Feeding the Goats

Hi, it's Celia again!

Most people think that goats eat anything. That's not true. Chickens eat anything, but goats are very picky.

We feed our goats grain in the morning. Mali, the goat we milk, gets the expensive stuff. Mom says if we're going to the trouble of milking her, then we are going to feed her the good stuff. Plus, it's the only way we can get her to walk to the milking stand every morning. Mali also goes out on pasture every day. Mom and I REALLY, REALLY want to fence in the whole property, but for now Mali gets tethered, and the other goats stay in the goat yard and have food brought to them. Like they were at a restaurant. It wasn't too much work when we had hay, but the hay is gone, so now we have to harvest the food. Harvest. I like that word. It's all farm-y.

We harvest whatever is growing. For the past few weeks it was the weeds from the flower beds. But now it's wild raspberry, roses, and small trees. Some of our property is wooded, so we have lots of wild things to choose from. It's like a giant goat pantry.

Mom does most of the harvesting. She's not afraid of bugs, snakes, or other things that I won't go near. You know what she is afraid of? Horses! She says she doesn't like animals that are bigger than her. Anyway, she uses this knife thingy and whacks away at the tree or bush.

And then she throws it in the goat yard for the goats to enjoy. This top picture is of Brie eating a rose bush, and the second one is of Babybel eating a raspberry bush.