Goats

Discussion in 'Pets & Critters' started by Tom Locke, Nov 11, 2015.

  1. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I like goats. I came across lots of them during my days in Africa and have had a soft spot for them ever since. It's something of a myth that goats eat anything; it's more correct to say that they will try anything, but if they don't fancy it, they'll spit it out.

    Goats can do all sorts of things when it comes to climbing. They can ascend and descend the most improbable mountain paths and it's this skill that leads to this particular adaption performed by domestic goats. A lot of people think that this is made up, but I've seen it in real life in Ethiopia. Yes, goats in trees.

    tree-dwelling-goats.jpg
     
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  2. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    We had three goats at one time. They would follow us around like puppies. I wish we had some now to help clean up the property.
     
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  3. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    There is also a "fainting", or more correctly myotonic, goat that collapses in a heap when startled. They don't fall unconscious, but their muscles lock up and they go into a form of seizure. This appears to do them no harm whatsoever.

    Fainting_goat.jpg
     
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  4. Ina I. Wonder

    Ina I. Wonder Supreme Member
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    @Tom Locke, I have heard of this before. I wonder what bebifit this is for the goats? There must be a reason that this action developed, but for the life of me I can't think of how this 'fainting' help the goats. It seems to me that this action woulds make the poor little creatures more vulnerable to attacks from predators.
     
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  5. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    Nobody seems to have discovered how this condition originated, but it only happens in this particular breed. As it is a domesticated breed, there are no great problems with predation.
     
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  6. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    Ive eaten goat meat, but only because I didnt know what it was. Once in Hungary and once in Indiana. We had some Greek friends who made made it sometimes.

    Both times I had it I liked it....but if I had known in advance what it was, I wouldnt have tried it.
     
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  7. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    Goat meat was eaten widely in the African countries that I worked in. Being a vegetarian, I didn't have any, but I've had milk and cheese from goats. I'm not so keen on the milk, but I like goat's cheese.
     
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  8. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    That's the one cheese Im not too fond of, Tom.
     
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  9. Terry Page

    Terry Page Supreme Member
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    I love goats, we had a small flock of seven of various breeds during the 1970s, when doing the back to nature bit, I used to milk them twice a day and got between 2 and 4 gallons a day, sold the excess to a local health food shop, though these days with all the health regulations wouldn't have been able to. A few of them were escapologists and ending up devouring the flower beds and some of the washing on the line. We had a house on a couple of acres with ducks, chickens and a pig, they were happy times raising our two daughters, who loved the animals and the freedom to play in the fields.
     
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  10. Terry Page

    Terry Page Supreme Member
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    I don't mind the meat but made lots of cheese and I liked the milk better than cows milk. The taste of the milk depended on what they ate, once a couple escaped into a nearby field full of wild garlic, and the next couple of days we had garlic milk which is pretty awful, lol
     
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    Last edited: Nov 11, 2015
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  11. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    We had a milking goat for years. I guess the milk was used for cheese because no one in the family liked goat milk. I don't think that I ever once made it back in the house with any goat's milk when I was assigned to milk the stupid goat because she'd kick over anything I might have been able to get in the pail.
     
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  12. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    Garlic milk sounds like the perfect product for Latvia in particular!
     
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  13. Terry Page

    Terry Page Supreme Member
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    Yes ;) I guess so, I could have used it in cooking or making garlic cheese maybe, but never thought it about at the time, I seem to recall grazing on cabbage wasn't a good idea either, strawberries may have been good though :)
     
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  14. Terry Page

    Terry Page Supreme Member
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    Yes I did have one goat who insisted on putting her foot in the pail just as you finished milking lol
     
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  15. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I used to have milk goats, too. I tried making cheese but it did not turn out good. We used the milk, and also gave it to the cats and the dogs, and it is great for using to wean puppies off of their mother, or if you have to raise an orphan. I even used it sometimes when weaning a foal from the mother, or feeding a calf.

    I think that all goats are escapologists, @Terry Page ! Even with an electric fence, they will lay down and slide under on their side or tummy when possible.
    If they can't get through the fence, they will certainly get their head stuck in between the wires if you are using a stock fence with the 8" squares.
    Even when they have horns, they can bend their necks just right to get their head through the fence, and then can't get back out again, and there they will be, squalling for someone to come and rescue them.

    I used to have a milking stand, and that helps a whole lot to keep them standing still while you are milking them; but once they finish the grain, they are ready to get down, and can certainly kick the bucket of milk . And usually right into your lap, so you not only lose the milk; but are also covered with it !
    As long as you are not milking them, they are normally pretty friendly critters, and will often follow you around like a pet dog.
     
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