Archive for April, 2010
Honk If You Heart Pinta!
In Mixing Dams and Kids…and the Power of the Honk, I mentioned that Pinta has this weird noise she makes when she’s playing with the other kids.
Well I’ve got it on video. This particular honk (at around the 15 second mark) isn’t *quite* as honky as she used to do it, but I think you’ll still enjoy it along with all the literal bouncing off the walls:
Honk if you ♥ Pinta!*
Guess we won’t be taking her to NYC any time soon, though. Look what I spotted the last time I was there:
Harumph. Honk haters.
*Thanks to my friend Julie for the title!
I Kissed a Goat…and I Liked It!
The other day, faithful reader Lori commented how she wanted to give Pinta a little kiss on her head, and I told her I’d do it for her.
Because you know I kiss the goats, right?
I don’t do it when Paolo is around, of course; he thinks kissing the dogs is weird…imagine what he’d think of goat kissing!
And you know what else? I don’t only kiss them on the head. Yes, I think it’s time I come clean.
Come in close…
Closer…
I kiss them on the lips.
Yes, it’s true. And I know I’m not the only one who does this. How do I know? Because of this adorable design from GetYerGoat.com:
Phew. I feel better now.
Wanna smooch?
Dammi un bacio!
(Give me a kiss!)
Pinta Appears at Nanny Goats in Panties!
Just in case you haven’t heard the exciting news, be sure to check out our own lil’ Pinta over at the wonderfully caprine-themed site, Nanny Goats in Panties.
Margaret’s Nanny Goats site has been in my feed reader for a long time, so it’s truly a pleasure to have one of our kids make an appearance…perhaps next time they’ll even put on some panties for the occasion!
To thank Margaret, I’ve put her button over there on the far sidebar, and I’ll also take this opportunity to encourage you to click around the sites I’ve linked to in both sidebars. If you love goats (and I know you do!), you’re going to love all of them.
Introducing New Food to Goats: Pea Pods
Last week I arrived home to find several bags of emptied out pea pods in front of our door. I assume these were for the goats because, um, that’d be an awfully weird gift for someone otherwise.
How’s that for southern Italian hospitality? Even the goats get presents!
Well, I’m happy to report the girls LOVE the pea pods! Who knew goats and peas were like peas and carrots?* They gobbled them up so fast, I couldn’t even get good photos of the action. Should’ve taken video. Hmm. Next time. You’ll have to suffer through some gratuitous kid photos instead, OK?
Back to the pea pods. Even little Pinta snagged some pieces to munch on (the other two kids turned up their adorable widdle noses).
As the experts recommend, we make sure the goats (and kids) don’t eat a whole lot of anything new all at once. Pian piano (slowly) as the Italians say.
Regarding kids, they are born without developed rumens in their stomachs, which is why they only drink milk for a while. Now, though, at just about a month old, all the kids are starting to munch on hay and fresh greens, a little at a time. They actually seem pretty good about regulating themselves. It’s truly amazing how much animals just *know,* isn’t it?
Even as adults, though, goats shouldn’t have too much of a good thing all at once; the delicate balance of even fully developed rumens can be thrown off by a large quantity of a new food. This, in turn, can cause digestive disturbances (diarrhea, etc.) or even death if the rumen shuts down completely.
Regarding new foods, we have one goat, Margherita, who will *never* eat anything new the first time; Carmelina, on the other hand, barely even sniffs something new before snarfing it down. Pasqualina has a middle-of-the-road, cautiously optimistic approach. That’s my baby!
Goats really do have unique personalities, and it’s been so fun to just watch and learn and get to know our goats and kids. Paolo and I joke it’s like our own Discovery Channel…in diretta (live). Molto cool.
*There’s a great list of Edible & Poisonous Plants for Goats at Fias Co Farm!
The Goat Makes It Good
Spotted last weekend by faithful reader Austen at the San Francisco Farmer’s Market:
Hard to argue with that logic from the Achadinha Cheese Company.
Do you like goat cheese?
Stay tuned…our adventures making goat cheese will begin shortly!
On Goats, Banana Peels, Tin Cans, and Pants
You know you’re a goat mom when after you eat a banana, without thinking, you split the peel into six parts — two for each of your goats.
Did you know goats love banana peels? Mine sure do.
They do *not* however eat tin cans. Yes, I know what you’ve heard. LIES! ALL LIES, I tell you! Seriously, it’s a nasty rumor, so let’s just stop it right here.
They may, however, nibble on your pants if given half the chance as recently happened to Jorge Garcia, Hurley of Lost, at Maui Surfing Goat Dairy:
Thanks to my friend Girasoli of Shave Ice & Gelato for passing along that link.
If you have any other questions about what goats eat, please leave them in the comments!
Sponsor the Old Goats of Apifera!
GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
