Goat Garden in the Philippines

A recent article in the Manila Bulletin covered a goat operation in the Philippines, Alaminos Goat Farm, that developed a salad garden as a more economical and sustainable way to feed their animals. They found that the plant indigofera helped to improve the milk yields of their goats. The plant contains almost 25% protein, is about 85% digestible and contains 2% calcium, making it a very nutritious plant.

According to the article, "research work done by Ngo van Man, Nguyen van Hao & Vuon minh Tri of the Animal Nutrition Department, University of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Min City Vietnam. . . [found that] indigofera’s plant growth rate as well as its biomass yields are much higher compared to most of the plants included in the research. In selecting the tree legumes to be studied, they chose drought resistant species that will perform on poor soils. The soil was fertilized with goat manure and organic fertilizer during the study."

According to the farmers, indigofera must be given to goats when they are young, to get them used to eating it. To be most digestible and palatable, it must be cut every 30 days and fed to them, as well.

They don't say which of the 70 or so varieties of indigofera they use, however. Some varieties of the plant are also used as a dye (indigo) and a pain-reliever.

(Goats above are in Bali, eating a plant that resembles indigofera.)

Check for goat safety hazards on your farm

In the past few months I have heard of several incidents of goats breaking their front legs. In all cases, the break was caused by a play structure that had been put in the pasture for kids to play on.

Knowing that your carelessness caused your goat to get injured is hard to deal with. So take the time now to investigate your barn and pasture for safety hazards. Some common ones that can lead to broken legs are:

• Wood pallets. If you are using wood pallets for your goats to jump and rest on, make sure to add a piece of plywood to the top to cover the slats.
• Wooden spools. Goat owners get these from telephone companies and other businesses. Goats love to jump on them, but they have holes on the top that a kid's leg can go through, causing injury. These also need to have plywood covering the holes in the top.
• Play structures. Play structures and playhouses can also be a favorite of goat kids. In a recent case, a farmer had one goat break a front leg and another break both front legs before discovering that the problem was a child's wooden cabin that had recently been added to the pasture. Before putting out one of these structures, check it out to make sure there aren't any cracks, holes or other areas where a goat's leg might get caught and fix the problems. Or consider using Little Tyke plastic play structures, which are a lot safer and can often be found at garage sales.
  

Raising Goats for Dummies covers making your goat area safe before you get goats, as well as most other subjects that new or veteran goat owners need to know. You can read reviews of the book at amazon.com.

Mother Nature Got Their Goat

A news story in the Chicago Sun Times reminded me of the phrase "got your goat," which allegedly refers to someone stealing the goat friend of a racehorse, causing it to lose the race:

The quintessential old goat: Oscar, the Arlington Park racetrack goat known for his calming effect on skittish horses, died peacefully in the arms of his owner, Dee Poulos, last Thursday.

Goat gab: Oscar, who loved children and Tostitos tortilla chips with a hint of lime, was 15.

A goat note: The day before he died, Oscar visited each horse in the barn. "He'd never done anything like that before," said Poulos. "We figured out later that he was just making his farewell tour of the barn to say 'See you later, guys.'"