Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category
More Goat Questions Answered!
It’s time again to talk about some of the searches that have brought people to Goat Berries. Read previous entries at Answering Goat Questions: Part I and Part II.
As I mentioned before, goats and watermelons have been on a lot of goatie friends’ minds these days, but here’s what else they’ve been wondering about:
1. Goats fig leaves edible : I’m assuming this is asking whether goats can eat fig leaves. Mine have, although we were told by a an experienced goat herder here that they shouldn’t have too much, so we tend to give them to our girlies just when we’re pruning the fig trees a bit — they never get more than a few branches at a time, and that’s usually weeks or months apart.
2. Goats and pit fruit / can goats eat fruit with seeds/pits : They sure can, and many times they’ll just spit the pit out if they don’t want it. Pasqualina has spit out both apricot and plum pits. It’s *so* fun to watch them eat these as they roll them around in their mouths. That said, don’t give them too many at a time — just like our digestive systems don’t love too much of a good thing like apricots and plums, neither do theirs.
3. Can goats eat banana peelings? : Whoo boy, can they — and my girl Pasqualina *loves* them. Loves bananas too. The other does we had also loved both fruit and peel, but Pinta isn’t old enough to care yet, apparently. Again, though, everything in moderation!
4. Kid goat cries all the time / why does my goat cry : Dig if you will the pic-ture. Oh wait, that’s When Doves Cry. Anyway, this is a tough one and requires that you know your kid pretty well. Some kids are just loud and cry when they want attention or food or milk or all of the above. Generally it’s not a problem unless it sounds like the kid’s in pain.
Of course, my kid cries like she’s in pain when she’s bored, so even that’s not a reliable measure. Who her?
In short, I think the answer to the question is most likely the age-old one: because s/he can. But if the crying seems abnormal to you, do look for other signs of illness such as lack of appetite, bloating, and just otherwise not doing goat-like things.
5. Milky sticky discharge coming out of nanny goat before kidding : Gross, but totally normal. We noticed it on two of ours about 24 hours before kidding. The other one didn’t show anything, or maybe we just weren’t looking (she was the first to go). I actually have a photo of this, but I think you get the idea; if you want to see it though, please feel free to contact me. In any event, you’ll be having a kid or more *very* soon. Congratulations!
Remember if you have any goat questions that aren’t answered somewhere in the blog, don’t be afraid to ask! I can’t promise to know the answer, but I will be happy to put it out there to other goatie lovers if I don’t.
And please feel free to add your bleats of wisdom on the above questions as well!
Buon weekend!
Visiting with Old Goatie Friends
Yesterday I went to visit Margherita, Carmelina, Colombo, and Nina in their new home. You remember them, right? From before we thinned the herd?
Well I’m happy to report that all four are doing *wonderfully.*
Their coats are shiny and clean, and oh my have the babies grown!
I’m saddened to report that Colombo wouldn’t come to me at all.
He seemed to have absolutely no recollection of all the hours we spent playing in the pen, but then he was the shyest of the three kids.
Baby Neeners warmed up to me very quickly though:
I always did have a soft spot for her. Isn’t she becoming a *gorgeous* goatie?!
Then as I petted Nina, something clicked in Margherita as she seemed to recall all the face scratches she got from me during the previous year– and then she wanted more even after I left the pen.
Such a sweet face! I always called her my capra-cuccio (CHOO-choh) because her big eyes always reminded me of a donkey (cuccio means donkey in Italian; capra means goat, of course).
Carmelina was her usual self. She never was one for petties, but I did manage to sneak some in anyway when she wasn’t hovering around the fence looking for food. Yup, same old Carmelina. Always hungry.
But you know what really warmed my heart? When the guy now taking care of them said, completely unsolicited, “Mò non riesco ad ammazzarle!” Now he couldn’t bear to slaughter them.
Yay! It always was part of the deal that none of them would end up on a table, but you never know — and it was great to hear that he had really fallen for the girls and Colombo.
Our lil’ buck-in-training, by the way, just may be off to the next town over to become a stud. Fingers crossed it all works out for him — and that he’ll be more friendly with his does than he was with me.
I’m so happy they’re all doing well, but I have to admit I was in a bit of a funk after we said good-bye. All over again. Just like they got on the back of that Ape yesterday.
I already missed them only minutes after seeing them, so I did the only thing I knew would lift my spirits back up. I visited the home pen to see my Pasqualina, who will always be my baby no matter how big she gets.
