Archive for the ‘Goat Eats’ Category
Goats and Cantaloupe
I recently found a new food that Pasqualina loves: cantaloupe.
Here she is *so* happy to get some cantaloupe rinds:
I just love watching goats eat, don’t you?
I call this blackmail material for when future prom dates show up:
OK, admittedly, this is only for true goat lovers, but here is some video of Pasqualina meets cantaloupe:
By the way, Pasqualina doesn’t care for the melon or seeds; just the rinds. Except for when a rind touches the ground…then it stays there.
Blech, says Pasqualina, and I can’t blame her. And then the rind gets recycled to the chickens.
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!
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!
