Common Goat Questions

Repeated questions that are asked of goat exhibitors at a livestock show or fair (and even sometimes at markets)...

• "Why do the goats not have ears?"
• "Why do you milk the goat?"
• "Why do you cut off their ears?"
• "Can you drink goat's milk just like you drink cow's milk?"
• "Where are their horns?"

And the one thing I heard a teenage girl say that had my laughing all day...

"Ewww!! I am NEVER going to drink milk now that I know how they get it!!

Last Saturday

Much as I would love to cheat today and just send you over to my mom's blog to hear how last Saturday went, I know that that wouldn't be right, so I will do my best and pray that you can understand it, as I am still trying to catch up on my sleep and think I might have caught "the show bug".

Well, we got up real early; I think we beat the rosters this time. lol At the early hour of 3 some of us got up, while the others crawled out at 3:30. We had to milk, morning chores, load up two vans for market, the rest of the stuff for our show, a trailer with 7 goats, the blue van and the white geo for those going to the goat show, all before 5! And we came pretty close; with me pulling out after dad at 5:15 and the only thing that someone had to go back for was Dad's cell phone. :D

Well, dad dropped all 11 children and 7 goats off at the fairgrounds in Hempstead and left with an old friend for the Austin market. With the help of the older girls we got all the goats and children settled, Christin working on the food for the concession stand with Emma, Sara watching the toddlers, Grace and Linnea working on finishing up the goats for the show, while I headed out with Liberty to pick up doughnuts for the exhibiters.

After I got back I had to look at a goat that was limping and unlike all the other shows where mom gets to make the decisions on whether we keep in animal in the show or scratch her, it was my decision and left me a little uncomfortable since this was mom's pride and joy I was thinking about! So, I got a second opinion and they said it would be best since she would be knocked down in the line for limping. So, that is what I did, much as I hated doing it!

After I finished telling mom and Grace about what I had decided I then checked on Christin and Emma, helped a little with the food and then headed out for the breeders meeting, as soon as that was done I helped with some paper work, checked on all the kids to make sure that Christin and Emma knew what to do with the food. Grace, Sara, and Linnea knew what goats to show, when, were, and all that. And that Timothy, Liberty, Noah, and Judah where behaving themselves for Nathan. After all the children were checked on and everything was as in place as it could be, I headed over to my ring to learn about my new job, ring secretary.

It took a little bit of learning but I got it down, (yes, right at the end of the show) and I am still trying to decide if I want to do it again next year. lol We will have to see.

As for what our goats did, I am still trying to figure that all out. The only one that I really saw placed was my goat. I had a break in my ring for a few minutes due to waiting for another breeder to come out of another ring, so I went to see how my sisters were doing. I got there just in time to see that my goat, the daughter of my first goat and one of the first to have our heard name was being placed FIRST!!! She even topped goats, that had her beat last year and breeders that have been in goats longer then I have been in this world!! There are no words to tell how happy and excited I am. Especially because I came within hours of emailing someone and telling them I was going to sell her! She's a keeper and was so even before she stepped into the ring, but having a judge tell me that I am going in the right direction is just amazing, considering five years ago at this same show I didn't know how to better a goat or even one breed form another!! :D

Emma went second in showmanship, Linnea went second. Libby did REALLY well with an animal that was almost as tall as she is. Sara didn't do as well, but she is still working on it and not quitting! Timothy didn't do too well, but then he never really wants to do it until right before they go into the ring.

Christin did very well in the concession stand, considering there were times when she had to do it by herself. But, we were able to raise some of the money needed to pay the vet bill for Grace's horse and still feed the kids at the show and that night after we got home. :D

We were all dead dog tired when we got home and almost all crashed not to be waken until 7 the next morning. I think we have mostly gotten over it, but we will have to wait and see. :D

I Should Have Known!

Living on a farm for the past four and half years, and living in Houston the 16 years before that, being the oldest of now 11 children, owning a business, and homeschooling has taught me many things. Some of them I learned while living in Houston and some of it I learned out in the country. Some of the things has taught me I need to change, in some ways I have changed, yet in others I am still working on the changing part. The following is a story of where I am still working on changing.

Have you ever heard the saying goats eat everything? Well, truth be told, they don't. Yeah, yeah, I know there is probably going to be one or two people out there who believe me. But it's true! They may get things in their mouth, but they rarely eat it. If you have them nibble on your clothing, take a good look at how much is truly missing. If you were to try and patch it, you would find that not that much was gone, but you would still have holes from their teeth.

Before I get any farther let me say, I LOVE my goats! And am not to keen on purses, but since I learned I like to always have my MP3 player and a 300 page book with me, I might as well get used to carrying it now, instead of later when I HAVE to.

Last week I learned that goats not only like to eat Alfalfa, Hay, grain, and Sunflower seeds, nor do they like to just nibble on books, trees, and school papers. (It's a good thing I don't need to tell my teacher, "My goat eat my homework"!)

But they also like to nibble and I mean just nibble on leather (or was it imitation leather? I don't really know.). But, that is what I found out at the Houston livestock show. I had my purse sitting under the table where we were 'camping' out for the three days there, and someone was worried that a passerby might see it and like it a little to much, so they pushed it back where passerbys couldn't see it. The only problem was that the goats could see it.

So, when I got paid for trimming some goats, I pick up my purse to put my money in it, nothing new and out of the ordinary, right?

Well, when I grabbed one of the handles my hand did not feel the nice smooth leather feeling that it was used to. Rather it feels strings that are starting to fray and wetness. I look from my purse, to my hand, and back to my purse again trying to figure out what was going on. (I will have to add that it was close to the end of a LONG day of trimming, 8 goats in about 20 hours!) So, there I was standing there like an idiot trying to figure out what is going on when a goat next to me gives one of those, "I'm bored, what do you have for me to eat?" cries. And all of a sudden I understand what happened, it was as if I had been hit in the face with the information! lol I look down and the goat is looking at me like, "Hey that's mine! What are you doing with it? roflol

About the only thing I can do (and want to do) at this point is laugh, it was quite comical. Esp if you had been able to see my face. I walk over to the lady who had brought me with her to the show and who's goat had nibbled at my purse. She looks at me and then at my purse, while I say "Your goat likes my purse!". She was horrified, I felt so bad for her! Here I am laughing about it and she wants to go out and buy me a purse right then and there at the rodeo!

Which in turn causes me to be horrified! Here I am with a purse that was given to me by my six year old sister for Christmas. A purse that she had pulled out of a bag full of clothes that someone had given us. She got the purse for free! And if she hadn't found it before I did then mom would have given it to me. (I have a BAAD track record with purses!) Much as I love the fact that Liberty thought about me and got me a purse that would suite me, that was my style, and my favorite size I can part with it easy enough. And I thought is was funny the way that it had to go.

And here the lady is wanting to go and by me a purse at the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo! Have you ever been there and seen those purses?!? They are very, very nice, handcrafted, made with 100% leather, with a high price tag to go along with all of that. And I just couldn't see spending that kind of money to replace a free purse! Not to mention, I had a back up purse sitting in my closet for when something like this happened. I told her very kindly that, it was O.K., I should have kept it away from goats and passerbys and it was just as much my fault as her goats. :D

Well, yesterday morning as I am on my way out to the Dairy to pasteurize I see a car pulling up. Out steps the breeder with a purse. All black leather just the right size to hold my MP3 player and 300 page book, and a few other things! She gives it to me with a word of advice "Don't let the goats nibble on it!".

Just to let you know, if there is anything you like don't let a goat close or they will nibble at it, mind you not eat it, for they will leave enough there for you to see it and miss it. lol