Tag: gentle handling - Goat House Farm

If you are short of trouble, take a goat. ~Finnish Proverb

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A Few Thoughts on Animal Welfare in the Show RingSomething has been bothering me, and I think it deserves a conversation.Last year, our youth noticed an exhibitor repeatedly smacking her goat in the ring. Not a tap, but hard slaps audible from the stands. I hoped it was a bad day, an isolated incident. Unacceptable, but perhaps a one-time lapse in judgment.Then we watched the same exhibitor do it again this year. Repeatedly.Welfare is close to my heart. My master's thesis focused on the science of humane dairy goat treatment, and I believe the show ring should reflect the same standards we expect everywhere else.Years ago, I watched a judge call out an exhibitor who slapped her goat across the face when it wouldn't stand properly. That's exactly the response this behavior deserves.I know judges can't see everything, especially in large classes. But parents and fellow exhibitors can, and we all have a responsibility to set better examples.I've also seen exhibitors repeatedly yank leads hard enough to lift goats' front feet off the ground, and tight pinch leads in a ring. None of this is good handling or good showmanship.Goats can be stubborn (surprising, I know). Sometimes they seem determined to make us look like we've never handled one before! But frustration never excuses rough treatment.Whether you're a youth or adult exhibitor, how you treat your animal matters far more than where you place.Young exhibitors are watching. So are fairgoers who may know little about livestock. Our industry already faces public scrutiny over animal welfare. But even if nobody were watching, mistreatment would still be wrong.We teach our youth that good showmanship means understanding your goat, recognizing its needs, and treating it with respect. Being patient can be difficult. Being kind shouldn't be.I'm proud our kids recognized this behavior as unacceptable. They're learning something far more important than winning ribbons. There is a difference between correcting an animal and mistreating one. We should all recognize it.We owe our animals better, our young exhibitors better, and the public an example of responsible husbandry.#dairygoatsofinstagram

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**TEN FOR THE PEN!**We're asking our friends, followers, and fellow goat lovers to do something small that could make a BIG difference!**Just $10 to support our Get Goating! Youth Dairy Goat Project!**Our kids spend months learning to care for their goats, from feeding and milking to trimming hooves, monitoring health, and preparing for the show ring. They put in the work, and we want to make sure they have the opportunities and resources to keep learning.Here's our challenge: Donate $10 and challenge 10 friends to do the same!That's it! No fancy fundraising dinner. No expensive tickets. Just ten dollars and a little help spreading the word.Your donations help with feed, veterinary care, show expenses, educational materials, and all the things that go into giving these kids a real agricultural education.Think about it. If just 100 of our followers gave $10, we'd raise $1,000 for our youth program!If you've ever smiled at one of our goat pictures, cheered for our youth at a show, or believed that kids should have the chance to get their hands dirty and learn something meaningful, this one's for you.**Let's see what a whole bunch of tens can do!****Text GHFYOUTH to 44-321 to donate!**Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal: @goathousefarmEvery ten dollars helps. And if you can't donate right now, sharing this post is a wonderful way to support our kids, too!

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I somehow just learned the story of the Chicago Cubs’ billy goat curse, and I cannot believe I did not know this before.In 1945, with the Cubs in the World Series, tavern owner William Sianis showed up at Wrigley Field with two tickets, one for himself and one for his pet goat, Murphy. They were let in, but after fans started complaining about the goat’s smell, team owner P.K. Wrigley had them thrown out.Sianis was furious and supposedly declared, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”The Cubs went on to lose that World Series, and for the next 71 years the “Curse of the Billy Goat” became part of baseball legend. All the heartbreak, all the weird collapses, all the near misses. Then finally, in 2016, the Cubs won it all and broke the curse.As a goat person, I feel like this is the kind of sports history I really should have known already. Did you know this story?More on it here: https://sabr.org/research/article/the-curse-of-the-billy-goat/Photo: Chicago Tribune

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Remember yesterday’s goat beauty contest in Central Park? Meet the winner: Pretzels.The Brewers Board of Trade held the contest in 1934 to find a goat to represent its bock beer campaign, and more than 100 goats reportedly entered. Pretzels, who lived in Hastings-on-Hudson, took the title and went on to become “Mr. Bock Beer.”His prizes included cash, a silver-plated cup, a blue-and-gold blanket, and a starring role in bock beer advertising. Not a bad haul for being exceptionally handsome and having a good beard.This photo shows Pretzels with his mistress, Vivian Libby, basking in the glow of victory in Central Park. Pretzels looks exactly like a goat who expected nothing less.Photo from The New York Times Archive

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This girl.Ninja is the sweetest, and definitely the most demanding junior on the farm right now. She also isn’t so little anymore. At just 6 months old, she weighed in yesterday at 82.5 lbs!I really love her development at this age. She shows a lot of femininity, good length through her barrel, and an overall strength and balance that I appreciate. I am working on not being overly critical, especially with juniors, but I’d still like to see her come a bit more naturally uphill, be a touch more level, and develop just a little more angulation through the stifle and hock.Even so, the framework is definitely there, and I’m excited to watch her grow into herself!#dairygoatsofinstagram

