I read Goat Song by Brad Kessler about two years ago, before I started this website, so I never did mention it here — and I really must. It’s a truly wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.

Kessler’s writing is simply beautiful; the book both tells the story of the goat song and is, itself, a song dedicated to goats. He describes the connection with nature, history, and yourself that raising goats provides, noting that throughout time, goats have been the subjects of many legends and stories, always “helping humans or leading them to unexpected places.”

“If you follow living beings assiduously in the field, or through the lens of a microscope,” writes Kessler, “they lead you to an understanding of their lives, and all life. They usher you into a kind of Eden.”

Simply beautiful.

There were just a *few* tangents I could have done without in the book, parts I thought started to veer quite widely from where I wanted the book to go, but I can appreciate the symbolism of this as herding certainly lends itself to meandering.

I get an overwhelming sensation of calm just writing about this book, and so I highly recommend Goat Song to goat lovers as well as to anyone who enjoys the concept of a simpler life,  being in Thoreau-like tune with nature, and/or meditation.

You can read an interview with Brad Kessler at The Fourth River, listen to him talk about herding goats (the “real” oldest profession in the world) at On Point with Tom Ashbrook, and read an excerpt of Goat Song at Simon & Schuster.

I just stumbled across this today — anyone remember this from Sesame Street? I didn’t at first, but then the chorus started to sound familiar the more I heard it:

It ain’t bad to get maaaaaad!

Can’t imagine why Sesame Street thought “ain’t” wasn’t baaaaaad, but it’s still a cute video and slice of childhood for this Monday morning.

Hope everyone has a great week!

As the humans in our house increasingly move toward using natural and homeopathic remedies, we’ve been doing the same with our animals as well. Two things keep coming up in my research as kind of cure-alls and/or preventive measures for just about everything from respiratory problems to parasites to rumen issues: apple cider vinegar (ACV) and grapefruit seed extract (GSE).

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) and grapefruit seed extract (GSE) (Italian versions)

Everything I’ve read says to just add drops to the goat’s (or chicken’s or dog’s) water; some give ratios though most don’t. Both can also be applied topically (diluted with water) if you’re aiming to get rid of lice and such.

So I’m wondering whether fellow goat people have used either or both of these, and if so, if you have measurements to share. Also, have you found them to be effective as either treatment or preventative or both? In goats, humans, chickens, dogs, other animals?

And have you ever had trouble getting your animals to actually drink the water once it has the ACV or GSE added?

Any and all opinions and experiences with ACV and GSE welcome!

I wrote the following on the Goat Berries Facebook page recently and got such a great response in the comments, I thought I’d repost here for anyone who doesn’t frequent Facebook or who just may have missed it:

8 goats have passed through the pen in the
3 years I’ve had goaties.
2 are currently in there now.
1 = number of headbutts I’ve received –
And it happened today.

The buck got jealous that I was hand-feeding Pasqualina some baking soda (what, he doesn’t EAT it!), and he gave me a love tap, horns and all, from the side.

Not totally gentle, but not too hard either. It was actually kind of cute, because then he just looked at me as if to say, “UM, ME!”

He doesn't look like a headbutter, does he?!

But, yeah, it’s funny that he was my first headbutter after three years of being around goats. I *so* love all my mild-mannered girls who have passed through!

So tell me goat people, do you have or have you had headbutters?

Were they male or female or have you seen equality in the goat sexes on this issue?

Remember if you’d like to see other comments on this issue, check out the post on Facebook!

I recently came across the plight of the Balunsat family and their pet goat Snowbird in Cecil County, Maryland. You may recall the tale of Benny the Goat in Connecticut? Well once again, government officials are pushing a goat out of town — and Snowbird could use our show of solidarity.

One of the things I believe greatly helped Benny the Goat was the involvement of those not only in his own community but also Facebook-wide. At the time of Benny’s last hearing, which secured his place in Berlin, Connecticut at least for the moment, he had nearly 700 fans on Facebook supporting his cause. Well now, as the Balunsats continue to fight for Snowbird’s right to stay with the family, they have started a group and page on Facebook, and I know they’d really appreciate our support.

Click here to “like” Snowbird’s page on Facebook

Click here to join the Free Snowbird! Group on Facebook

Click here to follow @FreeSnowbird on Twitter

Snowbird is the Balunsats’ pet goat and is a La Mancha/Nubian mix. The Free Snowbird! group page says she got her name because when she was little, she “stuck her head in a glass candle jar and [when she pulled out her head] there was a shape of a bird from the candle smoke right on her forehead.” How cute is she?!

Snowbird courtesy of the Free Snowbird! Facebook group page

But according to the Cecil Whig, the Cecil County Zoning Board recently ruled that “[t]he family, which under the law doesn’t own enough land to keep farm animals, has two months to get rid of the goat or appeal the case to circuit court after the county zoning board denied the Balunsat’s appeal . . . .”

