The Goat Makes It Good
Spotted last weekend by faithful reader Austen at the San Francisco Farmer’s Market:
Hard to argue with that logic from the Achadinha Cheese Company.
Do you like goat cheese?
Stay tuned…our adventures making goat cheese will begin shortly!
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!
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.
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.
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.
Caprine Terminology: Common Goat Words
When I started reading up on goats, I quickly realized there are many terms other than “goat” and “kid” that are important to know.
I was reminded of this by Dianne of La Bella Lingua yesterday in the comments, so especially for those of you new to this goat thing, here are some common goat words you’re likely to come across:
- Kid: a goat from birth to six months of age
- Doeling: sexually immature female goat (kind of like a pre-teen)
- Buckling: sexually immature male goat
- Doe: sexually mature female goat
- Dam: a female goat who has kidded a.k.a. Mamma Goat
- Buck: sexually mature male goat (also sometimes called a “billy”)
- Wether: castrated male goat
- Yearling: one-year-old goat
You may also see the term “chevron,” which is, no not the energy company, but the technical term for goat meat.
Another interesting term I’ve come across is “freshen,” which is what happens when the doe gives birth and begins producing milk. Isn’t that quaint? Our does freshened up a storm a couple weeks ago! Hah!
In the coming days, I’ll write more about the basic facts of breeding/kidding, feeding, behavior, etc., but if you have any burning goat questions along the way, please do ask 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!