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Goats lined up with their owners in Central Park in 1936 for the judging of the "Mr. Bock Beer" goat beauty contest.Today’s historical goat photo takes us to New York City in the 1930s, where goats were entered in beauty contests and judged on things like shapely horns, fine beards, and overall appearance.Which, when you think about it, is really not that different from a modern dairy goat show. We’ve swapped the beauty contest language for official scorecards, but we’re still standing around discussing toplines, feet, legs, breed character, and whether one goat is just a little more balanced than the next. I wish we could judge beards on our boys :)Goat showing has gotten more technical, but goat people have clearly been taking this seriously for a long time.Photo from The New York Times.#dairygoatsofinstagram

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For today’s historical goat story, meet Charles “Ches” McCartney, better known as the Goat Man.Starting in the 1930s, McCartney spent decades traveling around the country in a wagon pulled by goats, preaching, selling postcards, and generally becoming one of those wonderfully odd characters that somehow feels completely at home in American history.He sometimes traveled with dozens of goats, wore goatskins, drank goat’s milk, and eventually became a bit of a legend in Georgia. He was so well known that he is thought to have helped inspire some of Flannery O’Connor’s characters.This is exactly the kind of history I love, part biography, part folklore, part “how was this a real person?” And honestly, traveling the country with a herd of goats sounds both completely unhinged and weirdly appealing.Photo courtesy of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.#dairygoatsofinstagram

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For today’s historical goat photo, we’re jumping ahead to 1966 and one of the most famous goat-related album covers ever.The Beach Boys shot the cover for Pet Sounds at the San Diego Zoo on February 15, 1966. The photo shoot took place in the Children’s Zoo, where the band posed with goats and other animals as a very literal play on the album title.The outtakes are even better than the final cover. The goats were much more interested in eating than posing, which, as anyone who has ever tried to take a nice photo with goats knows, feels historically accurate.Pet Sounds went on to become one of the most influential albums of the 1960s, but naturally, my favorite part of the story is that goats ended up on the cover.#dairygoatsofinstagram

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As some of you may know, in addition to being a professional goat wrangler, I’m also a history professor who loves primary sources. So I thought I’d do something fun and share a few historical goat photos over the next week or two. This one is from Saipan, around 1944. Marine First Sergeant Neil I. Shober of Fort Wayne, Indiana, shares a banana with a goat. Shober, and the goat, were among the few survivors after the intense naval and air bombardment that preceded the Marines’ landing on the Japanese-mandated island.History is full of big events, but sometimes it’s the small, strange, very human moments that stick with you most. And apparently, goats have always known exactly where to be!(Photo: National Museum of the Pacific War)#dairygoatsofinstagram

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I guess that's one way to get the milk a little faster! 🤣

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We’re looking for a new Goat Yoga instructor at Goat House Farm!This is not the place for a super-serious, perfectly silent yoga practice. Our classes are more about a fun, easy flow, goats wandering across mats, people laughing, and everyone leaving in a better mood than they arrived.We’re looking for someone who is:• Comfortable around goats and giggles• Reliable, Very Reliable• Experienced with yoga instruction• Comfortable using social media to help promote classes• Flexible and creative about what a “goat yoga” class can look like• Genuinely loves animals and the outdoors• Comfortable working on a real farm and not afraid of a little goat poop• Understands that animal wellbeing is always a priority. Our goats love yoga and interacting with people, and we want to keep it that way!We are happy to work around your own practice and interests. In the past, we’ve incorporated meditation, kids yoga, senior classes, and other variations. If you have an idea, the herd is usually game to try it.Regular classes are generally held every other Saturday morning, although we can be flexible around your schedule. We also book private classes throughout the year.We provide the farm, the goats, and the built-in chaos. You bring the yoga, the personality, and the ability to keep teaching when a goat decides your mat is lunch.If this sounds like your kind of class, we’d love to hear from you. melissa@goathousefarm.com

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That about sums it up.

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Eight and fifty eight ♥️🐐

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$4 for the Fourth! 🐐🍀Today we’re asking every follower to donate just $4 to support our 4-H Dairy Goat Project.If every follower gives $4, those small gifts add up fast and help support feed, supplies, clinics, show prep, and hands-on livestock education for our youth.Donate at: https://bit.ly/GHFyouthChoose “IFAS Extension Leon County Fund” in the designation box.In the comments, be sure to write “Dairy Goat Project.”Please give $4 today for youth agriculture! 🐐🍀#makethebestbetter #4hgrowshere #youthinagriculture #dairygoats #adgayouth

Posts tagged “gentle handling”

Pregnancy, Socialization

Gentle Hands, Healthier Kids, The Profound Impact of Gestational Handling in Dairy Goats

How you interact with your pregnant does could change everything—from whether their kids survive,...
- animal welfare, cortisol, dairy goats, fetal loss, gentle handling, gestational care, goat handling, goat kids, goat pregnancy, herd management, maternal behavior, placental health
Socialization

The Art of Goat Whispering, How Science Reveals the Power of Human Connection

Goats are far more perceptive than we give them credit for. Backed by solid...
- farm animal cognition, gentle handling, goat behavior, goat communication, goat training, goat welfare, goat-human bond, positive reinforcement, youth goat programs