So now the Balunsats are doing whatever they can to keep their darling Snowbird at home with them where she belongs. Further efforts to help Snowbird may be organized through the Facebook group/page, so if you have a moment, please click over and join the Free Snowbird! group and/or Snowbird page and help a family keep their gorgeous goatie.

And please feel free to spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.!

Snowbird needs all the help she can get!

**UPDATE! Thanks to the generous pledges from an animal-loving community, including quite a few Goat Berries readers, this project is now FUNDED! Will keep you posted on the book’s progress. Thanks!**

I’ve shared information on the Kickstarter project of artist/writer Katherine Dunn of Apifera Farm before, but time is winding down for her to secure funding.

Right now, this project is 30% funded and has until until January 30 to make its goal.

Fellow goat lovers, this is truly a labor of love for Katherine, who provides a safe place for aging and ailing goats, donkeys, and other creatures. Her goal is to share her beautiful collection of short stories, art, and photography about the many old and neglected creatures that make it into her barnyard.

As Katherine states, the stories of this project make her sing and cry all at once.

Katherine has also posted one of the stories that will be in the book – about an 18 year old goat – on her Kickstarter page [see Updates] and it will give you a flavor of the writing. It is heartfelt and quirky with a fable quality like all her art — truly beautiful.

As I wrote on the Goat Berries Facebook page, if this story doesn’t warm the cockles of your heart, your cockles are old and dried up and you need a new pair.

This project so deserves to come to fruition!

Kickstarter works like this: You pledge an amount [from $15 to $1,000] and in turn you get a gift in return [you can opt out of the gift]. Different gifts are posted by Katherine on the site. Your credit card is not charged until the entire goal is reached  and then it is all handled by a secure site.

I know we’re all in tough economic times and there are countless good causes out there who could use our money, but a project like this has the potential to touch the hearts of so many people — and who knows, maybe even inspire some to follow Katherine’s lead and show more compassion for the older and ailing animals among us.

Please do help if you can.

Just a quick message to wish everyone who celebrates a Merry, Merry Christmas and fabulous 2012 . . .

My Christmas Goat

from all of us at Casa Fabio!

So today is the first full day without Pinters, and I have to say, I’m not feeling too much better. I know time heals all wounds, and I’m doing all I can to move forward — watching old videos of Pinta as a kid seem to help remember the good times. This one comes from the post Honk If You Heart Pinta:

Cuddling my dogs and closing my eyes and pretending like they’re Pinta, feeling her thick, coarse fur between my fingers, is also comforting.

But every time I’ve gone to the pen since it happened, especially the first time this morning, until I arrive and see things are fine, my body is tense with this huge feeling of fear, anxiety, and dread that I will find something is wrong with Pasqualina.

And this post is really about her.

Da Baby Pascaluccia

If you’ve been following along, you know that I got Pasqualina as a wee kid, just a few weeks old, and bottlefed her, so she is truly The Baby even though she then became The Mommy (of Pinta).

I’m sure those fearful feelings will also pass with time as we fall back into our old routines, but I have a question for you goatie people, especially those in the global goat sisterhood:

Is there anything I can do for Pasqualina right now to help her adjust?

Yesterday she didn’t seem to really notice the absence of Pinta and happily took some lemon tree leaves from me to cover whatever pain she might have felt. This morning, though, was heartbreaking. She wouldn’t leave my side when I was in the pen. She even came over with me to refresh the water bucket, which she never does; she usually just goes about eating when I’m there.

Granted some of that behavior, I think, is because she wants to stay away from the buck. Yes, he’s still in there for another week, so at least she has *some* company for now (we’re still figuring out what to do about getting Pasqualina a new buddy), but aside from extra attention and cuddles, I’m wondering if maybe I can give her some kind of vitamin or herbal supplements or something to help make sure she doesn’t actually fall ill from all the sudden changes — of course the weather has just turned fairly cold as well on top of everything else that has happened.

Goatie sisterhood and brothers, suggestions?

Peek-a-boo Pinta

“It happens.”

That’s what you read in all the goat literature, but you never think it’ll happen to one of yours.

My Pinters was eating and playing normally Saturday evening. Sunday morning, she had some clear to white mucus around her nose, so I thought cold, possibly pneumonia — I’ll keep a close watch.

As I went to the pen several times until about noon, her sides were growing with bloat. We called the vet and he said she’s just going to die anyway, so there’s nothing to do. Obviously that wasn’t the answer for me, so I gave her baking soda, which I’ve read all across goat literature is what to do for bloat. I also got her up and walking, massaged her rumen. It didn’t do much.

Then a friend called someone who has had many goats and sheep, and he said to give her Coca-Cola. P ran to the bar — the only place open on Sunday up here — and that actually got her burping a bit, which is what needs to happen to loosen up the gas in the rumen that is causing the bloat. I did the walking, massaging bit some more. But her sides weren’t really going down.

