Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category
Answering Goat Questions: Part I
Those of you with websites know that far too much fun can be derived from looking through the search terms people used to find your site.
The searches for Goat Berries have been extra interesting to read as they let me know what fellow goat people want to know. I’ve noticed some questions I haven’t yet answered, so I’m going to answer some here (mostly about the kidding process) and then more in Part II, forthcoming:
1. “lover of goats in Italian” – Literally, it would be “l’amante delle capre,” but in Italian you’d more likely say someone is “appassionato (or appassionata if it’s a woman) delle capre.” It’s safe to say I’m one of those.
2. “should I separate goat when kidding” – Most things I read on the Internet and in books talk about kidding stalls to separate the mom from the rest of the herd when she’s about to give birth. In fact, we did separate out one of our moms because we thought she’d be more comfortable that way.
The other two of our dams, though, gave birth in the same pen with the other present (and one even had another kid present). Everything went fine, but I imagine this is something you get a feel for regarding specific goats and their preferences.
3. “goat how long after water sac birth” – When Pasqualina gave birth, her water broke, she had about two minutes of rest (if that), and then she started pushing. We had a kid within five minutes or so, with the whole birth taking not more than 15 minutes.
4. “goat kidding – fresh blood” – This is an interesting query. I actually expected more blood with the birth of the kids, but there really wasn’t any during the actual birth. Lots of goo, yes, but not blood.
The moms *did* however pass fresh blood the following day (usually in clots) and also for the following two weeks — *not* constant streams of blood by any means, just every once in a while. In sum, if you think you’re seeing too much blood, you probably are, so call a veterinarian. Better to err on the side of caution.
5. “what if the goat doesn’t deliver the placenta” – You could have yourself a problem here. A new goat mom should pass her placenta within 24 hours or so of giving birth, but if you weren’t watching the whole time, she may have eaten it. Or a dog may have eaten it, if it had access.
Our three goats all passed the placenta completely within two or three hours of giving birth (in all cases it started to come out almost immediately). If yours hasn’t done so after a whole day, you may have a “retained placenta” on your hands, and you should consult a veterinarian. Basically the vet is going to have to give her something to start contractions to get it out.
Stay tuned for more questions and answers in Part II!
Buon weekend!
Three Baby Goats Standing on a Ledge…
Sounds like the beginning of a song, doesn’t it? Nope, just a regular day in the goat pen.
And also my Goat Berries entry for the She Who Blogs 3rd Anniversary Photo Contest in which contestants are asked to submit their take on the theme “3” or “THREE” if you prefer.
Up for grabs is a $33 Amazon gift certificate; you still have time to submit your photo (contest ends May 8th), so get snapping!
And good luck!
P.S. I also put up a “3” photo over at Bleeding Espresso.
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!)
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!
Goat Games in the Pen
Kids like to play — and Nina, Pinta, and Colombo are no exception.
Now that all the dams and kids are together, playtime has become quite an event. Some of the kids’ favorite games include the following:
King and Queen of the Mountain:
Follow the Leader:
Peek-a-boo:
And my personal favorite, Goat Yoga:
Aaaaah. And…rest.
Mixing Dams and Kids…and the Power of the Honk
A funny thing has happened in the pen now that we’ve been letting all the moms and kids hang out together as a herd. Remember we had previously put Pasqualina in a kidding stall by herself in one pen because the other two bullied her?
Well in the past few days, we’ve been opening the gate between the pens to let them all interact. So, you throw everyone in together and here’s the new dynamic:
Pasqualina is super-protective of Pinta and will chase down the other two kids for no reason other than their existence.
The other two dams still pick on Pasqualina when there’s fresh food around, but during playtime, Pasqualina and Margherita lock horns (figuratively, as they don’t have any horns) just like they used to when it was just the two of them.
Every now and again, Carmelina will look threateningly at Pasqualina and raise her ears; Pasqualina gives the look and ears back, and they just kind of go off into their own little spaces. They don’t spar much at all. Truth be told, for the most part, the groups just switch pens and investigate.
But the biggest surprise? Pinta is a little fireball!
I was initially worried about her feeling left out of the other two kids’ bonding experience and also being vulnerable to dam attacks because her own mom has been bullied in the past.
But Pinta has *no* fear of the other kids or dams. Indeed, at first the other kids shied away from her advances (they’re starting to engage more now), and although the other dams give her a rear-end nudge now and again, it’s nothing nearly as hard as they still give to the other kid who’s not their own.
The most hilarious thing, though, which I must catch on video, is when Pinta runs at full speed from one end of the pen to the other and announces her presence with a hop, stop, and honk, usually within inches of one of the dams who isn’t her mom.
Yes, a honk! It’s a rather unique noise that seems to want to be a snort, but since she’s so little, it comes out kind of honky. Almost like a kazoo. Hilarious!
I’ve seen kids sneeze at each other in play, but that honk is just over the top. And oh so very Pinta.
Our lil’ Pinters.
Sponsor the Old Goats of Apifera!
GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