There’s just nothing like a girl’s first goat love.
Goats and Watermelon Rinds
Quite a few people have found Goat Berries recently looking for information on whether goats can eat watermelon rinds — so I thought I’d answer that question, at least as it pertains to my girlies.
First of all, you should know that cutting up watermelon around here is quite an event. First, there’s the fruit for the humans, then there’s the part close to the rind but not quite the rind for the goaties, then there’s the rind itself for both the goaties and the hens — all of which are cut up into bite-sized pieces.
The experience with the goats meeting watermelon and its rinds went a little like this:
1st attempt: Both curious. Pasqualina turned up her nose at fruit and rind; Pinta ate a few pieces of fruit.
2nd attempt: Both curious. Pasqualina turned up her nose at fruit and rind; Pinta ate a few pieces of fruit.
3rd attempt: Pinta curious. Pasqualina turned up her nose at fruit and rind without even looking; Pinta ate more fruit and a few pieces of rind.
4th attempt: Pasqualina uber-curious! She finally ate some rind and some fruit, BUT only if I held the roundish container in my hand or handfed her; she wouldn’t eat it out of the oblong container on the ground (even though that is essentially how she eats her feed). Pinta, as always, gobbled up fruit and rind no matter where it was.
So, can goats eat watermelon rinds? Well mine can (looks like it’s time to add another food to the Goat Eats list!), but it took a while for one of them to come around to the idea. Pasqualina surprised me, as she’s usually more adventurous with food; there was something about the watermelon that kept her away, though, even when she saw her daughter was eating it.
In any event, they never get a a whole lot of watermelon or rinds at once; Pinta stops eating them after five pieces or so anyway. But remember, as always, when feeding your goats new things, do so in moderation so you don’t upset their tummies!
Do your goaties like watermelon and/or watermelon rinds?
Goat Berries Reaches 100 “Likes” on Facebook!
What’s that you say?
Goat Berries on Facebook now has 100 “likes?”
Woooooooohooooooooooo!
Thanks so much to everyone who helped Goat Berries on Facebook reach the ever-so-cool 100 “likes” mark! Onward to 200!
If you haven’t yet visited us on Facebook, please do because I post a lot more goat-related links and pen updates over there as well as on Twitter @goat_berries.
Plus these are great ways to meet and chat with other goat lovers like yourself — who, I have to say, are a really welcoming, wonderful bunch. It’s such a joy and privilege to be a part of the Interwebs’ goat world!
Thanks again for reading!
Lots more goatie adventures to come, including our first experience with watermelon rinds….
Goat Brushing, As Inspired By a Cat
My goats aren’t for show, and Pasqualina has always kept herself clean and pretty on her own, so I never even thought about getting a brush — until we rescued a long-haired cat not too long ago:
That’s Giordano, and he is one big furball. Along with kitty kibble, a brush is one of the first things I bought after he came to live with us. And while I was there at the pet store, I picked up another brush to try out on the goaties.
Whoa. If you want to hold a goat hostage, brushing is the way to go.
I’m pretty sure the girls would stand there every day of the week and twice on Sunday for me to run the brush over their new! improved! shinier! happier! coats! Unfortunately for them, the temps have been ridiculously hot over the past couple weeks, so I can’t brush for very long before the sweat literally starts dripping all over us. Gross, I know.
Needless to say, I didn’t feel you’d exactly *want* photographic evidence of the sweat scene, so here’s a Pasqualina picture I played with in iPhoto instead:
Do your goaties love a good brushing too?
The Real Goats of USA Soccer
For those of you not following the World Cup, the United States has a big game today against Algeria.
Yes, I live in Italy and am an Italian/American dual citizen, so I also root for the fighting Azzurri of Italia. But you know what they say: you can take a girl out of the USA (OO-sah as it’s pronounced in Italy), but you can’t take the USA out of the girl.
Apparently, my divided loyalties have rubbed off on my goats, because they can’t wait to get their hooves, well, teeth on any and all things red, white, and blue — and these girls really aren’t usually clothes nibblers, honestly!
You can’t see it from the photos, but my t-shirt has on something like this:
And so USA soccer/calcio/football fans, the next time you need a goat, we have your goats right here. You know, I’m thinking there’s a great marketing opportunity in there somewhere…aha!
The Real Goats of USA Soccer.
Bravo? Call me.
Let’s bleat.
Sponsor the Old Goats of Apifera!
GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
