burger wouldn't be on the menu," Arnold said. "When (the city) put the bid out, we thought it was a really cool local, sustainable idea. We're all from Chicago, and this is the type of thing we're all about."
The goats won't be running wild around the airport. They will be kept in secured, fences areas which aren't near runways. They will be herded by a shepherd and will be able to roam 120 acres at four different party of the airport. The target areas include places with rocky terrain, hilly areas along creeks or streams and roadways covered with dense brush.
According to Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino, the goats will help the airport to become more sustainable and eco-friendly. It will also save money for the city and will spare expensive machinery in areas that are hard to access.
"The embankments cause wear and tear on our machinery and are difficult for our team members to reach," Andolino said. "It's not like mowing your lawn. We're utilizing natural resources more efficiently."
When the goats aren't grazing, they'll be kept in a trailer or tentlike structure. The airport has a contract with Central Commissary Holdings until the end of 2014. The goats will only graze in the spring and summer and will return to the Barrington Hills farm in the fall.
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