Archive for the ‘Uniquely Goat’ Category
Answering Goat Questions: Part II
Following up Answering Goat Questions: Part I, here is Part II:
6. “why do goats poop berries” – This has to do with the way their digestive system is set up (hint: nothing like ours) and what they eat, but you can read all about it at The Straight Dope.
7. “coffee discovered by goats” – Well, yes, kind of. Read all about it at The Legend of Coffee and the Dancing Goats.
8. “training goats” – Hah! Good luck with that. No, seriously, depends on the kind of training you want to do. Goats are highly intelligent, but they can also be stubborn. We’ve taught two of ours to walk on leashes. I don’t know about house-training, though…those little trap doors seem to open and drop a load of goat berries whenever they damn well please.
9. “who is pasqualina” – OK, I don’t know for sure that you were actually looking for *my* Pasqualina, but you can find lots of photos of her on Flickr, her kidding story on this site, and various posts about her at Bleeding Espresso.
P.S. She looks like this:
10. “michelle fabio” + paolo” – OK, pretty sure you were looking for us on this one. Congratulations! You are here.
That’s all until next time; thanks for finding us!
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!
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!)
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!
The Legend of Coffee and the Dancing Goats
Coffee berry by jkirkhart35 on Flickr
Do *you* know how coffee was discovered?
Legend has it that in about 800 A.D. an Ethiopian goatherder named Kaldi noticed his goats dancing around a shrub with bright red berries.
Kaldi deduced that these berries were causing this strange (but fun!) behavior in his goats, so he decided to try them for himself.
[Ed: I probably wouldn’t take this route if my girls start acting funny from something they ate. Call me overly cautious or just plain boring, but you know what you can also call me? Alive.]
Kaldi then experienced one of the world’s first caffeine buzzes as the berries contained what we now know as coffee beans. Some local monks got word of the buzz and started popping coffee berries to stay awake during nightly prayers.
[Ed: Rumors that Kaldi and the monks held weekend dance parties have not been confirmed.]
So there you have it. Goats and coffee. Coffee and goats. Espresso berries and goat berries. A match made in heaven!
[Ed: Or, you know, Ethiopia.]
See, I knew I was meant for this goat thing.
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GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
