Archive for the ‘Goats in the News’ Category
Southern Italian Goats (Not Mine) Star in Cannes Award-Winning Film
*The full post appears at Bleeding Espresso, but I thought my goat-loving friends would also enjoy so I’m mentioning it here as well.*
Le Quattro Volte courtesy of MUBI
Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times), a film set in Calabria by director Michelangelo Frammartino, won the 2010 Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. From the trailer and clips I have seen, it beautifully captures the simplicity of life in this gorgeous land I’m proud to call home while effectively relating the universal idea that each of us has “four distinct lives [mineral, vegetable, animal, and man] and so we have to get to know ourselves four times” (my translation from the official trailer below).
The fact that the story revolves around a goatherd isn’t exactly lost on me either.
A description of the film from Tim Lloyd at AdelaideNow:
An old goatherd takes his flock to feed in the high pastures of Calabria then milks them at his stalls at a spectacular hilltop village, where the rhythm and ritual of life appears unchanged in centuries. His cure-all for his failing health is the blessed ash from ceremonies at the local church. He dies, and at his death a newborn goat takes its first breath. It suits the off-beat and curiously satisfying vision of the film, that the goatherd is resurrected as a goat, then as a tree, and eventually as a mineral.
Le Quattro Volte was also named one of the nine best films for 2011 by the Guardian. For more information, be sure to click over to Le Quattro Volte: Cannes Winner Beautifully Describes Calabrian (and Universal) Life — Without Words.
The Sad, Twisted Tale of the Gavle Christmas Goat
The Gävle Goat is a 13-meter (42+ feet) tall straw structure that’s built in the center of Gävle, Sweden at Christmastime every year.
Read on...Goats Singing Christmas Carols
Greta the singing goat
Well you’ve seen baby goats bouncing around to the tune of Jingle Bells, so you had to figure this wasn’t too far behind.
St. Helen’s Farm in Seaton Ross, England have started up a singing competition among their goats after workers realized that the goats produced more milk when listening to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You.
The three goats competing for top honors were Greta, Gertrude, and Gladys — with Greta coming out on top with over 50% of the online vote.
Even though the competition is over, you can still be your own judge. Check out Greta’s winning rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Gladys’ Silent Night, and Gertrude’s Oh Come All Ye Faithful at the St. Helen’s Farm YouTube channel (or right at the dairy’s website) and then come back here and let us know:
Who do you think has the best, ahem, voice?
Do Your Goats Need a Goat Tower?
OK, *need* is a strong word, but remember when we talked about goat bridges, and how you shouldn’t show your goats that bridge if you weren’t willing to follow through?
Well check this out:
Goats in the Tower on Flickr by George Conard
And there are lots more goat towers at Goat Towers Around the World.
Anyone else kind of jealous of those goats? How fun would it be to have your very own tower?
Imagine the amazing views!
How to Choose the Best Goat Milk Breed for You
Friend and faithful reader Salena, the beautiful, glamorous truck driver behind one of my favorite reads The Daily Rant, recently sent me an email entitled “Goat Crazy.” She explained how she can’t even look through magazines anymore without checking out things that mention goats.
Pasqualina and Pinta take that as a huge compliment!
Pinta and her favorite part of the hay
Salena sent along this page from the October 2010 edition of Country Living:
October 2010 Country Living
A reader had asked what the best goat breed for milk is, and the answer is, of course, the lovely Saanen (pictured above). You know, like Millie over at Eden Hills?
Toggenburgs are also mentioned as great, but to be honest, I’ve never heard of them, so how great can they be? Just kidding. Hah! Get it? Kidding! Ahem. They’re actually one of the oldest, most reliable dairy breeds around, but I don’t hear of many people who actually have them.
La Manchas are good for milk too, according to the article, especially to double as pets because they have such “sweet dispositions,” and Nubians are excellent cheese producers because their milk has lots of butterfat; La Manchas also have high butterfat content, whereas Saanens tend to have low butterfat — but again, Saanens produce lots and lots of milk, so if you’re not particularly keen on cheesemaking, you might not care about butterfat.
Regarding size, Saanens and Nubians are large while La Manchas are medium-sized; and remember you can also consider a small dairy goat breed like the Nigerian Dwarf — adorable, great milk producers, and queens of the butterfat competition to boot.
So, if you’re looking for a dairy goat (well, at least two because you know the goaties don’t like to be alone), it really depends on your specific needs. Some things to consider include but are not limited to the following:
- What you intend to do with the milk;
- Whether you want the goats for companionship as well as for production;
- How big you want your goats;
- How much time, space, and money you have to care for the goats.
Of course, you can keep a dairy goat as a pet and never breed her for milk at all — in which case your list of considerations will be shorter.
If you just want a pet goat as a companion, though, you might consider getting a wether, a castrated male. Well, two! Not only are they friendly, fun, and not smelly like uncastrated males (sorry, bucks, it’s the truth), but you also may be saving them from being butchered, the fate of many male kids.
What else should potential dairy goat caretakers think about?
If you have dairy goats, what breed do you have and why?
Colbert Names Goats as Scapegoats for Unemployment Rate
We’ve talked about goats cleaning up the Vanderbilt Estate and also about some hardworking Goat Busters in Virginia, and now Stephen Colbert has caught on to the trend. Check out this *hilarious* report on those who have “gone goat”:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| People Destroying America- Goats Steal Landscaping Jobs | ||||
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And yes, goat berries (the real thing, not this site) play quite a role in the story!
This isn’t the first time Colbert has singled out goats on his show, either. Back when the George Clooney film The Men Who Stare at Goats was coming out, he did another ridiculously funny bit about the power of the goat:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Goat Lab – Jon Ronson | ||||
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It certainly seems like Colbert has a soft spot in his heart for goaties…and who could blame him? Come to the other side Stephen . . . the pasture is fine!
Sponsor the Old Goats of Apifera!
GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