So then, after another round of Internet research, I tried what we use for everything here — olive oil. And that finally started to work. I continued massaging her rumen and walking her around a bit as one is supposed to do, and her sides were going down. Later in the evening, I gave her another dose, did the same, and her right side was pretty flat by that point. Her left side was definitely deflated as well, but there was still air in there. I was comforted because it had been nearly pointy early in the afternoon, and was now rounded and much smaller.

After that second dose, Pinta walked over to the hay on her own and started to nibble, though she didn’t eat much. I led her to the water bucket, and she drank up. Twice. Long gulps. Then I gave her some green leaves, which she ate slowly but steadily.

I checked on her one last time yesterday evening, around midnight, and her sides were probably about the same as before, but she did eat a few leaves and get another gulp of water on her own (once I led her there). I thought she was on the road to recovery, but something in my heart said things weren’t as good as I hoped. I put out calls on Facebook for positive Pinta thoughts.

This morning, she was lying down, head down in the pen, already looking dead. I went in and held her a bit and realized her rumen still had air in it, so I asked P for his knife and did the last resort, emergency incision that up until then I had only read about in goat literature. Well actually first I did a stab, but that didn’t seem to be letting out enough air, so I went back in and cut.

The absolute scariest thing I have ever done in my life.

Waiting for hay

Immediately the smell of goatie burps and farts filled the air with several pssst sounds. I pressed and massaged some more to remove even more air. Pinta belched a few times, but by this time she was having so much trouble breathing, and in so much obvious pain, I don’t know that anything could have saved her.

I honestly have no idea what happened. All the ways goats get bloat didn’t fit her situation — she hadn’t had any grain for days, let alone too much. No new pasture, no new anything in her food. Maybe something fell into the pen and she ate that and couldn’t digest it? I have no idea. It’s hard to lose her, but I really hate not even knowing what happened. And what about that improvement last night? My brave little fighter. If she had still been bad yesterday evening, maybe I would’ve done something more drastic then?

Maybes and wouldas. Mah.

Pinta came into this world in my arms, and there was never, ever a moment that she gave me stress or trouble. She was, at all times, the perfect goat, and I’m not just saying that because she’s gone. She truly was a sweetheart.

Paolo and I both loved her in a way, I think I’m safe in saying, no other Calabrian goat has ever been loved, besides her mom, our Pasqualina.

Pasqualina, by the way, seems to be doing OK. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet for her — same with me, really. I have no idea where we’ll go from here with this goat thing, but there will be time to think about that once the tears have dried. That will be a while. Inconsolable doesn’t begin to describe the atmosphere in the house right now.

We are crushed and heartbroken.

I’m trying to accept that this was Pinta’s fate, that this was what her time on Earth was meant to be, that we made her short life enjoyable for her, that she didn’t die thinking I failed her horribly when she needed me most. I hope she knew how special she was and how very much she was loved not only by us but by people around the world. Around the world! Pinters the goat! I did tell her that often, including in her final moments, so I feel like we were all there with her.

I’m trying my best to focus on all the great times with my baby Pinta, a goat that will never, ever be forgotten, but it’s just so hard right now. God I loved that goat.

Addio carissima Pinters, my sweet, sweet Pinters Magooch.

Prancing Pinta

As you all know, I’m a worry wart goat mum — and here we are on a fine Sunday morning, and Pinta seems to have a cold. Or at least I hope it’s just a cold.

When I showed up at the pen this morning, she had some clear to white nasal discharge and coughed a couple times. She doesn’t want to eat, but her temperature is normal as are her goat berries (how thoughtful of her to poop while I was in the pen!).

Yes, by the by, this is the first time I’ve ever had to take a goat’s temperature; in my nearly three years with goaties, we’ve fortunately never had any symptoms that required pulling out the rectal thermometer. Until today.

Pinta also intermittently coughed (dry cough) about a week ago for a few days, but then it stopped — or at least it did while I was there. I thought maybe that was just hay dust issues, though I had been listening for that as well. I’d say it’s been at least three or four days since I heard a cough — before this morning.

So, expert goat people, this is most likely just a cold, right? But also something I should watch in case it’s pneumonia? Anything you recommend doing now to help her along? I think I may have the vet come and look at her just in case.

I’m trying not to freak out. It’s not really working.

My baby Pinters in happier times:

Purty Pinters

**UPDATE** Somehow the nasal symptoms aren’t nearly as worrying as the fact that it seems Pinta has bloat. The veterinarian can’t come today, so I’ve been walking her around, massaging her belly, and after I heard a couple burps, put some baking soda in her mouth. Another vet-trained friend said to give her Coca-Cola, which seemed counter-intuitive to me, but did seem to help. I’m going back out now to sit with her, massage some more, and hope for the best. By the time I left the pen, she was definitely more alert than when I first arrived (well, it was my fifth time there today). *So* nervous. Please send positive thoughts for Pinters!